A piece appeared yesterday in The Pueblo-Chieftan, a news source serving Southern Colorado, that offers details of an informative report conducted by the Colorado Secretary of State’s office that indicates small and grassroots political organizations suffer more than “well-oiled political machines” due to the complexity of campaign finance laws currently in place. How did they determine these results? Their methodology was simple: they looked at who paid more in fines due to violations of these regulations.
“Our office did a study and looked at who pays campaign finance fines, who doesn’t, who violates the law a lot, things like that,” said Secretary of State Scott Gessler. “And the bottom line is this: Volunteers and grass-roots groups are far more likely to run afoul of the law because the law is so complex. Large, big-money groups are able to hire attorneys and accountants and pay very, very few fines.”
According to the report, the political “machines” were better able to navigate the nuances of campaign finance regulations because they were better able to absorb the cost of hiring an attorney or CPA to decode the complexities. The statisitcs are revealing:
Well-organized 527 committees — where big business and unions drop large sums — received 26 percent ($9.9 million) of the contributions reported to the secretary of state’s office in 2010. Only 1 percent of fines ($13,150) were imposed on them.
Similarly, issue committees supporting or opposing ballot questions received 26 percent of overall contributions ($10.1 million), and 9 percent of the fines were imposed on them ($157,350).
On the flip side, small donor committees — usually small, grass-roots upstarts — that raised only 1 percent of the money ($528,653) incurred 12 percent of the fines worth $169,650.
Political committees that support the interests of a specialized group, such as certain professions, found themselves alongside the small donor committees. They raised 2 percent of the money ($943,593) and incurred 15 percent of the fines totaling $147,100.
Furthering the point that nickel-and-dime outfits get nickeled and dimed, analysis showed that 55 percent of all fines imposed in 2010 were for $300 or less, and 78 percent of fines were for less than $1,000.
“The system shouldn’t be reserved solely for people who can afford a CPA and an attorney,” said Richard Coolidge, spokesman for the secretary of state’s office. “They should be able to get involved and understand the process.”
But the study’s findings suggest that’s not the case today.
This last point is, of course, preaching to the choir here at CCP. The hope is that this kind of information can reach a broader audience and begin to foment the idea that all grassroots groups — regardless of political affiliation or idealogical bent — fare better under a system that has cleaner, simpler, saner, and less burdensome campaign finance laws.
