BISMARCK - The 2005 Legislature will likely be asked to tighten state laws requiring candidates to report campaign donations, Secretary of State Al Jaeger said Thursday, the deadline for reporting contributions in certain local and state races.
A wrinkle in the 2003 Legislature's overhaul of state campaign laws inexplicably gave candidates in city and county races, and district judgeships a pass in naming their donors before Election Day. They don't have to name names until 30 days after the election.
Meanwhile, statewide candidates, legislative candidates, political parties and those pushing or opposing ballot measures had to submit a report 20 days before the primary. They must do it again 20 days before the November election and submit a year-end report.
For all candidates, anyone who donates more than $200 must be named in a report.
"The last session we had the most comprehensive campaign overhaul - at least in the six sessions I've been involved," Jaeger said.
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Even so, "There are some things that need to be tweaked," he said.
It was only apparent after the 2003 session ended that the overhaul missed requiring pre-election reports from those seeking county offices, district judgeships and municipal positions in cities with more than 5,000 people.
Those can be hard-fought races, Jaeger said, pointing to the tremendous amount of advertising dollars shelled out before Fargo's June 8 election. Of course, voters are entitled to find out who is giving money in those races ahead of Election Day, just as they can now for other candidates, he said.
"There are definitely recommendations we'll make, and I'm of the mind that the Legislature is going to be receptive," he said.
The new state law also weakened requirements Fargo and Cass County were previously adhering to in their home rule charters. The county and city required local candidates to file donation reports before elections.
But the city and county are now going along with the less-strict state law, said Cass County Auditor Mike Montplaisir. He said the state attorney general ruled that because the county never put that part of the charter into an ordinance, it didn't have the force of law.
Even so, Montplaisir and Fargo City Auditor Steve Sprague asked for and received some pre-election reports this year.
"I don't think we've gone backward," Montplaisir said. "We're just making it easier (for candidates to comply)."
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State candidates are penalized between $25 and $100 if they don't report individual campaign contributions of more than $200, depending on how late they are. Local candidates aren't punished for not reporting, Montplaisir said.
"So there really is no teeth in it," he said. "For us, it's going to be enforced by the newspaper."
As of 5 p.m. Thursday - the 30th day after the June 8 election - two Fargo City Commission candidates, Linda Coates and Scott Fuller, had not filed their post-election reports. Candidates must report even if it is to say they had no donations of more than $200.
Coates did file a report before the election, showing one $250 contribution.
Jaeger prefers to look at the positive side of the new laws instead of the things that got overlooked. Compared to the mere tinkering legislators were willing to make before 2003, the changes made last year are "giant steps," he said.
"What we have is so much more than what we had," he said. "This was a pretty massive bill. I don't think we did that bad a job getting what we did."
Readers can reach Forum reporter Janell Cole at (701) 224-0830
