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Campaign finance
Lawmakers scrap contribution caps
Tribune Editorial, March 5, 2010The only people opposed to reasonable limits on campaign contributions in Utah are those who make big donations, and those who take them.
The Governor’s Commission on Strengthening Utah’s Democracy recommends caps. The people of Utah—74 percent in a recent public opinion poll—demand them. And 45 states see the obvious wisdom in having them. But not Utah.
A provision to cap annual contributions at $10,000 for statewide races and $5,000 for House and Senate races was stripped from a campaign finance reform bill last week. The limits would have applied to individual, corporate, union and political action committee donations. HB329 now focuses on tightening disclosure laws.
Many lawmakers claim campaign caps are unnecessary, that they cannot be swayed by contributions. But to deny that giving imparts a sense of entitlement, and receiving a sense of obligation, is to deny human nature. And to claim that transparency alone will erase the perception that politicians are bought and sold is to deny common sense. When citizens read the lists of contributors, it will confirm, not refute, their belief that contributions drive government spending and public policy.
Campaign cap foes in the Legislature claim that limiting donations will make politics the exclusive domain of the well-to-do. If that’s the case they should limit campaign spending, an option employed to varying degrees by at least 20 states.
They also maintain that campaign contributions are a form of free speech that should not be limited. That argument seems to confirm the belief that money talks in politics. It’s time that it plays a lesser role in the conversation.
Utah officeholders, candidates and political action committees collected $4 million in campaign contributions in 2009, a nonelection year. Gov. Gary Herbert gathered $1 million at a single event. It’s little wonder, considering that money can buy elections and incumbents have a decided fundraising advantage, that there’s no stomach for campaign contribution caps on Capitol Hill.
But there appears to be an appetite among citizens, who are floating a pair of ballot initiatives that include campaign contribution limits far more restrictive than the ones lawmakers nixed. One would ban corporate and union donations and cap individual contributions at $1,000 per year.
Many observers claim the citizen initiatives are driving ethics reform in the Legislature this year, as lawmakers try to prove to the public that they can police themselves. If that’s the case, the decision to forgo caps was a big mistake.