Coffman Defends the Intent of Voters in Campaign Finance Law

Amendment 27 Tried to Reduce the Influence of Special Interests, but Reports Show the Money Continues to Flow

Denver, April 12, 2007 – Secretary of State Mike Coffman’s office today vigorously defended the requirement to have membership organizations obtain annual permission from their members before transferring a portion of membership dues to committees set up for political purposes.

“In 2002, Coloradans overwhelmingly passed Amendment 27 and sent a clear message that they wanted big money out of Colorado politics,” Coffman said. “The law clearly expressed the concern that large, anonymous campaign contributions may corrupt our political process. But five years later, we still have large, anonymous contributions filling political coffers.”

Many large membership organizations, such as labor unions, circumvent the intent of Amendment 27 by taking a portion of their members’ dues and transferring the money to a small donor committee without asking for, or receiving, permission from the member. They take these dues in small increments of under $20 to avoid having to identify who the members are. But the small increments add up to big money when labor unions are able to tap into the dues of members from all across the country.

Since the passage of Amendment 27, small donor committees have raised $7.3 million and the vast majority of those contributions came from twelve membership organizations — all labor organizations; of that total, $6 million came from unidentified members of these organizations.

“Requiring membership organizations to ask for permission before siphoning dues for political purposes is not unreasonable. Membership organizations should be required to raise money from employees and members, rather than just take it,” Coffman said. “To raise money simple means to ask for it.”

The Secretary of State’s office issued a rule in 2006 requiring membership organizations to obtain permission from members before transferring their money to small donor committees. Today, the Committee of Legal Services will consider whether to extend the rule in their annual Rule Review Bill, HB07-1167.

Attachment: An analysis of Small Donor Committee filings with the Secretary of State’s office showing contributions from 2003 though February 20, 2007.