Appeals Court Ruling in Campaign Finance Rule Case

Denver CO, September 29, 2006 – “We continue to believe implementation of the campaign finance rule requiring small donor groups to get permission before transferring members’ dues to political campaigns is the right thing to do,” Secretary of State Gigi Dennis said Thursday. “This rule furthers the intent of the voters when they adopted Amendment 27 imposing campaign finance restrictions in 2002.”

Secretary Dennis said her office is reviewing the Thursday decision by the Court of Appeals, upholding a preliminary injunction against applying the rule to Colorado’s two teachers unions for this election cycle. “We will evaluate the court’s written opinion and determine whether to appeal this decision further. We appreciate the thoughtful analysis of the issues by the appeals court.”

“We emphasize that we do not interpret the district court’s order as invalidating Rule 1.14(b),” the appeals court said. In upholding the injunction, the appeals court also did not invalidate the rule. The court did stay its enforcement as applied to the parties bringing the lawsuit for the 2006 election. The validity of the rule in applying to future elections will be an issue at trial in the case.

The three-judge panel did agree with Dennis’ contention that the term “member” as used in Amendment 28 is open to multiple interpretations: “We thus conclude the term is ambiguous,” the court said.

Plaintiffs had sued the Secretary claiming this rule and two others – implemented Aug. 2 – were beyond her authority, promulgated improperly and overly burdensome.

Neither court has ruled that Dennis exceeded her authority or did anything improper in promulgating the rules. Secretary Dennis prevailed on implementing a rule requiring small donor committees to ensure donations come from legal residents and not foreign citizens. Plaintiffs dropped a challenge to third rule.

The three-judge panel, which heard arguments in the case Tuesday, left the member rule in place until October 2 to allow time to appeal its decision to the Colorado Supreme Court.

“Regardless of whether a rule is in place, I would encourage membership organizations to ask their members before using their dues for political purposes. Doing so helps ensure that our elections remain open and honest,” Dennis added.