JEFFERSON CITY — State Sen. Rob Schaaf, R-St. Joseph, introduced a bill in the Missouri Senate on Tuesday, Feb. 27, to increase transparency in political contributions. Senate Bill 1041 would address the problem of undisclosed donors giving large sums to influence the actions of elected officials in the state of Missouri.
“Recent events illustrate clearly that secrecy can breed corruption,” Sen. Schaaf said. “It can embolden one to cheat on their wife, or commit an assault, or sell out the people of Missouri to high-paying special interests and expect to get away with it.”
Sen. Schaaf further explained, “I had this bill drafted by some of the best legal minds in the country – experts at the Campaign Legal Center, a fiercely nonpartisan organization run by Trevor Potter, former chairman of the Federal Election Commission. Mr. Potter was appointed to the FEC by President George H.W. Bush and has been described by the American Bar Association Journal as ‘hands-down one of the top lawyers in the country on the delicate intersection of politics, law and money.’ The Campaign Legal Center is recognized for its expertise in campaign finance, lobbying and ethics laws. So you can rest assured that this bill is carefully drafted and ready for passage.”
“Missourians’ faith in this government has been shaken, and, if we are to regain their trust, we must allow them to see transparently who is pulling the levers of power in Jefferson City,” Sen. Schaaf said. “The bill I am introducing today would address the problem of secrecy in campaign finance. This is the Show-Me State, and the people are demanding to be shown who is funding the careers of their politicians. For how else can they know what to expect of us, and how else can they find out if we’re taking kickbacks? They need to know.”
BACKGROUND & PUBLIC NEED FOR MORE DISCLOSURE
During his introduction of the bill, Sen. Schaaf addressed the following points:
Increasingly, elected officials in Missouri are relying on nonprofit organizations to promote their official agendas and to attack their political opponents through public advertising. Often, these nonprofit organizations are controlled by, or closely connected to, the same elected officials whose agendas they publicly support or oppose with extensive public advertising campaigns. Further, these same nonprofits are legally permitted to raise unlimited money from virtually any source, including corporations and special interests, many of whom are seeking tangible benefits from elected officials in our state.
One example of such a nonprofit is, of course, A New Missouri, founded by the governor, who has now been indicted on a felony charge. During his gubernatorial campaign, the governor claimed to support transparency in the funding of political campaigns. But the governor has turned his back on transparency and now uses dark money to the full extent allowed by law. The nonprofit A New Missouri is one of the principal tools he uses to do this. A New Missouri is staffed by the governor’s closest associates — his campaign manager, his campaign’s finance director, his sister-in-law. Though the governor claims he is not involved with the organization’s day-to-day operations, its stated goal is to promote his agenda and he was seen by reporters leaving the office of A New Missouri through a back-alley door the day after this latest scandal broke — the same day he was reported to have been calling major donors in an attempt to retain their support.
Through A New Missouri and other such nonprofits, millions and millions of dollars from undisclosed donors flow into Missouri politics, dramatically influencing the politicians those dollars are used to help or oppose, and Missourians currently have no idea where all that money comes from.
DETAILS ABOUT THE BILL
Today, the people of Missouri are left in the dark about the funding behind organizations affiliated with elected officials, as state law does not require these entities to reveal their donors to the public. This bill introduces sorely-needed public disclosure requirements for nonprofit groups closely affiliated with elected officials in our state. The legislation is carefully tailored to reach only those groups over which elected officials, or their staff or immediate family members, exercise meaningful control, such as by creating the organization or by chairing its board of directors.
Under the bill, if a nonprofit “affiliated with an elected official” spends $10,000 or more annually on public communications featuring the elected official, then the nonprofit has to file a report, once a year, with the Ethics Commission.
On its yearly report, the nonprofit would have to disclose, among other information:
o Its affiliation with the elected official;
o Donors of $5,000 or more to the organization within the previous year; and
o Payments made for public communications featuring the elected official.
Importantly, this bill does NOT limit the amount of money that a nonprofit organization can raise or spend, NOR does it restrict elected officials’ ability to become involved with nonprofit organizations doing important work in our communities. The bill only requires that, once a year, certain nonprofit organizations that are (a) affiliated with elected state officials, and (b) spending significant sums on public communications featuring such officials, file a report with the Missouri Ethics Commission. Any increased recordkeeping by the legislation is minimal, as most nonprofits already must keep track of sources of donations of $5,000 or more for nonpublic filings made with the IRS. See irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f990ezb.pdf.
In sum, this important disclosure legislation places Missouri at the forefront of the national conversation around disclosure and signals the state’s commitment to providing the public with information about elected officials and their close connections to organizations that publicly promote their political agendas.
KEY POINTS:
o Bill only applies if nonprofit spends $10,000 or more a year on certain public communications that feature the official.
o Bill only requires disclosure of BIG DONORS (donors of $5k or more). Tax law already requires nonprofits to keep track of donor of $5,000 or more for nonpublic IRS purposes.
o Bill does not require nonprofits to report financial activities that are not related to production or dissemination of elected official communications.
o Bill only requires groups to file a report ONCE A YEAR.
o Bill does NOT prohibit nonprofits’ ability to spend money in any way OR to affiliate with elected officials. Bill simply makes them publicly disclose their affiliation with an elected official in Missouri.