In 1974 the United States Congress amended the Federal Elections Campaign Act (FECA) and set up today's rules for candidates running for Federal offices. Contribution limits for individuals, PACs, and political parties were enacted.

In 1995 the Ohio legislature passed comprehensive campaign finance legislation that set up rules for candidates running for statewide and General Assembly offices in Ohio. Included were contribution limits for individuals, PACs, and political parties.

What about candidates running at the county, township or municipal level in Ohio? What limits their fundraising activities? What information is available to citizens?

Local elections are governed under the 1995 Ohio legislation, but that legislation actually mentions very little regarding candidates running for county, township and municipal positions.

Who Can Raise Money?

A local candidate must first set up a campaign committee before he or she can accept any contributions. The committee picks a name, chooses a treasurer, files the designation of treasurer with the Board of Elections, and sets up a separate bank account to handle all transactions. A candidate may only have one committee.

The law holds both the candidate and treasurer legally responsible for campaign finance reporting requirements. The treasurer is appointed by the candidate and is responsible for keeping detailed records of everything received, given or expended by the committee.

A campaign committee becomes a public entity. All contributions and all expenditures are subject to public regulation. All records filed by the committee are open to public view. Citizens may examine all campaign reports at their county Board of Elections. They may request copies of these reports, but must pay reasonable copying fees.

Many local candidates still file-handwritten reports. The Board of Elections is required to keep all reports on file for at least six years. They are not required to computerize the records or compile the information in any organized way for public viewing.

How Much Can They Ask Us For?

All over the country citizens are expressing concerns about the vast flow of money through the electoral process. Poll after poll shows citizens want to limit campaign spending.

The United States Supreme Court has prohibited any limit of the total amount of money a candidate for public office may raise or spend. In the 1976 Buckley v. Valeo decision, the Court equated money with speech. It ruled that mandatory expenditure limits for candidates violated the First Amendment rights of free speech. Buckley did, however, permit contribution limits in political campaigns as long as they are not so low as to infringe upon a candidate's ability to raise enough money to get out his/her message to the voters (free speech).

There are no contribution limits in Ohio for candidates running for municipal office unless there is a local ordinance that has set local limits. There are also no contribution limits for county or township offices.

Akron, Cleveland, Piqua, and Upper Arlington have enacted local campaign finance laws. Cincinnati's local contribution limits law was recently rescinded, while its spending cap was declared unconstitutional. Akron voters passed local legislation in November 1998, but a judge has enjoined its enforcement while the case is in the courts. (See below for further information about these local limits)

At the local level in Ohio a campaign committee may accept the following contributions:

From an individual: Unlimited amount

From a PAC: Unlimited amount

From a political party: Unlimited Amount

In-Kind donations: Unlimited Amount

From the candidate to self: Unlimited amount

From Candidate's Own Employees:   Unlimited Voluntary Contributions;
Employees may not be solicited for contributions.

From other campaign committees: Unlimited amount

Cash donations: Limit $100

From Corporations: Not Permitted

From Labor Organizations: Not Permitted

From Foreign Nationals (non-citizens): Not Permitted (includes individuals, governments corporations).

No one may be solicited for donations in public buildings where official business is being conducted.

What Information Can We Get?

Citizens are entitled to all information contained in the financial disclosure forms filed by candidate committees. This is public information.

Local candidates must file reports with their county Board of Elections. They use disclosure forms that require the following information for each contribution received in the amount of $25 or more:

Name of the contributor

Address of the contributor

Amount of the contribution

Form of the contribution (cash, check, etc)

Date of the contribution

Contributions totaling $25 or less at a specific fund-raising activity may be grouped together with only total entered within a report.

Local candidates use the same reporting forms as statewide candidates in Ohio. The forms are available in paper or on computer disk from county Boards of Elections. Candidate committee treasurers must file reports showing all financial activity at certain specified dates, including a pre-primary report (12 days prior to the election), post-primary report (38 days after the election), a pre-general report (12 days prior to the election), and a post-general report (38 days after the election).

All campaign committees are required to file an annual report in those years when their name is not on the ballot unless the candidate has filed for a waiver of reporting requirements. (See below)

The 1995 law requires separate forms for certain types on contributions, such as in-kind, fundraiser events, contributions from a candidate's employees, anonymous donations, loans, etc.

