Rules on candidates giving not clear-cut

Arkansas Senate Republican Whip Michael Lamoureux acknowledges that he made a mistake and at first failed to report several thousand dollars in contributions he made to Senate candidates at a fundraiser hosted by the Senate Republican Caucus. But, he says, an ethics complaint filed against the caucus about the fundraiser is frivolous.

Lamoureux of Russellville said the complaint was filed with the Arkansas Ethics Commission and alleges that the GOP caucus gave too much money to the candidates at a fundraiser April 18 in Little Rock.

The caucus gave no one money, he said. The fundraiser was for four Senate candidates, and the fundraiser materials suggested that participants make donations of $2,000 per campaign. Some gave $ 2,000. Others gave less.

He said the complaint also alleges that the varying amounts that senators contributed out of their own campaign funds at the event violated Ethics Commission rules, another allegation that Lamoureux disputes.

Under state law, legislative caucuses can give up to $2,000 to each candidate for each election.

As for himself, nearly two weeks ago, Lamoureux amended his campaign- finance report for April to disclose his contributions

after the Arkansas DemocratGazette questioned why his initial report for the month didn’t show them.

He had given $ 8,000: $2,000 apiece to the campaigns of Rep. Jane English of North Little Rock, Rep. Gary Stubblefield of Branch and El Dorado businessman Henry Frisby; and $1,000 apiece to Sen. Bruce Holland of Greenwood and Wynne farmer Tommy Caubble.

The five candidates reported the contributions from Lamoureux.

Others also contributed at the caucus fundraiser. After the fundraiser, Sen. Bill Sample, R-Hot Springs, reported giving $1,000 to English and $ 2,000 apiece to Caubble, Frisby and Stubblefield. Sen. Johnny Key, R- Mountain Home, reported giving $1,000 to Caubble, $1,900 to Stubblefield, and $2,000 to Frisby; Sen. Eddie Joe Williams, RCabot, reported giving $1,000 to Caubble, $1,750 to English and $2,000 apiece to Frisby and Stubblefield; and Sen. Cecile Bledsoe, R- Rogers, reported giving $1,000 apiece to Caubble, English, Frisby and Stubblefield.

Williams said Friday that he gave checks to the candidates at the fundraiser and has a ticket showing that he attended the event.

Caubble refused Friday to answer questions about the fundraiser, referring them to state Republican Party Chairman Doyle Webb of Benton.

Later, former state Republican Party Chairman Gilbert Baker of Conway, a state senator, called this newspaper and said Webb had asked him to answer the questions about the fundraiser, which Baker attended.

Baker said Bledsoe, Key, Lamoureux, Sample and Williams attended “the ticketed event. To attend the event, they gave those contributions” to Caubble, English, Stubblefield and Frisby, who all attended it.

The fundraiser being a “ticketed event” is a point of significance under the state’s campaign-finance rules, because transferring a contribution from one person’s campaign to another’s campaign is generally prohibited, but there are circumstances under which a candidate can attend a fundraiser for another candidate to further his own campaign, and thus buying a ticket to the fundraiser would be permitted under the Ethics Commission’s rules.

But a number of legislators confess that the rules on ticketed events are murky to them.

Baker said he believes that Lamoureux’s $2,000 contribution to Holland was made for a separate ticketed event for a group of senators.

Neither Lamoureux nor Holland could be reached for further comment Friday

Baker said he didn’t know the name of the person who filed the complaint.

Several days ago, Lamoureux said he would provide a copy of the complaint to this newspaper. Instead, the Democrat-Gazette received a faxed copy of an Ethics Commission letter dated May 22 about the Arkansas Conservative Legislative PAC’s Senate Fund filing its first quarter report a day late.

The commission has authority to issue fines ranging from $50 to $2,000 and/or issue a public letter of caution, warning or reprimand for violations of state ethics rules.

Money for legislative races is especially a focus this year because for the first time in a decade all 135 legislative seats are up for election and because Republicans have their best chance in more than a century of wresting control of the General Assembly from the Democrats.

Caubble, English, Frisby and Stubblefield are seeking four of the 11 Senate seats for which senators are termlimited and aren’t seeking reelection. It’s those seats that Lamoureux has said he’s focusing on his party winning in the Nov. 6 general election.

Caubble aims to defeat Rep. Jerry Brown, D-Wynne, in Senate District 23, and English is seeking to beat Rep. Barry Hyde, D-North Little Rock, in Senate District 34. Frisby is facing Rep. Bobby Pierce, D-Sheridan, in Senate District 27, and Stubblefield is seeking to defeat former state Rep. John Paul Wells, DParis, in Senate District 6.

Holland is attempting to hold off a challenge from Rep. Tracy Pennartz, D-Fort Smith, in Senate District 9.

The Senate consists of 20 Democrats and 15 Republicans. A majority is 18.

