Put teeth in Iowa’s campaign disclosure rules

According to a recent audit of the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board found that fines are being issued against candidates who break rules governing campaign cash. But the board has made no attempt to collect those fines.

Essentially, laws governing campaign conduct have no teeth.

During the 2022 Fiscal Year, which ended June 30, 2022, the board informed rulebreakers of the penalty being imposed, including fines ranging from $20 to $2,000. According to reporting by Clark Kauffman, the board’s notice gave no information on how to pay the fines and no deadline regarding when payment was due.

Also, the board didn’t send any other notices demanding payment. Not surprisingly, fines were not paid.

We’re not talking about a lot of money. A little over $9,000 was unpaid. But what good does it do to have rules requiring candidates and campaigns to disclose donor and spending reports in a complete and timely matter if there’s no consequences for breaking them?

The Legislature also played a starring role in this saga. Legislation filed in 2023 would have set a deadline for payment, with further punishment for missing it. It died without legislative action. A similar bill backed by the board this year met a similar fate.

Perhaps lawmakers, who could be on the receiving end of a fine, like things the way they are.

Meanwhile, the board has added language to its notices requesting payment within 30 days and providing information on how to pay.

Failure to collect fines weaken a campaign finance disclosure structure that’s already weak. Statewide and legislative candidates only are required to disclose campaign gifts and expenditures a maximum of five times during an election year. Any money received during the critical final days of the campaign isn’t disclosed until January.

As for off-year fundraising, it isn’t reported until the following January. A system created when most finance activity was confined to election years fails to take account for massive fundraising activity in non-election years.

With electronic filing, there’s little reason Iowans shouldn’t be able to see frequently who is backing candidates vying to represent them. Disclosure can tell voters a lot more about a candidate than a 30-second ad.

Lawmakers should expand and shore up the system. Politicians talk much about wanting transparency, but they can prove it by giving Iowans a clearer picture of who is bankrolling campaigns and disclosure rules with teeth.

(319) 398-8262; editorial@thegazette.com