Utah House Democrats

From the Provo Daily Herald – Representative Tim Cosgrove sponsors legislation to restrict what lawmakers can do with campaign funds.

by Joe Pyrah

A Democratic lawmaker is attempting to close one of the last ethics loopholes not currently being addressed in the Legislature.

Rep. Tim Cosgrove, D-Murray, is sponsoring legislation that would restrict what lawmakers can do with their campaign war chests. Under Utah law, they can currently spend it however they want — a mortgage payment, a boat, a European vacation.

"The public voice can be very loud to us as legislators when we step outside the boundaries," said Cosgrove, who got input for the bill from both sides of the aisle.

The bill would fine lawmakers 50 percent of the amount misused, and require the legislator to pay back the full amount to the campaign fund.

Cosgrove's bill has the support of Speaker of the House Dave Clark, R-Santa Clara, who said on Friday that he is excited to see the reform. Clark has secured the support of House Republicans for five other reform bills including a constitutional amendment to establish an independent commission to hear complaints.

The bill can be quite detailed about what does and doesn't constitute a personal expenditure. Unlike the citizen initiative currentlygetting signatures to get on the November ballot, it would allow lawmakers to use their funds to give to other lawmakers and political action committees.

But while specific in many areas, some are so broad that they could mean anything. For example, a candidate or office holder would be allowed to use their campaign funds for a "ticket to a meal or event, the primary purpose of which is to promote the social, business, commercial or economic well-being of the candidate's or officeholder's community."

"I don't know how much they're concerned about the details as they are about guidelines," Cosgrove said. "It's next to impossible to include everything on the list you could include."

Attempting specifics while leaving potential loopholes is a real problem with this kind of legislation, said Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo.

Bramble has often debated the merits of campaign fund use, saying that the harder you try, the more confusing it gets.

"You very quickly snowball into this very complex set of minutiae," he said.

Bramble and others like Gov. Gary Herbert say transparency is the only real answer. If there are requirements for timely disclosure, then voters can decide whether they like what a lawmaker is doing. He does support the idea of restrictions, he just doesn't see an easy solution.

"I happen to agree you shouldn't take your family on vacation on your campaign account," he said.