Virginia Del. Albert Pollard’s attempt at campaign finance reform didn’t just die in committee. Not even given a perfunctory hearing, his bill to cap political giving met its demise this year “at the starting block,” said Pollard, D-Lively.
“Normally a bill is given the dignity of a cigarette and blindfold before it’s executed,” he said. “That’s not even the case with campaign finance reform in Virginia.”
Such has been the fate of campaign finance bills for years. Virginia lawmakers consistently have refused to mandate limits on how much money any person or group can give to a candidate, instead placing a strong emphasis on public disclosure.
The uncapped fundraising has steered Virginia’s gubernatorial campaign into a money race. Each of the three Democrats and one Republican vying for the governor’s mansion in November has benefited from the generosity of wealthy individuals. One candidate, former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe, has particularly thrived under the rules, with 11 contributors giving more than $100,000 each.
Pollard’s bill, which he said didn’t specifically target the governor’s race, would have capped individual contributions at $5,000 and political action committee donations at $10,000 for statewide candidates, shrinking to $1,000 and $2,000 for legislative candidates.
The current system is a long-standing and deliberate one. A 2002 report from a legislative subcommittee on campaign finance laws concluded that “the best course in promoting clean campaigns is through detailed, accurate and timely disclosure of contributions and expenditures.”
The panel did not recommend donation limits, according to the report, partly because they would curtail free speech and would be “illusory,” because large contributors would guide their money to political parties or make independent expenditures.
The lax campaign finance laws are complemented by the State Board of Elections’ lack of investigative authority into the misreporting of contributions.
“It’s up to the ethics of the committees and the candidates to report all of the contributions they receive, and their expenditures,” said David Allen, the agency’s campaign finance manager, who added that willful violations by candidates were rare.
