A new effort has been launched in the legislature to make sure that big money goes to political candidates.
The law passed two years ago removing donation limits from political contributions was thrown out by the state supreme court on a technicality last year. But the court indicated the legislature could re-enact that law—and St. Joseph Senator Charlie Shields is leading the effort.
He says campaign donation limits have done nothing to keep huge amounts of money from going into campaigns. In fact, he says the limits have just made donors make end runs in ways that conceal who is really giving the money. Shields says, "Missouri politicians could give Colombian drug lords seminars on how to launder money."
A senate committee is considering Shields’ bill, which he says would require faster reporting of the sources of donations and would probably curtail the amount of negative campaigning done by independent committees a candidate presumably does not control—because that money will go to the candidate’s committee directly.
Shields also thinks unlimited donations will let average citizens run more often. He maintains campaign limits encourage a system in which wealthy candidates run because they can finance their own effort.
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