Report on Loopholes and End Runs Around Campaign Finance Laws from Center for Governmental Studies
End runs around ethics and campaign finance laws are one of my favorite
topics to write about. A sizeable percentage of the creative energies of
government officials and their attorneys seems to go into coming up
with ways of getting around these laws. And then arguing that such laws are
of little value since you can't plug loopholes as fast as they can invent
them.<br>
<br>
The <a href="http://www.cgs.org/" target="”_blank”">Center for Governmental
Studies</a> in California has just published <a href="http://cgs.org/images/publications/cgs_end_runs_120709.pdf" target="”_blank”">a
report</a> on this very topic (although focused on the campaign finance
side), aptly titled <i>Loopholes,
Tricks and End Runs: Evasions of Campaign Finance Laws, and a Model Law
to Block Them</i> (by Molly Milligan).<br>
<br>
Many of the loopholes apply equally to government ethics,
including legal defense funds, charitable fundraising, and reimbursed
travel.<br>
<br>
Although the report is 52 pages long, it's not at all daunting, because most of it consists of the model law. The model law provides for the disclosure of all money that goes to elected
officials and candidates, with a rebuttable
presumption that all money they receive or raise is for a political
purpose. The model law also provides solutions to the major loopholes and end
runs, and a contribution limit on the aggregate amount each individual
gives, as well as smaller limits for contributions to candidate and
other committees.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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