Mississippi lawmakers could limit pocketing of campaign cash

Published 5:00 pm Tuesday, April 19, 2016

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi lawmakers will get the chance in the closing days of the legislative session to vote on a set of campaign finance rules that, while watered down from some earlier proposals, would for the first time set limits on elected officials’ ability to pocket campaign money for their personal use.

House and Senate negotiators filed a conference report Monday on House Bill 797, striking a middle ground between stricter rules proposed by the Senate and the House’s proposal to only study the issue. The proposal comes after The Associated Press and The Clarion-Ledger highlighted such practices in recent reporting.

The agreement, if approved by both chambers and signed by Gov. Phil Bryant, would still allow wide latitude for spending on campaign and official purposes. But it would say officials could no longer take leftover money from their campaign accounts at the end of their political careers. The measure would also ban spending on items including clothing, non-campaign related auto expenses, and personal travel.

The new rules would only apply to funds raised after Jan. 1, 2017, though. Any money in a campaign account before that could still be used for personal purposes, as long as a candidate paid income taxes.

The use of campaign finance money rose to prominence in last year’s election campaigns after an opponent disclosed that state Auditor Stacey Pickering had bought a car, a camper and a garage door using campaign money.

An Associated Press review found that of 99 elected officials who have left office in recent years, as many as 25 may have pocketed more than $1,000 when they closed their campaign accounts and five took more than $50,000. Former Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck took more than $261,000 from 2007 to 2013.

A series of reports in Jackson’s Clarion-Ledger also drew attention to state officials who were spending on what appeared to be personal purposes, including cowboy boots, dry cleaning, clothing, groceries, golf outings, windshield repair, apartments in Jackson and out-of-state trips.

Much ongoing spending is opaque because officials use their campaign accounts to pay off credit cards without itemizing individual charges. The agreed-on version of the bill would require credit card expenses be itemized on campaign reports.

The new restrictions say candidates can’t pay the mortgages on their primary residences, can’t pay for funerals, can’t buy clothing, and can only pay for their own travel for political or official purposes.

Some things would still be allowed. For example, lawmakers could still spend up to $50 a day to rent quarters in Jackson during the Legislature, even while receiving per diem payments. A lawmaker wouldn’t be allowed to pay a legal fine, but could still pay lawyer costs stemming from a candidacy or official duties.

The new restrictions were added to a larger election reform bill. Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann won a broad range of other proposed changes. However, lawmakers turned down his proposals for a no-excuses early voting period and online voter registration. Gov. Bryant has signed House Bill 809, allowing voters to update existing registrations online.