KTOK's Rudy: Group Got It All Wrong

Radio station KTOK Capitol Correspondent Peter J. Rudy says a Washington-based group, The Center for Competitive Politics, criticizing the state's just-passed Clean Campaign Act has it all wrong.

Rudy says the group's researchers blasted the bill as containing language harmful to the First Amendent, but he correctly reports the group was looking at Senate amendments the House rejected.

The bill went to a conference committee and the only thing it deals with is donations to legislators or candidates by lobbyists during the session and for five days afterwards.

After reading the final version of the bill through a link provided by Rudy, the center's communications director, Mike Schrimpf, told Rudy, "This is good news for Oklahomans, albeit slightly embarrassing for our organization. We will certainly now be sure to double check the latest status of every bill we comment on immediately before we send something out. Apologies for the false alarm."

The group's erroneous news release criticizing the bill was printed by several bloggers.

Read the bill, by Rep. David Dank, R-Oklahoma City, at http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/WebBillStatus/main.html.

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Corn Claims Clean Campaign Act Success

Senator Kenneth Corn today claimed success in winning the Senate’s approval for two amendments intended to curtail the influence of special interests in Oklahoma’s electoral process and restore integrity to the system.

The amendments were made to House Bill 2196, which creates the Oklahoma Clean Campaigns Act of 2008. The first of Corn’s two amendments would ensure that contributions accepted by a candidate for a specific state or local office not be used in a campaign for a different office.

“It should be our goal to make the campaign process as fair, honest and transparent as possible,” said Corn, D-Poteau. “Ensuring that campaign contributions are used for their stated purpose is an important part of that effort. It’s a step toward a better and more equitable campaign process.”

Corn’s second amendment would prohibit candidates for legislative or statewide office, candidate committees and political action committees from soliciting or accepting campaign contributions from January 1, through June 30, of any year.

By limiting the acceptance of contributions during the legislative session, Corn said legislators can send a message that their votes are not for sale.

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Clean Campaign Act Advances In Senate

The Senate today voted for new restrictions on campaign fundraising after adopting amendments that ban lobbyist gifts and make it a misdemeanor to lie about a political opponent.

Critics predicted the amendments would be removed in a joint conference committee.

The ethics reform measure will prevent incumbent lawmakers from collecting donations during a legislative session and 15 days before and after a session.

Sponsors say that will counter speculation that a "pay-for-play" atmosphere exists at the Capitol, where contributions are tied to legislation under consideration.

The Oklahoma Clean Campaign Act of 2008 was introduced by Rep. David Dank and is sponsored in the Senate by Co-President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee. Dank and Coffee are Oklahoma City Republicans.

The measure forbids the transfer of donations between political action committees, a practice that allows the identity of some campaign contributors to be hidden.

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Dank: Campaign Reform Bill Helps All Candidates

A sweeping ethics reform package making its way through the legislative process will benefit all candidates, not just incumbents, Rep. David Dank said today.

"Most Oklahomans believe we need to erect a clear barrier between campaign fundraising and passing laws to prevent even a hint of conflict-of-interest and 'pay for play' suspicions," said Dank, R-Oklahoma City. "That's why the Oklahoma Clean Campaign Act of 2008 would ban fundraising by incumbents and candidates alike during and 15 days before and after the annual legislative session."

Officials representing third-party and independent candidates have said the bill would harm their efforts, but Dank said the legislation would benefit all candidates by reducing the campaign-funding powers of incumbency.

"House Bill 2196 is a fair and much-needed reform independents should be supporting," Dank said. "There is nothing to forbid a legislative candidate from launching his or her campaign a year or even two years before Election Day, which most candidates do - be they Democrats, Republicans or Independents - because they know what a formidable challenge a political campaign can be."

He noted that independent candidates also have an advantage because they do not have to finance a primary campaign and instead face the voters only at the general election, which gives those candidates more time to raise and spend campaign funds than their major-party opponents.

Although critics have called the ethics reform bill an"incumbent protection plan," Dank said the new restrictions on fundraising actually level the playing field for challengers. "The current free-for-all system is the biggest incumbent protection plan of all," Dank said. "For decades incumbent legislators of both parties have raised large sums during the legislative session, sometimes totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars. It's not uncommon to see a major donor hand a $5,000 check to a legislator on Monday evening, then appear in that same legislator's office on Tuesday morning in an effort to influence legislation. That is precisely what HB 2196 is designed to stop - the impression, right or wrong, that legislation is for sale in Oklahoma."

He said an in-session ban on fundraising actually reduces the money-raising power of incumbents. "House Bill 2196 contains vital reforms that can increase public faith in our lawmaking process and draw a clear boundary between fundraising and making law," Dank said. "Democrats and Republicans alike support it. Independents should, too."

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Clean Campaign Act Headed For Joint Panel

A Senate committee has passed a bill to place new restrictions on campaign fundraising, but a joint conference committee will have the final say on the bill's ultimate form.

Rep. David Dank's "Oklahoma Clean Campaign Act of 2008" will prevent incumbent lawmakers from collecting donations during a legislative session and 15 days before and after a session.

The measure, which passed the House on a 92-8 vote, originally placed the same restriction on challengers, but that provision was removed on an amendment by Senator Jim Wilson, D-Tahlequah.

Dank, R-Oklahoma City (pictured), said that prohibiting the acceptance of campaign donations during the legislative session will end speculation that a "pay-for-play" atmosphere has developed at the Capitol, where contributions are tied to legislation under consideration.

The bill is sponsored in the Senate by Co-President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City.

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