May 26, 2011 01:36 AM UTC

Gessler "Fixes" The Rules?

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• by: Colorado Pols

We spent the better part of the morning conferring with sources about a report from our friend Ralphie, writing at his Junction Daily Blog. Check out what Secretary of State Scott Gessler has apparently proposed in response to a mistake in legislation passed this year moving up Colorado’s primary election date:

When the General Assembly passed SB11-189, which moved the date of the Primary elections up to June, it made a mistake. It forgot to also adjust the schedule for filing campaign finance reports. Under the previous statute, campaign finance reports are not due until July.

That left a conflict in the legislation. The Legislature clearly intended for people to report their finances in the months leading up to the Primary. But it forgot to say so when it moved the date of the Primary…

Gessler has issued a proposed rulemaking that attempts to reconcile the conflicting provisions of the campaign finance legislation. His solution?

Gessler’s solution appears to be to eliminate certain biweekly reports required of primary candidates in the weeks prior to the election–by statute beginning in July, a date that mistakenly wasn’t changed when the election date itself was. Primary candidates would still be subject to numerous other other periodic campaign finance reporting requirements, but this would have the effect of reducing both the volume and timeliness of disclosure just before primaries. It resolves the “glitch,” but on the side of less disclosure.

1  Rule 5.13 would be adopted as follows:

2  5.13 REPORTS OF CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES REQUIRED BY

3  SECTION 1-45-108(2)(A)(I)(B), C.R.S., ARE NOT REQUIRED TO BE FILED.   THIS IS TO

4  RESOLVE THE CONFLICT BETWEEN SECTIONS  1-45-108(2)(A)(I)(A) AND  (B), C.R.S.,  

5  CREATED BY THE PASSAGE OF  SENATE  BILL  11-189, WHICH ADJUSTS THE DATE OF THE

6  PRIMARY ELECTION TO THE LAST TUESDAY IN JUNE

We don’t claim to be experts, but couldn’t this have been fixed simply by changing the date that these particular reports need to begin? Couldn’t the legislature fix this next January in time to have biweekly reporting for primaries by May? Either way, it does seem like a case of going after the proverbial gnat with a sledgehammer. And even if Gessler’s intentions are benign, we’ve heard there is a significant difference of opinion on whether he has the authority to eliminate these reporting requirements. Given the way this story could be spun against Gessler–the headline “Brazen Attempt to Reduce Election Transparency” comes to mind–he might have been better off letting the legislature fix what seems to be their minor mistake.