EXCLUSIVE MPN ANALYSIS
Chalk this analysis up as a win for transparency and a loss for the reliability of some elected officials. An analysis of campaign finance data by MPN identified a large number of violations resulting from a new law, for which no action has been taken.
In 2008 Missouri lawmakers revised the state's campaign finance law to remove caps on contributions. In exchange for the removal, lawmakers claimed to increase transparency of now limitless contributions by requiring recipient committees to report the contribution to the Missouri Ethics Commission within 48 hours of receipt. The law provides no exceptions for this requirement since reports are filed online.
MPN's analysis identified 54 violations of campaign finance law since the beginning of 2009 from 31 different political committees.
Candidate and Party Delinquent Filers
Since the beginning of 2009, campaigns reported receiving 475 contributions greater than $5,000 totaling $9.3 million. A total of 54 of those contributions, amounting to $992,000, were reported after more than 48 hours. The most egregious violations came from committees reporting large hauls up to 3 months after the statutory deadline.
Late filing committees include 9 candidates, 2 party committees, and 20 others. Half of the violations, though, came from candidate and party committees.
Candidate violators include 4 state Republicans, 2 state Democrats, 1 St. Louis County Republican, and 2 St. Louis City Democrats.
The Republican violations—Rep. Ron Richard, Sen. Larry Wilson, Rep. Mike Parson, and Sen. Kevin Engler— account for 5 errors and $125,000. There was also one error from former Republican spokesman Rich Chrismer's St. Louis County Director of Elections committee.
The violations from Democratic officials include Gov. Jay Nixon and Rep. Michael Corcoran. Nixon had three errors, all reported in the complete submission for the first quarter of 2009, but still more than two months behind the statutory requirement. Corcoran's filing, in contrast, was just one day late.
Democrats elected to positions in St. Louis also reported errors including Mayor Francis Slay and Alderwoman Michelle Ingram Lawrence.
The Party committee violations are exclusive to Democrats and include 10 contributions reported late by either the Democratic State Committee or the House Democratic Campaign Committee.
Other Committee Delinquent Filers
Half of the errors MPN identified were from a variety of Political Action Committees designed to bundle contributions for candidates, or for ballot initiatives. In all, 20 of these committees logged 27 violations so far this year. MPN will provide a more detailed analysis of these violations in the near future.
Problems with Early Filers
MPN’s analysis also identified a number of contributions reported to the Ethics Commission before they were apparently received. Many of these errors are likely data entry mistakes, such as the contribution to Life Sciences Fund reported on 1/15/2009 but apparently received on 1/15/2008, before the new finance law was even filed for consideration in the state legislature. The House Republican Campaign Committee also reported a contribution from Rep. Ron Richard (R) on 2/12/2009 that his campaign says was received on 2/12/2008. Former Rep. Same Page (D) and Rep. Mike Parson (R) reported similar mistakes.
By far the most entertaining error is a contribution reported a millennium in the future by the Citizens for Crime Reduction Committee. A contribution received from Kansas City-based Taxpayers Unlimited was reported from the year 3009. Let’s hope that’s a typo, otherwise someone has figured out how to manipulate democratic elections through time travel.
But there are also a number of contributions that the discrepancy in dates is less obvious. For instance the Lewis and Clark Regional Leadership Fund reported two separate contributions received one day after they were reported to the Ethics Commission. It could be the filer was a little confused on the date, but according to Missouri’s campaign finance laws these are technically violations since receipt of a contribution is required prior to reporting. Thus knowing a large contribution will be received in the future doesn’t trigger the reporting requirement in RSMo 130.044. (Note we didn’t actually include these contributions in our counts of violators).
These errors are the easiest to identify because they are logically and temporally inconsistent. The Ethics Commission could establish a simple data check when reports are submitted to minimize confusion and increase accurate transparency.
What the public can do
One potential solution for the public to this problem: file complaints with the Ethics Commission.
The panel of three Democrats and three Republicans has often been called “toothless” by Missouri politicos due to lax enforcement and orders akin to slaps on the wrist. Take for instance the 2008 violations of now Attorney General Chris Koster (D), where Koster and his staffers knowingly circumvented Missouri campaign finance law by funneling thousands through political committees back to his campaign’s war chest (documented first by MPN, then the AP and the Kansas City Star).
After dragging the case out for eight months from the time of the violation, the Ethics Commission ultimately dismissed the case because only three of the six members voted in favor; four votes are required for action to be taken. Further complicating that case was that Koster’s former co-worker, Michael Kilgore, was chairing the Ethics Commission at the time the complaints were being ushered through.
Will the Ethics Commission have the teeth to pursue the most influential politicians in the state, and perhaps even the Governor, for violations of state law? Don’t hold your breath, but that still doesn’t mean it isn’t worth a shot.
Related Links:
RSMo 130.044
Missouri Ethics Commission 48 Hour Reports
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2 comments:
This is a very insightful analysis. Why hasn't anyone in the mainstream media picked up on this yet. It seems that the attempts to increase transparency with reporting fall short if folks aren't actually reporting. Then add on top the useless Ethics Commission and you've got a perfect mix for flagrant abuse.
This is unacceptable. Someone in the legislature needs to step up and put a real enforcement mechanism on this "requirement".
Thanks for taking a look at this.
What lazy, inept politicians we have in Missouri. This is one of the most basic requirements for their campaigns, and they can't even do this? How can we expect our political leaders to improve the economy?
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