February 22, 2007 10:50 PM UTC

CCEG Files Reporting Complaint

• 7 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

From a press release:

Colorado Citizens for Ethics in Government (CCEG), a non-partisan, non-profit legal watchdog group, today filed a complaint with the Colorado Secretary of State’s office against the Northern Colorado Victory Fund (NCVF), a political organization registered with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and a Colorado limited liability company, and the Committee for the American Dream (CAD), a state registered political committee, for failure to file proper campaign finance reports.

Click below for the full release…

Colorado Citizens for Ethics in Government (CCEG), a non-partisan, non-profit legal watchdog group, today filed a complaint with the Colorado Secretary of State’s office against the Northern Colorado Victory Fund (NCVF), a political organization registered with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and a Colorado limited liability company, and the Committee for the American Dream (CAD), a state registered political committee, for failure to file proper campaign finance reports. 

According to state law, anyone who spends over $1000 on ads that refer to a candidate and are broadcast to voters within sixty days before a general election must file “electioneering communication” reports with the secretary of state’s office no later then 30 days after the election.  The reports must disclose the amount spent, the candidate referred to and the name and address of any person who contributes more than $250 to the person making the ad.  The IRS requires similar disclosures for tax exempt political organizations.

According to documents obtained by CCEG, NCVF purchased $29,958.25 of television air time for ads attacking State Representative John Kefalas, then the Democratic candidate for the Colorado House.  NCVF has not filed reports with either the IRS or the secretary of state’s office.  Similarly, CAD purchased $28,435.00 of television air time for ads that attacked Rep. Kefalas and has not filed an electioneering communication report.

In addition, CAD reported receiving a total of $237,012 in contributions from the Colorado Association of Home Builders (“CAHB”) during the 2006 election cycle but failed to disclose the names, addresses, amount of dues transferred, or the date of the dues transferred for the members of CAHB.

If campaign finance laws are properly enforced, NCVF and CAD would be fined $50 per day for each day the reports are past due and CAD would additionally be fined $50 per day for each day the requisite membership information is past due.  To date no fines have been leveled against either group. 

“Complete disclosure is not just a technicality, it is vital to the integrity of our electoral process,” said Chantell Taylor, CCEG’s director.  “By filing this complaint we hope to hold NCVF and CAD accountable for blatantly disregarding the law.”