Posted by
NOTLEGALROADKILLYET on Sunday, February 11, 2007 10:10:23 AM
A few years ago the Republicans were asleep when Common Cause pushed an initiative through that damaged Republicans and helped Democrats.
One of the slick proposals was to authorize "small donor committees." These committees can accept no more than $50 from each individual. If they accept no more than $20 the names of the donor's names are not reported.
Further, small donor committees can contribute ten times the maximum contribution that a PAC or individual can contribute to a candidate. It doesn't take much imagination to see that unions can contribute unlimited amounts to candidates using this mechanism, and they don't even have to tell their members where the money is gong.
I want to see more Republican Small Donor Committees. I plan to start one myself.
I thought it might be useful to write on the subject. We will start with the Secretary of State's "Colorado Political Campaign and Finance Manual" :
Using the Manual:
This manual provides guidelines and helpful tips for proper compliance with the law. It is also a very useful guide to conducting research. You may wish to begin at the end – with the Appendix – and read Art. XXVIII, CPF/FCPA statutes and rules, and review the filing forms before beginning the training chapters.
!!!REMEMBER: You must read Article XXVIII of the Colorado Constitution; Colorado Revised Statute (C.R.S.) Title 1, Article 45 and the accompanying Campaign and Political Finance Rules to fully understand Colorado Campaign and Political Finance procedures and requirements!!!
Chapter I E: Small Donor Committees
Article XXVIII introduced a new committee entity to Colorado campaign finance regulation: The small donor committee. Small Donor Committees are a form of a political committee. This committee may only accept contributions of $50 or less from natural persons. Please review the following before registering as a small donor committee:
Definitions: Art. XXVIII, Sec. 2(14)
Registration/Amendments: C.R.S. 1-45-108(3), Campaign and Political Finance Rule 3.1
Disclosure Requirements: C.R.S. 1-45-108, C.R.S. 1-45-109, Campaign and Political Finance Rule 4
Amended Reports: Campaign and Political Finance Rule 4.2
Filing Dates: C.R.S. 1-45-108(2)(a), and Campaign and Political Finance Rule 5
Contribution Limits: Art. XXVIII, Sec. 2(14) and Sec. 3
Sanctions: Art. XXVIII, Sec. 10
Tip 1: Small donor committees will be treated as a “single” committee if established by the same group of persons. [Art. XXVIII, Sec. 2 (14)(c)]
Tip 2: Small donor committees have higher contribution limits than other committees.(Art. XXVIII, Sec. 3)
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As I get to each section, I will come back and add links. I will likely be working on the project for a week or two.