Official Decries Loophole in Campaign Contribution Law

California’s top election official said this week that a loophole in the law could permit major donors to some initiatives to remain anonymous until well after the Nov. 5 election is over.

Secretary of State Bill Jones said that in the closing weeks of the election campaign, the public could be left in the dark about the identities of major contributors for and against such high-cost measures as those to expand the right to sue, expand regulation of the health care industry, limit campaign financing and raise the minimum wage.

At a press conference Tuesday, Jones said initiatives on the March and November ballots generated $63 million in campaign donations during the first half of the year. But because of a loophole, nearly $40 million cannot be directly linked to specific propositions.

“The amount of money that we are unable to track is unprecedented,” Jones said.

The reason for the confusion is that some foes and backers established so-called general purpose campaign committees, set up to support or oppose various measures on both the March and November ballots.

Jones attributed the problem in part to a proliferation of conflicting ballot measures, and said he will seek legislation next year to make the reporting requirements stricter. His proposal would require committees receiving $1,000 or more in a year to register with his office and form a separate committee for each measure supported or opposed.

Under state election law, managers of “general” campaign committees are not required to report contributions that come in during the final two weeks of the campaign until after the election.

But lawyers for at least three of the committees Jones identified said that to be safe, they intend to file public reports identifying major donors late in the campaign.