Even though it has been struck down three times before, Montgomery County Council Member Phil Andrews is trying to get a bill through the General Assembly that would allow Maryland counties to enact stricter campaign finance reforms than the state’s rules.
On Tuesday, he told The Examiner that he’s in the midst of forming a coalition of counties to get on board with the proposal, as well as finding lawmakers to become sponsors.
Currently, Maryland counties have no say over election financial rules though jurisdictions within counties — such as Rockville and Gaithersburg — do, which is an unfairness Andrews said he wants to see fixed.
He also is emphasizing that counties, such as Montgomery, would not have to develop their own campaign finance regulations.
“But this would give them the authority to do so,” he said.
Montgomery County leaders tried to get such a bill passed in 2001 and 2002 as statewide bills and then again in 2003 as a Montgomery County-only exemption.
Each time, though, the proposals failed in the General Assembly.
The most common concern brought up was that altering campaign finance laws would carry a large financial burden for the state if it was decided that candidates would be publicly funded.
Andrews said his answer to this is that the counties would be responsible for any extra public money that they decide should be doled out.
Former Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan did not support this type of bill, Andrews said. But Patrick Lacefield, chief public information officer for the county, said new County Executive Ike Leggett supports the initiative.
“That way the county can take control over this issue,” Lacefield said of Leggett’s position.
Maryland campaign finance law limits individuals to $4,000 donations per candidate in a campaign cycle and $10,000 overall.
Andrews, the former president of election reform group Common Cause of Maryland, said one loophole he particularly wants to close is that limited liability corporations can open up an unlimited number of contribution accounts.
