Posted on Tue, Feb. 12, 2008
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Mississippi lagging in digital requirement for campaign finance forms
By GEOFF PENDER
SUN HERALD
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GULFPORT --
Mississippi is one of only 10 states that does not require electronic filing for any candidates.Mississippi also is lacking in enforcement of its campaign finance laws and in auditing the records candidates submit for accuracy or conformity with the law. For all intents, the state's campaign disclosure is on the honor system.
Efforts at reform have failed in recent years.
Former Secretary of State Eric Clark, supported by Attorney General Jim Hood, pushed a major reform package - loosely based on the federal McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Act - for several years starting in 2004. Clark did not seek a fourth term in 2007 and left office in January.
The Legislature in 2004 approved a package with at least some of the changes Clark promoted. The package had bipartisan support, but Gov. Haley Barbour vetoed it. Barbour said the bill would put limits on contributions to political action committees. Clark said Barbour's veto created "open season for interest groups to spend millions of dollars to buy Mississippi's elections."
Rep. Tommy Reynolds, D-Charleston, chairman of the House Elections Committee, said the disclosure Mississippi requires now is "minimal."
"What you've got is that individuals that give are scrutinized, but the no-name PACs that just flood the state with money are not really scrutinized," he said. "You can have the Little Sisters of the Poor PAC getting their money from the Osama bin Laden PAC, and just create enough shells that no one can track where it's from."
Campaign finance reform in Mississippi, and across the nation, has been the source of bitter partisan fights. There's a tug of war between Democrats, often financially supported by trial lawyers; and Republicans, often supported by business interests. Each side has tried to use reform efforts to gain the upper hand. Each side also has tended to use soft money, loans and various forms of PAC financing in ways that cloud the source of the money.
While Democrats decried the veto by Republican Barbour, Republicans claimed that Democrat Hood and others sneaked an item into the 2004 reform bill at the last minute that would have limited the amount corporations could give political action committees to $2,000, instead of the unlimited amounts allowed now.
"I think we really need reform," Reynolds said. "But we have to get it out of that partisan divide. Surely we could have a meeting of the minds among people of good will. I really don't see how disclosure would adversely affect anyone who has a genuine goal of serving the public."
