Mo. senators vote to repeal limits on campaign contributions

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Senators voted to repeal Missouri's campaign contribution limits Wednesday after turning back an attempt to allow public financing of political campaigns.

If the legislation passes both the Senate and House, individual contribution limits would be abolished as soon as Gov. Matt Blunt signs the bill into law. That means large checks could start flowing to candidates well in advance of the November general elections.

The repeal would affect only state candidates, such as those running for governor or the legislature. Federal donation limits would remain in place for presidential and congressional candidates.

Lawmakers already repealed Missouri's individual contribution limits once, in 2006. But the Missouri Supreme Court reinstated the limits last summer, striking down the repeal because of the way the legislation was crafted.

Senate Majority Leader Charlie Shields is pushing again to repeal contribution limits. He argues the limits make it murky for the public to track campaign money by encouraging big donors to funnel their cash in smaller increments through numerous political party and special interest committees. Without contribution limits, big donors are more likely to give money directly to candidates, he said.

"This bill is about creating a system of transparency, it's about creating a system of accountability," said Shields, R-St. Joseph. His bill needs a second Senate vote to move to the House.

Others contended lawmakers are breaking faith with Missouri voters, who in 1994 approved contribution limits by a nearly 3-to-1 margin. When those limits were tossed out in court, higher limits approved that same year by lawmakers kicked in and have gradually risen with inflation.

Missouri currently limits individual contributions to statewide candidates at $1,350 per election, to Senate candidates at $675 and House candidates at $325.

Sen. Jeff Smith said lawmakers should be ashamed of themselves.

"We subverted the will of the people of Missouri," said Smith, D-St. Louis, and "we should be ashamed because we are inviting powerful special interests to hold even greater sway over the policy process than they already do."

Smith proposed an alternative that would have imposed a $3 surcharge on income taxpayers to help support a public financing system for statewide offices and the Legislature. A gubernatorial candidate who agreed to forgo traditional contributions in favor of public funding could have received $500,000 for the primary and $1 million for the general election.

Smith proclaimed his proposal the "Missouri Clean Election Act" and described a repeal of contribution limits as "auctioning off government to the highest bidder."

But senators defeated Smith's public financing proposal by voice vote.

Sen. Gary Nodler, R-Joplin, said public campaign financing would have forced people to indirectly contribute money to candidates with whom they disagree philosophically.

Senators defeated, 23-8, an attempt to keep contribution limits in place but at a higher level. They also voted down an attempt, 20-11, to refer the repeal of contributions limits to the November ballot.

The standard effective date for Missouri laws is Aug. 28, which would have caused contribution limits to be lifted shortly after the Aug. 5 primaries and less than 10 weeks before the general elections.

Sen. Chuck Graham, D-Columbia, argued lawmakers would be "changing the rules in the middle of the game." But senators voted largely along party lines, 21-12, to defeat Graham's amendment delaying the effective date of unlimited campaign contributions until Jan. 1, 2009.

Graham later sought to attach an emergency clause to the bill. That means if the legislation is passed by a two-thirds majority in each chamber, it would take effect upon the governor's signature. Senators approved the earlier effective date by voice vote.

Graham's amendments highlighted the politics behind the legislation.

While Missouri's contribution limits were temporarily lifted during the first 6 1/2 months of 2007, Blunt and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Attorney General Jay Nixon led the way in raking in large contributions.

After the Supreme Court reinstated the limits, Blunt pledged to return nearly $4.6 million he had collected in over-the-limit donations and Nixon returned about $1.2 million in such contributions.

When the Republican governor announced Jan. 22 that he will not run for re-election this year, that left Nixon as the clear fundraising front-runner, with about $1.7 million in the bank as of the start of January.

By repealing the contribution limits this year, as opposed to next year, Smith noted that Republican gubernatorial candidates would be able to more quickly cut into Nixon's cash advantage.