Hoarding their millions

We were already shaking our heads at the booby-trapped suite of state campaign finance reforms recommended by a nine-member commission, which the Legislature let lapse into law late last year. A lawsuit challenging the new statutes’ constitutionality is pending. Assuming it fails, they’ll take full effect beginning for far-off 2024, a delay that gives incumbent lawmakers a major head start in amassing campaign war chests they can use to scare off potential primary challengers.

Our analysis shows that statewide and legislative campaign accounts took in an astonishing $145.6 million last year in donations of amounts in excess of the new, lower campaign contributions limits set to take effect in 2024: $18,000 for statewide races, down from $69,700; $10,000 for state Senate candidates, down from $19,300; and $6,000 for Assembly candidates, down from $9,400.

Many such high-dollar donations will remain legal even after 2024 because the commission left open a massive loophole that lets party committee accounts raise up to $117,300 from individuals, then transfer unlimited amounts to candidates.

Another flaw: Despite countless cries to fix the problem, there are still virtually no restrictions on money from companies or people with business before the state.

Newly filed campaign finance disclosures show the big checks still rolling into state legislators’ accounts from lobbyists, labor unions, trade groups and corporations eager to dodge budget cuts or influence legislation.

The Legislature shouldn’t have outsourced their duty to reform the campaign finance laws in the first place. They did, and now must fix their proxies’ shoddy work.