Gov. John Carney signed House Bill 291 into law, requiring the Department of Elections to provide a phone number and online form for reporting alleged campaign financing violations in the First State.
Additionally, the bill requires contributions made that exceed the legal limit to be deposited into the state’s General Fund rather than allowing them to be donated to charities.
State Rep. Eric Morrison (D-Glasgow), the bill’s sponsor, explains before this law, donating excess contributions to nonprofits could be used for political leverage.
“I could go on social media and say, ‘Hey, look at me, I was happy to donate $300 to this nonprofit.’ When you took money you shouldn't have, and you're getting political mileage for doing that,' he explained.
Morrison had also written in a requirement for campaign donors to disclose their primary employer and job title, but it was removed from the final version of the bill.
He says the recommendation came from a years-old report that found an employer was funneling money through his employees to donate to a candidate.
“And of course, that's illegal. It's called a pass through contribution. So this would allow the Department of Elections to really spot trending in that.”
While that requirement did not have the votes to pass, Morrison is still optimistic more campaign finance reform is to come.
His companion bill, HB 292, did not make it out of the Appropriations Committee due to fiscal concerns, but he hopes it is reconsidered in the future.
That bill would require the Department of Elections to review every political committee’s contribution and expense report, which would require more staff than it currently has.
"No one looks at anything unless someone in the public goes and looks, or unless my opponent goes and looks, but otherwise, there is no scrutiny on these report whatsoever," he said.
Attorney General Kathy Jennings has indicated she is already working on additional reform recommendations to propose to the legislature in the new year, including creating a limit on the look back period as to when finance reports can be amended, how long candidates should keep financial receipts and providing more resources to the Department of Elections to effectively scrutinize financial reports.
