HB 7 in Detail: Penalties for violations

Today, ICPR continues its series on the problems with HB 7, beyond the astronomical dollar limits. Earlier posts are here, here, and here.

Suppose you think the dollar amounts you are allowed to contribute in HB 7 are too low. (Stop laughing, this is a serious blog post!) If you wanted to give more money to a committee than HB 7 would let you, what do you do? Let's consider the consequences of violating HB 7.

The penalty section in HB 7 is here (it starts on page 42 of HB 7):

18 (h) Contributions or transfers in violation of this
19 Section. A political committee that receives a contribution or
20 transfer in violation of this Section shall dispose of the
21 contribution or transfer by returning the contribution or
22 transfer, or an amount equal to the contribution or transfer,
23 to the contributor or transferor or donating the contribution
24 or transfer, or an amount equal to the contribution or
25 transfer, to a charity. A contribution or transfer received in
26 violation of this Section that is not disposed of as provided
1 in this subsection within 30 days after its receipt shall
2 escheat to the General Revenue Fund.

That's it. The committee would have 30 days to give the money back, or the state could lay claim to it. Alternately, the committee could give an equal amount to charity within 30 days. The contributor pays no penalty, even if the contribution was knowingly and intentionally excessive. And other than the loss of the excess amount, the committee pays no penalty, even if the committee plotted and planned with the contributor to violate the law.

So what do you do if you need cash for that final push before Election Day? ICPR would never counsel anyone to break the law. But, strictly hypothetically, what if someone did break the law? Here's what happens: If the candidate wins, the committee would have a few weeks to raise enough money from other donors to refund the excess to those who gave illegal contributions, or make a donation to charity. And winning candidates usually have a comparatively easy time raising money from new donors; from a contributor's point of view, the candidate's a sure thing. And if the candidate loses? So what if the state may lay claim to the money; if the committee is broke, there's no money for the state to seize. Dissolve the committee, and there will be no continuing obligations to worry about.

Real reform laws need real teeth. The penalties section in HB 7 needs to be improved.

D2 Day Interim Report

Last week we went out on a limb and predicted that today's papers would be full of stories about how much money candidates raised in the first six months of this year. And events have proven us correct. (Although, to be fair, we didn't go all that far from the tree trunk on that one.) Now that the reports are in, there are some interesting tidbits in the numbers. A few stragglers are yet to file, but here are a few observations:

* State Rep. Jack Franks raised more money than anyone. Most of it from relatives, but still, his $1.3M is more than any of the Four Tops, more than any sitting statewide official, more than any known challenger.

* The other surprising name on the list of top fundraisers is Sen. Dale Righter, who reported $353K in receipts; putting him comfortably in the Top Ten.

* State Rep. Julie Hamos is sitting on more money than the entire Democratic Party of Illinois. Combining her cash on hand with her investments, she's got $530K, while the venerable DPI reported $473K available. And she's not alone -- Sen. James DeLeo reports $703K, and Rep. Jay Hoffman has been sitting on a pile for years (it's now at $1.2M). Senate Democratic Leader James Clayborne reports $653K, all of it in cash.

We'll have more analysis in the weeks to come. Check back for more!

Disclosure Update

One week from today the newspapers will be full of stories about how much money candidates have raised in the last six months. That's because one week from yesterday is the deadline for filing semi-annual D2 disclosure reports with the State Board of Elections.

Campaign finance is one form of disclosure that lets the public know about potential (and actual) conflicts of interest that elected officials may have. The other big disclosure form required of office holders is the Statement of Economic Interest. That was due to be filed with the Secretary of State by May 1. The SoS Index Division then scans the documents into PDF format and posts them to the web. As of today, over two months later, most (but, as of yesterday, not all) current legislators' forms are posted. Get their forms here.

Not posted, and not even filed, are forms from candidates for office who are not otherwise required to file. Candidates running in the 2010 elections won't have to file until they submit their petitions (they have to submit the receipt for the SEI along with their petitions). And what's more, they won't have to file again unless they win. In a curious loophole that benefits challengers over incumbents, they do not have to file updates next May 1. So check back for more Statements of Economic Interest, and don't forget D2s next week.