Posted on 07/19/2007 7:58:03 PM PDT by Optimist
JEFFERSON CITY | The Missouri Supreme Court reinstated campaign contribution limits Thursday, but it’s unclear whether politicians will be forced to return millions of dollars collected since the limits were lifted in January.
The court, in a unanimous decision, overturned a lower judge who had thrown out a fundraising ban for elected officials and challengers during the legislative session but kept intact the overall repeal of Missouri’s individual contribution limits.
The Supreme Court said the legislative history of the bill indicated lawmakers would not have repealed contribution limits if the donation blackout period was not in effect.
The court noted that when the measure was debated by the Senate, it considered — and rejected — an amendment that would have allowed unlimited contributions without a blackout period.
“That the two provisions were inseparably connected and dependent upon each other is conclusively proven by the fact that the Senate amendment to decouple the provisions failed,” the Supreme Court said Thursday in an opinion written by Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr.
A Cole County circuit judge in March upheld the removal of contribution limits but tossed out the ban on fundraising during the session as a violation of free-speech rights. The judge also tossed a couple of sections forbidding certain people from running for office, but the Supreme Court restored those parts of the bill.
Both sides appealed the ruling, though the attorney general’s office did not contest the judge’s throwing out the fundraising ban.
A federal judge threw out a similar fundraising ban in 1996, saying it was problematic because it was not limited to incumbents and it prevented candidates from spending their own money.
To be decided later is how to handle the millions of dollars in contributions that Gov. Matt Blunt, Attorney General Jay Nixon and other candidates have received under the no-holds-barred fundraising that has been allowed since the judge temporarily blocked the ban in January.
Under the old limits, which again will be in effect, contributors to candidates for Missouri statewide offices were limited to giving $1,275 per election. The limit was $650 for state Senate candidates and $325 for state House candidates. The amounts are periodically adjusted for inflation.
Political party committees can again give candidates much larger contributions, and there are no limits on what party committees can receive.
A nightmare is faced by candidates/races that have received unlimited contributions to date: They will either have to return the excess over previous limits (this could be 10's of thousands of dollars per candidate), or challengers and/or candidates that have not yet begun their fundraising program will be at a distinct disadvantage having to now raise funds under the new restrictions (while their opponent had no restrictions at all).
Since political party committees could donate 10X more to candidates than could individuals, PACs or corporations; a significant amount of money was run through party committees, leaving an unclear "money line". The new law (now struck down) was designed to provide transparency by, although removing restrictions, requiring full disclosure of who is giving and how much.
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It's much more than 10s of thousands per candidate. In the governor's race alone, both Matt Blunt and Jay Nixon have received contributions of $100,000-plus from individuals. Together they raised $2.6 million in the last quarter.
How do they ever hope to go back to the $1,275 limit for the guv's race?
You're right. A nightmare.
“That the two provisions were inseparably connected and dependent upon each other is conclusively proven by the fact that the Senate amendment to decouple the provisions failed,” the Supreme Court said Thursday in an opinion written by Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr.
Has to be a Rush relative!! His family has been involved in the legal profession in Missouri.
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