BLUNG: CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION REFORMS LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD

BOLIVAR - Former Missouri Secretary of State Roy Blunt said Friday a plan to limit contributions to political candidates, drafted by a group he chairs, will go a long way toward reducing the incumbent advantage in political campaigns.

"I think the proposal we've come up with is tightly drawn and really does have the impact of leveling the playing field in a significant way," said Blunt, who is chairman of Missourians for Fair Elections, the group that will seek to have the issue placed on the November 1994 ballot.

"I think voters will respond to it, first by signing petitions, and second, by voting for it," predicted Blunt.

The proposal calls for strict limits on what a candidate can receive from any one person or group, compared with the present law where there is no limit; prohibits candidates from taking donations from political action committees; prohibits contributions from being made to political campaigns through an intermediary or conduit; prohibits officeholders from building campaign war chests that serve as a deterrent to potential challengers; and would ban candidates from giving contributions from their political committee to other candidates.

Blunt was in Cape Girardeau in June to announce the committee's efforts to launch an initiative petition drive to limit contributions to political candidates at all levels. Nine public hearings were held around the state, including one June 22 in Cape Girardeau, to gather input before a final plan was adopted.

On Friday, the committee submitted its proposed initiative petitions with the secretary of state's office, which will have 30 days to check the language with the attorney general's office. Once approved, the committee will begin circulating petitions to have it placed on the ballot.

The group needs signatures of registered voters equal to 5 percent of last year's gubernatorial vote in six of the nine congressional districts of Missouri. That means at least 80,000 signatures will be needed.

Blunt, who served eight years as secretary of state before leaving office in January, is now serving as president of Southwest Baptist College in Bolivar.

Blunt stressed the initiative is directed at limiting campaign contributions rather than limiting spending. Supreme Court cases have indicated that limiting spending is a violation of freedom of speech. However, contribution limits have been upheld in court decisions.

"There was a mixed bag at public hearings whether to put on spending caps," said Blunt, "and we doubt it could get by court. People who are for spending caps are not for them when they found out tax money would be involved in spending caps. So, we stayed on the focus of limiting campaign contributions."

In cases where spending limits have been used, public financing has been offered as matching funds as an incentive not to exceed spending limits.

Candidate contributions would be limited to a maximum of $250 for offices with less than 100,000 constituents and $500 for candidates in larger districts other than statewide offices. All statewide offices would have a maximum limit of $1,000.

"I think the limits are lower than we would have ever thought the legislature would do on its own, but that people would feel comfortable with," said Blunt.

The proposal does not allow contributions from people under the age of 18, which could be used as a way of parents making additional contributions. Primary and general elections are treated as separate elections.

At the public hearings, Blunt said many people were concerned about candidates making contributions to other candidates. "It is interesting how often the topic came up of people giving money to one politician, who gives money to another politician they did not want to support," Blunt noted.

Under the proposal, candidates are prevented from keeping large amounts of campaign funds. Within 90 days after an election is over, candidates or associated committees, must either turn over to the Missouri Ethics Commission or return to contributors surplus campaign funds.

Candidates may keep up to 10 times the individual contribution limit in their accounts; that means a candidate for a statewide office could have an ongoing account balance of not more than $10,000.

The proposal also prohibits members of the Missouri General Assembly from accepting contributions during a session.

Political action committees are prevented from contributing to candidates under this plan; however, should a court rule that prohibiting PAC contributions is not legal, then the initiative places the same limit on contributions.

Blunt stressed the proposal does not outlaw PACs, just contributions by them.

"They can still make endorsements and speak out on issues, share information with members and look at voting records," said Blunt. "What we don't want is PACs just giving money to incumbents who use it to get re-elected and scare people off from running."

The initiative does not, however, limit funds that can be contributed to candidates by political party committees. Blunt said members of his committee discussed this area and determined that party committees were considerably different from PACs.

"It is a completely different topic," suggested Blunt. "People have a sense that if money comes from a political party to a candidate it doesn't create the same problems as from individuals or special interest groups."

Blunt added that if individuals make large contributions to party committees, they are prohibited in this proposal from directing how that money will be spent.

The proposal also does not limit contributions from candidates and their immediate families, something which leaves the door open for wealthy individuals to have an advantage.

"By constitutional court decisions you can't do anything about that," said Blunt. "I don't know of any current cases in federal court where candidates cannot spend all they want to."

But Blunt pointed out there have been contribution limits on federal candidates for years and there have been no instances in Missouri where federal candidates have financed their whole campaign.

"There is no way to prohibit that, even if we want to; you just have to accept that as part of the process," said Blunt.

Since the petition makes only a change in Missouri statutes, and not the constitution, Blunt said it is possible that legislators could come back and refine the law or toughen some of its guidelines if it wants to.

"We just feel this is part of the campaign reform job that legislators would not do by themselves," said Blunt.

The end result of contribution limits, he feels, is that candidates will tend to spend their money rather than hold onto it. And, candidates running without opposition won't be raising money like many do now.

"Candidates will not raise money they don't need, because nobody likes to raise money," said Blunt.

Serving as co-chairmen of Missourians for Fair Elections are: former state treasurer James I. Spainhower, of St. Louis; Sandy McClure of Springfield, state director of United We Stand America; and Greg Upchurch, who was chairman of the successful limited terms amendments approved by voters last year.