Eric Morrison, a Democrat, represents the 27th District, which includes parts of Newark, Bear and Middletown.
Recently, I introduced three bills, not just because they are important on their own but also because I believe strongly in “good government” and transparency. For a number of years, in multiple surveys and studies, Delaware’s grades for good government and transparency have consistently been D or F. Also, according to multiple polls, Americans’ faith in government and electoral politics is at an all-time low. We cannot just “talk the talk.” We must “walk the walk” and institute laws in these areas to work toward better government and electoral processes.
Once per year in nonelection years and several times per year in election years, candidates for public office (including elected officials) submit campaign finance reports detailing contributions and expenditures. I’ve introduced House Bill 292, which would require that all such reports be reviewed by the Department of Elections for any violations of campaign finance rules. Currently, a candidate submits a campaign finance report, and it immediately appears on the department’s public website after undergoing only a few high-level system checks. Per HB 292, reports would appear on the website immediately, but they would show a “Submitted but Not Reviewed” status.
Then, the report would be reviewed by Department of Elections employees. If no violations or suspicious patterns of contributions or expenditures are found, the report status would be updated to “Reviewed and Final.” If issues are found, the department would work with the candidate to rectify the situation and submit an amended report. If violations are found that are not simply mistakes, the department would refer the case to the attorney general’s office. It is unfathomable to me that candidates’ reports currently undergo no “eyes-on” scrutiny.
I’ve also introduced House Bill 291, which would do three things. First, it would require that candidates’ campaign finance reports include the names of donors’ employers and the donors’ job titles. This is already required in 38 other states and at the federal level. These two pieces of information would be retained by the Department of Elections “behind the scenes.” The information would not appear on campaign finance reports or be subject to Freedom of Information Act requests. Donors’ employers and job titles raise a flag for the Department of Elections regarding possible campaign finance violations. (See the information below about the infamous Tigani case.)
Second, HB 291 would require that, when a candidate unintentionally accepts more money from an individual or entity than they are allowed, they must return that surplus money to the donor. It would prohibit such candidates from donating the surplus money to a charitable organization (which they may currently do), so they cannot make such donations public and gain “political mileage” from them. Third, HB 291 would require the Department of Elections to maintain a specific phone number and area on its website, through which individuals may report suspected campaign finance violations.
These three parts of HB 291 came from a 2013 report written by E. Norman Veasey. At the time, he was a special deputy attorney general. Later, he served as the chief justice of the Delaware Supreme Court. Veasey also served as independent counsel in a case in which the owner of N.K.S. Distributors, Christopher J. Tigani, pleaded guilty to violating federal and state campaign finance and tax laws, and was sentenced to two years in prison. Tigani had been giving money to his employees to donate to certain candidates for public office — known as “pass-through donations.”
In the 107-page report, Veasey included various recommendations on how to improve campaign finance laws in Delaware. Unfortunately, hardly any of those recommendations have been instituted since the report was issued 11 years ago. It is not just me — and other legislators, including Republicans, who have signed on to my bill — who know we need HB 291. It is also a former special deputy attorney general and former chief justice of the Delaware Supreme Court, who served as independent counsel for the most notorious case of campaign finance rules in Delaware history.
Finally, I’ve introduced House Bill 319 to address nepotism in state government, having worked with the Delaware Department of Human Resources on this effort. The agency recently instituted a much more restrictive nepotism policy than the previous one, but it does not apply to all state employees, including the judiciary, executive and legislative branches. HB 319 would mandate that these branches of government and other state agencies draft and implement nepotism policies that are at least as restrictive as the new Human Resources policy. Otherwise, that policy would apply to those governmental branches and state agencies.
I hope that my colleagues in Dover will support all three of these important bills.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.