[EL] Query re Local Campaign Finance Laws

[Bill Maurer]

Robert,

I think that that will be a difficult question to answer in the abstract and I'm not aware of a published list of such local regulations nationwide.  If things work elsewhere as they do in Washington (state), municipalities can only exercise those powers granted to them by the Legislature and the Legislature grants these powers with varying degrees of latitude based on the size of the municipality or the nature of its foundational document (such as a charter).  I thus agree with Colin and note that the range of the range of the home rule power may vary based on those factors and on additional factors like whether we are talking about cities or counties.  For instance, Seattle has a very active and vigorous campaign finance regulatory system (manned by a first-rate and professional staff who are very knowledgeable about constitutional issues, in my experience), but I'm not aware of other cities or counties exercising that much regulatory power.  I am unaware, though, of a state statute that would prevent them from doing so (that is, I don't know of a statute that would specifically modify the general grant of power contained in the home rule statutes).

In other words, "it depends, but it's probably a lot."

Bill

-----Original Message-----
From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of Colin C. Smith
Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2013 9:41 AM
To: 'Robert Wechsler'; law-election at uci.edu
Subject: Re: [EL] Query re Local Campaign Finance Laws

I can't necessary speak for regulations in other states, but here in Iowa cities are generally allowed to exercise any authority not inconsistent with state law under their general "home rule" powers.  This includes, I suppose, the authority to pass city-wide campaign finance laws.  The only city that I know of in Iowa that has actually gone ahead and done this is Iowa City.  Iowa City caps contributions to candidates running for city office at $100.  See Iowa City Code §1-9-2(B)(1).  

What's notable about the Iowa City contribution limit is that Iowa state law generally imposes no campaign contribution limitations at all.  So if one were to look solely at Iowa Code Chapter 68A (Iowa's campaign finance statute), one would conclude that a contributor could give $1.00 - or $100,000 - to a candidate running for the Iowa City Council.  But one would get a different impression by looking at the Iowa City municipal code, which caps all contributions at $100.  

I'm not sure if this is helpful for your purposes, but I thought I would pass it along.

Regards,

-Colin

COLIN C. SMITH
Attorney at Law
NYEMASTER GOODE, P.C.
700 Walnut, Suite 1600
Des Moines, IA 50309
Phone: #(515) 283-3190
Fax: #(515) 283-3108
ccsmith at nyemaster.com
www.nyemaster.com


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-----Original Message-----
From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of Robert Wechsler
Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2013 11:08 AM
To: law-election at uci.edu
Subject: [EL] Query re Local Campaign Finance Laws


Does anyone on the listserve know the number of states in which local governments are permitted by state law to pass their own campaign finance laws without state approval (excluding those that make an exception for large cities or counties)?

Thanks,

Robert Wechsler
City Ethics, Inc.
rwechsler at cityethics.org
203-230-2548
www.cityethics.org
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