Comprehensive campaign reform bill in the works

A comprehensive campaign-finance reform bill is being drafted by Gov. Steve Bullock and Sen. Jim Peterson, R-Buffalo, the two announced Feb. 14.

The Transparency, Reporting and Accountability in Campaigns and Elections Act (TRACE) is intended to “shine light on dark money” groups that emerged in recent Montana elections.

As attorney general, Bullock defended Montana’s 100-year-old Corrupt Practices Act, which banned direct campaign contributions by corporations, but lost in the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Montana Office of Political Practices spent several years investigating one political organization, American Tradition Partnership, which claimed Montana’s campaign finance laws violated the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment rights to free speech and which refused to disclose the names of its donors.

And last year, Montana voters supported by 3-to-1 an initiative requiring Montana’s elected and appointed officials carry out a “policy” stating that corporations are not human beings and do not have constitutional rights.

“An overwhelming majority of Montanans — Democrats and Republicans alike — voted last November to take back their elections from anonymous, out-of-state corporations that hide their money and their motives behind these secretive organizations,” Bullock said last week. “This isn’t about winning or losing elections. This is about putting our democracy back in the sunlight where it belongs — back firmly in the hands of ‘we the people.’”

Peterson, the former Montana Senate President, will sponsor the measure in the legislature.

“What we’re trying to do here is find some bipartisan ground that we can all land on,” he said. “We’re trying to level the playing field and make sure everybody is operating in the sunlight, and essentially eliminate the dark money.”

Sen. Bruce Tutvedt, R-Kalispell, says he was targeted by anonymous groups in last year’s Republican primary election, described as the most expensive legislative primary election in the state.

“I think the citizens of Montana are tired of the mud and dirt that’s being thrown, and we’ll see a bipartisan effort to make this a more transparent, information-based election process,” he said.

Tutvedt said he supports Peterson’s bill.

“It goes to the core of dark money and the lack of transparency,” he said. “If you want to attack or advocate for somebody, you’re going to have to attach your name or have a transparent donor list to show who is advocating for or against a candidate or initiative.”

Among the elements of the TRACE bill:

• Clarifies that all communications within 60 days of an election that refer to one or more candidates or include their likeness or voice are political communications, and that funding for such ads is subject to disclosure.

• Provides that an organization’s federal tax status does not impact its obligations to comply with state law.

• Prohibits direct corporate or union contributions to candidates, but allows voluntary contributions from an employee of a corporation or a member of an organization.

• Requires corporations making independent expenditures to report to the state that they’ve certified the communication and to disclose the members of their board of directors and any shareholders holding more than 10 percent of the company’s stock.

• Requires that all donors who contribute more than $2,000 over 24 months to incidental committees be identified.

• Ends the PAC-to-PAC contributions shell game by limiting such transfers to once per election cycle.

• Increases campaign contribution limits from a political committee or individual to $2,000 for governor, $1,000 for statewide candidates and $500 for all other candidates, and removes aggregate contribution limits on what a candidate for the legislature can accept from political committees.

• Increases the fine for violating Montana’s election laws and instructs the Commissioner of Political Practices to maintain a searchable database of those who have violated the law.