Lamoureux also reported a $1,000 contribution to Bledsoe to help her retire her campaign debt from her unsuccessful bid for the GOP nomination in the 3rd Congressional District in 2010, and a $1,000 contribution to one-time 4th Congressional District candidate Marcus Richmond of Harvey, who suspended his campaign in February and endorsed the eventual Republican nominee Tom Cotton of Dardanelle.

Lamoureux, an attorney, said that he initially reported the contributions that his campaign made for part of April, but had left several out.

“I have been turned into an accountant,” he said, “and I am documenting a lot of different stuff, and I probably got sloppy with it.”

CORE OF THE COMPLAINT

At the heart of the current complaint is an Arkansas Ethics Commission rule that generally prohibits a candidate from contributing campaign funds to another candidate’s campaign.

Such contributions are considered a “personal use” of funds, according to the rule.

But the prohibition is “a rebuttable presumption,” the rule states.

“There could be times and circumstances when a candidate may attend a fundraiser for another candidate and the purpose of attending would be to further the candidate’s own campaign,” according to the rule.

“Therefore, buying a ticket to a fundraiser would be permitted,” the rule states.

“I think this who l e area needs clarification,” Lamoureux said. “People have a lot of questions about h ow things work and how they should work.”

Sen. Larry Teague, DNashville, agrees with him. Teague is in line to be the Senate’s leader in 2013 and 2014 if the Democrats stay in control after the fall elections. He said he has “no idea” what the rules are for making contributions out his own campaign funds to another candidate at a ticketed event.

“As I recall, there has to be a legitimate gain for your own campaign before you can do that,” he said. “But that’s really all I recall about any of it.”

Teague, who is unopposed in the Nov. 6 general election, said last week that he downloaded the commission’s rules related to ticketed events after a commission staff member recently read him the rules.

“I am not saying I understood them right off,” he said. “It is clearly not laid out 1, 2, 3 and 4.”

Rep. John Burris of Harrison, the former House Republican leader, said the confusion about the rules is “the Legislature’s fault” in many ways.

“The Ethics Commission can only interpret what we give them and then, very fairly, they don’t like to give bad advice. So they always err on the side of ambiguity a lot of times,” he said. “From a general perspective, anytime you spend campaign funds, there needs to be a benefit to your campaign. That’s where the gray comes in because there is a lot of things that I can make an argument that is beneficial.”

For the 2012 election so far, Senate leader Paul Bookout, a Democrat from Jonesboro; Senate Democratic leader Robert Thompson of Paragould; and Teague haven’t reported using their own campaign funds to purchase tickets to another legislative candidate’s fundraiser.

Teague said he wouldn’t be surprised to see legislative candidates having more ticketed fundraisers this year than in previous years.

“I think candidates are trying to figure out ways to raise money, and with all 135 [ seats up for election], money is in short supply,” he said.

Thompson, who is facing Corning Republican Blake Johnson in Senate District 20, reported using his campaign funds to buy a $200 ticket to a fundraiser for the Senate Democratic Caucus last October.

But, he said, he doesn’t plan to use his campaign funds to buy tickets for any legislative candidate fundraisers before the Nov. 6 general election.

“Just about any event that I attend between now and November will be in Senate District 20,” Thompson said.

Majority party control is also at stake in the general election in the House, where the Democrats now have 54 seats and the Republicans have 46.

Rep. Darrin Williams, a Democrat from Little Rock, is in line to become the House leader for 2013 and 2014. But if Republicans gain control in the House this fall, Rep. Terry Rice, a Republican from Waldron, would likely be the House leader.

Rice and Williams have their own political action committees through which they distribute campaign contributions, and they said they also contribute through their own personal funds.

The Rice Leadership PAC reported a $250 contribution to one GOP legislative candidate for the 2012 election, so far. Also, he has reported purchasing tickets for $250, $ 400 and $ 500 out of his own campaign funds for six Republican legislative candidates.

For this year’s election, Williams hasn’t reported using his campaign funds to buy tickets to another legislative candidate’s fundraiser. He said he rarely does so.

However, he reported contributing from $ 50 to $250 to 11 Democratic legislative candidates through his 4-year-old Opportunity PAC so far in this election.

“I always have supported candidates who I consider to be good candidates, and I plan to continue to do that,” he explained.

“I am not opposed to giving to Republicans,” Williams said, but he doesn’t plan to contribute to any who are running against a Democrat for the Legislature.

For this year’s election, House Republican leader Bruce Westerman of Hot Springs reported using his campaign funds to buy tickets for $250 apiece to fundraisers for two legislative candidates.

Burris, whose leadership post Westerman assumed after this year’s fiscal legislative session, reported purchasing tickets for either $250 or $500 to fundraisers out of his campaign funds for several GOP legislative candidates for this year’s election.

Lamoureux