CAMPAIGN FINANCE LIMITS UNCLEAR TO ETHICS COMMISSION

The impact of a federal judge's decision to reinstate campaign finance limits on Missouri's political parties remains unclear even to the state's Ethics Commission, the agency authorized with enforcing campaign finance laws.

Joe Carroll, director of campaign finance for the Ethics Commission, said Thursday that he doesn't know what impact the ruling will have on the state's political parties and their contributions to candidates in the 2000 election.

The Ethics Commission is scheduled to meet at 3 p.m. today by telephone conference call. Carroll said the issue may be discussed at the meeting. "I would hope to have something more definitive after that," he said.

Commission member James Spain, a Poplar Bluff lawyer, said the issue isn't on the commission's agenda. But Spain said the issue could be discussed.

"We have to enforce it," Spain said of Missouri's law limiting campaign donations. "We have to decide what it means before we can enforce it."

Spain said he wants to hear from the Missouri attorney general's office before the commission takes any action on the issue.

Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon said the court ruling could have a major impact on political parties' funding of candidates' campaigns. "Too much money from one source in politics is a problem," he said.

Nixon said the ruling doesn't prevent the state's political parties from building their political base. "This is about money given directly to candidates," he said.

U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry on Wednesday lifted an injunction that prohibited enforcement of the campaign finance limits. Perry declared the limits constitutional in a ruling two weeks ago when she granted a summary judgment motion sought by the state.

That motion dismissed the Missouri Republican Party's challenge to the law, which caps party donations at 10 times the donation limits imposed on individuals.

The GOP plans to appeal the ruling to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Perry lifted the injunction as it applies to party contributions made on or after noon Wednesday. But she enjoined the state from enforcing the funding limits law regarding contributions made by the political parties prior to that time pending the Republican Party's continued litigation.

But Nixon said the Ethics Commission must take into the prior funding in enforcing the campaign finance law. "You don't get to start over on July 5," he said.

The attorney general said the ruling "gives the green light" to the Ethics Commission and state prosecutors to enforce limits passed by a bipartisan Legislature in 1994.

The ruling means party cash donations can range from $2,750 to $11,250 per election, depending on the office the candidate is seeking. There are identical limits on in-kind contributions. The August primary and the November election count as two separate elections as it regards donation limits.

Nixon said the ruling falls in line with the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in January upholding the legality of the state's limits on donations made by individuals and corporations to political candidates.

"This ruling is extremely significant," he said. "It closes what has been a gaping loophole in Missouri's law."

Without such restrictions, the state's political parties could funnel unlimited contributions to candidates, Nixon said.

Nixon said the limits won't hurt political campaigns. "There's plenty of money in politics," he said.

With the Aug. 8 primary looming, the attorney general said he hopes political candidates and the state's political parties will follow the law to the letter.

"I want the Missouri law in place and enforced between now and Election Day," he said.

But John Hancock, executive director of the Missouri Republican Party, said the funding limits are "patently unconstitutional." He said they violate the constitutional rights to free association and free speech.

"Our right to associate with our own candidates has to be fundamental to the maintenance of a Democratic republic," he said.

Hancock said the party would abide by the law even as it appeals the ruling. But he said it could prove difficult to account for all the in-kind contributions that the party makes to candidates.

The party provides candidates with everything from political advice to voter lists. "The law would say we should value those," he said.

As Hancock sees it, political parties ultimately would be prevented from helping their own candidates.

But Roy Temple, executive director of the Missouri Democratic Party, said his organization prefers having the limits in place.

Still, the GOP appeal means continued uncertainty over how the parties ultimately can spend their money, he said. The appeals court could reverse the district judge's ruling, Temple said.

Ultimately, the case could go to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"It just makes planning budgets and strategy very difficult," he said.

The parties also could make "independent expenditures" in addition to direct campaign contributions to candidates. But Temple said any campaign spending is best if it is coordinated with the candidates rather than done independently.

Contribution limits

As adjusted for inflation on Jan. 1, 2000, the limits on contributions to candidates by political parties per election*:

* $11,175 per candidate for statewide office

* $5,600 for any state Senate candidate

* $2,800 for any state House candidate

Other candidates:

* $11,250 for candidates running for an office in a district or ward with a population of over 250,000

* $5,500 for candidates running for office in a district or ward with a population of 100,000 to 250,000.

* $2,750 for candidates running in a district or ward with a population of less than 100,000.

*Besides the cash contributions, parties also can give in-kind contributions in goods and services up to the same limits. Thus, a gubernatorial candidate could receive $22,350 in contributions, divided equally between cash and in-kind donations, for a single election.

Note: The limits are cut in half for candidates who are running unopposed in a primary.

Source: Missouri attorney general's office