End of "office accounts" in Colorado
By Kirstin Ellison
Posted on Fri May 12, 2006 at 09:51:00 AM EST
The Colorado legislative session ended this week, and Colorado Common Cause was very happy to see one of its main reform issues succeed.
Senate Bill 51, sponsored by Sen. Ron Tupa and Rep. Paul Weissmann, prohibits legislators from accepting cash or in-kind contributions for so-called "office accounts." Office accounts, a relatively new phenomenon in Colorado, allowed legislators to accept unlimited contributions from any source, including lobbyists, during the legislative session. There were extremely limited reporting requirements for the contributions, and no requirement to report how the money was spent.
Click "read more" for more information and a Denver Post editorial on the issue.
These office accounts are anything but small petty-cash holdings. Reports filed in January revealing office account contributions during 2005 showed legislators garnered nearly $175,000 in contributions. Senator Tom Weins amassed over $20,000 in contributions, including two $5,000 checks. In addition, a phantom non-profit, Research and Democracy, gave $83,000 worth of in-kind contributions in the form of newsletters mailed to constituents on behalf of vulnerable House Democrats.
The Denver Post has an editorial supporting Colorado Common Cause's position, and is urging Gov. Bill Owens to sign this and two other reform bills passed during the legislative session:
State lawmakers took a smart step toward good government when they passed a bill to rein in unchecked cash and gifts for legislative office expenses.
They add:
We'd hoped to see a stronger lobbyist reform bill emerge, one with a one-year cooling-off period before an exiting lawmaker could become a lobbyist and a requirement that lobbyists report contributions to lawmakers of $100 or more.
Tags: Colorado, In the States, office accounts (all tags)
You are not logged in.
In order to post a comment, you must be logged in. If you have a member account, please log in to comment.
If not, you can make an account just by filling out the form below. It's quick and free.
