Remodel
Senate panel advances long-term campaign finance reform
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – A Virginia Senate committee advanced a bill Tuesday that would bar lawmakers from using campaign funds for personal expenses like a mortgage or country club membership – a change lawmakers have long resisted enacting.
Applause erupted in the room after the bill from Sen. Jennifer Boysko and three Democratic colleagues passed unanimously.
Virginia state legislators are currently outstanding in the nation for their ability to spend money donated to their campaigns on just about anything. Despite a bipartisan insistence that lawmakers want to find a compromise on reform, similar bills adding limits on how campaign funds can be spent have been repeatedly defeated in recent years.
“Almost every other state and the federal government prohibits the use of campaign funds by a candidate or their families,” Boysko said as she introduced her bill. “But in Virginia, we could still take our family on a Caribbean cruise if we choose, and I don’t think that’s right.”
The bill would prohibit a candidate from using campaign funds for an expense that would exist regardless of the person seeking, holding or maintaining the office. It allows contributions to be used for “ordinary and accepted expenses associated with campaigning for or holding elective office.”
The bill was amended Tuesday to allow campaign funds to be used for dependent care expenses, expanding an initial allowance for child care expenses. It spells out specific expenses that campaign funds cannot cover, including: a mortgage, rent or utility payments; a non-campaign related car expense; a country club membership; a vacation; a tuition payment; and access to certain entertainment events not associated with a promotion.
In terms of enforcement, the bill said complaints would be taken by the Department of Elections and investigated by the state Board of Elections.
The bill said that if the State Council decides that a candidate “willfully and knowingly violated” the provisions of the bill, the board “shall” order them to repay the amount “improperly converted to his personal use.”
Under the bill, the board may also assess a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000 per specified expense found in violation and not to exceed $10,000.
Currently, lawmakers are only barred from using campaign funds for personal use when they close their accounts.
An Associated Press review of the state’s campaign finance system in 2016 found that some lawmakers often used campaign accounts to pay for expensive meals and hotels as well as personal expenses.
About a half-dozen speakers spoke in favor of the bill’s passage Tuesday.
“We just think this is the lowest hanging fruit, so please pass this bill. Then you don’t have to hear it next year,” said Nancy Morgan, a member of a grassroots campaign finance reform group.
No one spoke against it. Lawmakers have expressed concern in previous hearings that a ban could lead to frivolous, politically motivated complaints.
The bill must clear the full Senate before it can go to the Republican-controlled House of Delegates. Lawmakers in that chamber have filed similar bills that have yet to be heard.
The same Senate panel also introduced a bill Tuesday that would ban lawmakers from fundraising during special sessions. Currently, fundraising is only prohibited during the relatively short regular session of the General Assembly.
The bill’s sponsor, Republican Sen. David Suetterlein, said he doesn’t believe lawmakers should be able to raise money at the same time they vote on legislation. That perspective was echoed by lawyers who testified that it could create a conflict of interest.
The measure passed on a 12-2 vote. Democratic Sen. Scott Surovell and Republican Sen. Bryce Reeves, who raised concerns that it could disadvantage incumbents facing challengers, opposed it. GOP Sen. Jill Vogel abstained.
