The ongoing saga of the “funny business” in the campaign finances of gubernatorial candidate Bethany Hall-Long continues to disappoint many, including myself.
Adding to this, the questionable actions within the Delaware elections commissioner’s office have rightfully raised concern among Delaware citizens about the integrity of its duties.
Attorney General Kathy Jennings stated that her review revealed violations of the spirit of our campaign laws in this case. However, she noted that these violations would not hold up in court, and thus, she will not pursue legal action. Instead, she plans to suggest legislative changes to make these laws more enforceable, requiring action from our legislature.
Those who were around 10 years ago may recall the embarrassing “pay-to-play” campaign finance court case during the Minner administration. For two years, retired Chief Justice Norman Veasey and a team of investigators examined the flaws in Delaware’s campaign finance system. They provided a detailed roadmap of necessary actions to prevent future illegal activities. If fully implemented, his suggestions from 10 years ago might have prevented this current embarrassment to our state.
The Veasey Report, a comprehensive, 101-page document, called for numerous changes. Two notable high-level suggestions included: “In our view, the best way to address and correct the pernicious pay-to-play culture is either to create an office of Inspector General or to strengthen the Public Integrity Commission to enable it to deal with it effectively.” Veasey later expressed that an inspector general might be excessive for our small state, but many citizens today believe this position is more necessary than ever. The legislature should revisit this idea.
Over the past decade, our legislature has made improvements to campaign finance laws, but evidently, not all necessary changes have been implemented.
Rep. Eric Morrison, D-Glasgow, has developed and is championing House bills 291 and 292 to help address more loopholes in current campaign finance laws. These bills are currently working their way through the process.
Our legislature needs to seize this opportunity for improvement by:
While progress has been made, it is hard to believe that we are still closing loopholes in campaign finance processes, procedures and laws that brought significant embarrassment to the state of Delaware some 12 years ago.
We need to get this done!
Bill Bowden
Ocean View
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
