Shurtleff challenger urges limits on spending

Democrat Jean Welch Hill says the campaign fundraising and spending practices of her opponent, Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, are perfectly legal under Utah's loose rules. But she says many should be outlawed.

She proposed on Thursday campaign reform that would set limits of $10,000 on donations, which would have wiped out many huge contributions — of up to $80,000 from individual corporations — that Shurtleff accepted this cycle. Utah now has no donation limits at all.

And she wants to ban spending any campaign money for personal uses — which Shurtleff has done to buy clothes, pay for dry cleaning, pay family members for campaign work and purchase electronic gadgets.

"In my experience, corporations generally get what they pay for. They certainly don't make such expenditures without expecting something in return," Hill said at a Capitol press conference. "People (also) donate to a campaign to help a candidate get elected, not to buy them clothes or improve their lifestyle."

In response, Shurtleff said big donors "get absolutely nothing" from him other than to support the job he has done. "There is not a single case you can point to of getting 'tit for tat.' Nothing. Go look for it."

Amid Hill's call for reform, the Deseret News evaluated Shurtleff's fundraising and spending during his current four-year term. Some of the more interesting findings include:

• Shurtleff accepted $222,500 from multilevel marketing firms, such as Pre-Paid Legal Services (which gave him $80,000), USANA ($71,000), Xango ($20,000), AGEL ($20,000), Nu Skin ($17,000) and others. Donations from such firms accounted for $1 of every $5 that Shurtleff raised in the four years.

Multilevel marketing is sometimes attacked as akin to a pyramid scheme and has attracted legal action in other states. For example, a Wyoming Attorney General investigation in 2001 led to fines for Pre-Paid Legal Services for its multilevel marketing system. The firm is the top corporate donor to Shurtleff this cycle.

• Shurtleff accepted $59,400 from "payday loan" companies in four years. The companies charge annual interest rates averaging 521 percent interest in Utah for short-term loans. Shurtleff has been a defender of the industry, saying the loans often are a better deal for the poor than bouncing checks or paying other late fees.

• In what can be tricky for a politician in Utah, Shurtleff accepted $21,000 from beer, wine and spirits companies, and $9,000 from tobacco companies.