BLUNT SIGNS BILL REPEALING CAMPAIGN FINANCE LIMITS

Without public ceremony, Gov. Matt Blunt on July 10 defied the will of Missouri voters by signing a bill into law that repeals Missouri’s limits on individual donations to political candidates. Voters first imposed the limits in 1994 with 73.9 percent support. In an attempt to minimize press coverage of the bill, Blunt’s office didn’t acknowledge that SB 1038 had been signed until late the next day, a Friday. Putting out controversial news late on a Friday is known as “taking out the trash,” since the resulting stories will end up in the Saturday papers, which typically have low readership.

Under current law, individual donors can give no more than $1,350 to a statewide candidate, $675 to a Senate candidate and $325 to a House candidate per election. When it takes effect on Aug. 28 – after the Aug. 5 primary elections but before the Nov. 4 general elections -- donors will be allowed to give unlimited amounts to candidates. SB 1038 is sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph. Most Republican lawmakers supported the bill while nearly all Democrats opposed it.

GOP FORCES THROUGH REPEAL OF CAMPAIGN LIMITS

With just one vote to spare, House Republicans rammed through a bill repealing limits on campaign contributions, which Missouri voters first imposed in 1994 with 73.9 percent support. The measure, SB 1038, cleared the House on a near party-line vote of 83-72. Gov. Matt Blunt is expected to sign it into law.

Under current law, individual donors can give no more than $1,350 to a statewide candidate, $675 to a Senate candidate and $325 to a House candidate per election. When the repeal takes effect on Aug. 28, donor will be able to give unlimited amounts.

The various amendments House Democrats had prepared offer included putting the issue on the November ballot for voters to decide and delaying the effective date of the bill until next year to avoid changing the campaign finance rules in the middle of the 2008 election cycle. Majority Republicans, however, shut down debate to force a vote before those amendments could be offered.

ETHICS COMMISSION GRANTS 'HARDSHIPS' TO CANDIDATES

The Missouri Ethics Commission has granted so-called "hardship" exemptions to nine state lawmakers to allow them to keep at least some of the money they accepted in excess of the state's campaign contribution limits that briefly were lifted in 2007 but later reinstated by the Missouri Supreme Court.

According to The Associated Press, the lawmakers granted hardships include state Rep. Ron Richard, who is slated to become House speaker next year; House Majority Leader Steve Tilley, House Budget Committee Chairman Allen Icet; House Majority Whip Brian Nieves; and state Sen. Tom Dempsey, who was House majority leader until he moved to the Senate following a special election last fall.

When the Supreme Court reinstated the campaign caps last summer due to a procedural flaw in the bill's passage, it ordered candidates to return their over-limit donations unless they could prove, on a case by case basis, a hardship. The court did not specify what should constitute a hardship, and the Ethics Commission refused to disclose what criteria it used in determining whether candidates to should be allowed to keep the money.

SENATE APPROVES REPEAL OF CAMPAIGN FUNDING CAPS

The Senate on Feb. 21 passed a bill to repeal Missouri’s campaign contribution caps and allow individual donors to give unlimited amounts to candidates. The bill passed 24-9, with most Republicans in favor of repealing the limits and most Democrats opposed. The measure must still pass the House of Representatives.

Missouri voters first imposed the contribution limits in 1994 with 73.9 percent in support. Given the overwhelming voter support for the limits, state Sen. Wes Shoemyer, D-Clarence, said voters should decide if they should be repealed. However, Shoemyer’s amendment to place the bill on the statewide ballot was defeated.

Current law limits individual donors to giving $325 to House candidates, $675 to Senate candidates and $1,350 to candidates for statewide office. Political party committees can give 10 times the individual limit.

If the bill, SB 1038 sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, is signed into law, it would take effect on Aug. 28. As a result, the existing caps would remain in place for the Aug. 5 primaries but be lifted before the Nov. 4 general elections.

ETHICS COMMISSION RAISES CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION CAPS

As it does in January of every election year, the Missouri Ethics Commission adjusted the state’s caps on individual campaign donations to account for changes in the Consumer Price Index. However, since by statute the commission must round inflationary adjustments to the nearest $25, the limit for House candidates will remain unchanged at $325.

For Senate races the limit will rise to $675 from $650. The cap for statewide candidates went to $1,350 from $1,275. Political party committees can give about 10 times the normal limit.

BLUNT RETURNS ONLY HALF OF HIS OVER-LIMIT DONATIONS

Because of a Missouri Supreme Court ruling reinstating the state’s campaign contribution limits, Gov. Matt Blunt was slated to return $4.46 million in over-limit donations. According to his latest campaign finance disclosure report, however, the governor has only returned about $2.2 million to contributors.

John Hancock, the governor’s campaign spokesman, told The Associated Press that the unreturned money is tied up in investments that carry penalties for early withdrawals. The Missouri Ethics Commission gave candidates until Nov. 26 to declare whether they would return over-limit donations or seek a hardship exemption to keep the money. Blunt had said he wouldn’t seek a hardship. The commission set no deadline by which money must be returned or announced penalties for candidates who fail to honor reimbursement pledges.

ETHICS COMMISSION REVOKES DECISION, TO HOLD DO-OVER

The Missouri Ethics Commission on Sept. 19 voted to rescind its earlier vote on how to implement a recent state Supreme Court ruling reinstating campaign contribution limits. The action came after the Missouri Republican Party sued commissioners for violating the state open meeting’s law in reaching its original decision.

At a Sept. 11 meeting, the commission discussed the issue in closed session and then in an open session and with no public debate approved a motion to implement the court’s ruling. The Republican Party contends the commission’s action was a public policy matter that could not be discussed in private under state law, a view shared by many news organizations.

The commission will hold an open meeting on Oct. 4 to take public testimony on the matter and again vote on implementation. In a supplementary ruling to its opinion striking down legislation that repealed state campaign contribution limits, the court directed the commission to order candidates who accepted donations above the limits during the six-month period the caps were lifted to return the money unless individual candidates can prove doing so would result in a hardship.

COURT KICKS DONATION DECISION TO ETHICS COMMISSION

The Missouri Supreme Court on Aug. 27 sidestepped a definitive ruling on whether political candidates must return large donations many accepted earlier this years and directed the state Ethics Commission to decide the matter on a case-by-case basis.

In 2006 the General Assembly repealed limits on the size of campaign contributions candidates may accept from individual donors. The limits, which Missouri voters had first imposed in 1994, were lifted effective Jan. 1, and many candidates accepted contributions well in excess of the old per-donor caps of $325 for a state representative candidate, $650 for state senatorial contest and $1,275 for a statewide race.

In a unanimous July 19 ruling, however, the Supreme Court reinstated the limits based on technical problems in how the measure was passed. At that time, however, the court left open the question of whether candidates would have to return contributions in excess of the caps.

In its supplemental opinion, the court unanimously ruled that candidates whose elections were decided prior to its initial ruling do not have to return the money since most cases it has already been spent. That portion of the ruling primarily applies to candidates who ran for local office in the spring elections.

The court ruled 4-2 to let the Ethics Commission decide the fate of contributions to candidates raising money for the 2008 elections. However, the majority directed the commission to order candidates to return excess donations unless they or one of their of opponents can prove doing so would cause an undue hardship.