January 10, 2005

Lawmakers writing bill to limit giving to 527 groups

By Scott Finn
Staff writer

Call it the anti-Don Blankenship bill.

A committee of legislators is drafting legislation to limit independent spending for or against a candidate, like the $2.4 million Massey Energy Co. CEO Blankenship gave to one group to help defeat state Supreme Court Justice Warren McGraw.

The draft bill would limit at $2,000 the contributions any one person could give to a group making an “electioneering communication” close to an election.

An interim committee reviewed the bill Sunday, and asked for a final version to be drafted by next month’s session.

Senate Majority Leader Truman Chafin, D-Mingo, said spending by independent groups has undermined the credibility of elections in the state.

“Anybody can be taken out if you spend enough,” he said. “A lot of people are looking at this committee to put credibility back into the process.”

Last fall’s high court race was the most expensive in state history. The group Blankenship supported, “And For the Sake of the Kids,” spent $3.5 million to defeat McGraw.

Plaintiff’s lawyers bankrolled a pro-McGraw group, West Virginia Consumers for Justice, providing nearly $1.9 million of its $2 million, according to campaign finance records.

The bill defines electioneering communication as any advertisement that refers to a specific candidate within 60 days of the general election and 30 days of a primary.

The state of Vermont has limits on contributions to such independent campaign groups, known as 527s because of the section of IRS code that regulates them.

The Second Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the limits, as long as they applied to advertisements about specific candidates and not about issues, said Legislative lawyer Brian Skinner.

The bill also would require any independent group spending more than $10,000 to report income and expenditures on a regular basis to the secretary of state’s office.

The committee also gave tentative approval to a pilot project for public financing of legislative races.

The committee chose a plan that would provide public financing for two state Senate and three House of Delegates races. The House of Delegates races would have to be in single-member districts.

The estimated cost of the pilot project is $375,000. To qualify, a candidate would have to raise a certain number of $5 contributions: 200 for the Senate, and 75 for the House of Delegates.

Supporters of the proposal say it will encourage more people to run for office, and decrease the influence of special interests in the election process.

To contact staff writer Scott Finn, use e-mail or call 357-4323.