More information about election regulations and copies of all report forms can be found in Ohio Campaign Finance Reporting Handbook, which is published by the Secretary of State's office and available at your county Board of Elections Office.

Local Candidate Waiver of Reporting Option

Beginning in 1998, many local candidates have the option not to file reports This is an effort to cut red tape for local candidates running smaller campaigns who are willing to agree to voluntary spending limits of $2,000, aggregate contribution limits of $2,000, and contribution limits of $100 from individuals. The following candidates may qualify for this waiver: municipal candidates running for offices that pay an annual compensation of $5,000 or less; candidates for township trustee or clerk; candidates for boards of education except state board of education. Candidates must file a particular form with their county Board of Election for this exemption.

Employer Identification

Employer disclosure is not required at the local level in Ohio. The reporting form has a place to disclose the contributor's employer, which must be filled in by statewide candidates. However, local candidates may currently leave that line blank.

Federal and state candidates are required to provide employer identifications for large contributions. Citizen groups find such information helpful in tracking the influence of money. This information is not available for local elections.

Part Two: Local Reforms in Ohio

Because cities in Ohio have home rule charters, they may enact provisions into their charters that govern financing of their local elections. According to the National Civic League, over seventy-five cities throughout the United States have local campaign finance legislation. Some of these cities are in Ohio.

(The following list of cities includes the year the local legislation was enacted and the population of the city according to the 1990 census.)

1982: Upper Arlington (population 34,000)

Contribution and loan limits of $200 to candidates for City Council (includes money, gifts and in-kind service)

City employees may not contribute in Council elections.

1991: Piqua (21,000)

Mandatory spending limits of $300 for candidates for City Commission (includes expenditures of combined monies or other thing of value)

Note: Piqua is one of four local jurisdictions around the country that still have mandatory spending limits on their books.

1995: Cincinnati (population 364,000)

Mandatory spending limits of three times the annual salary of a member of Council (or about $140,000 per campaign)

Note: This ordinance was challenged in court and ruled unconstitutional. It never went into effect.

Contribution limits of $1,000 for individuals; $2,500 for PACs; and $10,000 for political parties. The contribution limits are for the General Fundraising Period, not calendar year. General Fundraising Period was defined as the two-year period from the ending of one election through the ending of the next.

Note: This ordinance was in effect only during the 1997 elections while the appeal on the spending ordinance was still in the courts. When the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear appeals for the spending limits case in November 1998, the Cincinnati City Council rescinded the Contributions Limits Ordinance, too, in December 1998.

* These laws are no longer in effect.

Contribution limits of $1,000 from individuals; $2,000 from PACs (with a provision that allows up to $5,000 from large PACs in Mayoral elections under certain circumstances); and $100 from City of Cleveland employees.

Voluntary spending limits of $30,000 for Council and $625,000 for Mayor (to be indexed for inflation).

1998 Akron (population 223,000) Provisions of the new law include:

Contribution Limits: $300 from any individual, political party or political action committee to mayor and at-large City Council candidates; $100 from any individual, political party or political action committee to a ward candidate; $25 cash contribution from individuals.

Limit to 25 percent the amount of money any mayoral or at-large candidate could receive from people living outside of Akron

Require candidates, within 60 days after a general election, to turn over unused campaign funds to charities or to the city's general fund.

Require candidates to list the employer of any person donating $50 or more.

Limit fund raising to the 11 months preceding the municipal general election and prohibit it at all other times.

Note: This legislation passed in a citizen ballot initiative will not be enforced until the courts have ruled on the constitutionality of the various provisions. In February 1999 the federal judge in the case, citing concerns about the constitutionality of the ordinance, put a three month halt on the lawsuit and asked the community to come up with plan that will meet constitutional challenge.

Before Undertaking Local Reform…

Anyone working on campaign finance reform issues soon learns that there are many constitutional issues involved. Often local reform efforts, especially if they are citizen-driven, get challenged in court. Here is advice from the 1998 National Civic League report Local Campaign Finance Reform: Case Studies, Innovations and Model Legislation:

"Reformers should consult with their city attorney, or another attorney who specializes in municipal law, in order to determine whether their community has the legal authority to adopt local reform. At the same time, state reformers should be aware of the impact that state legislation may have on local reforms. State legislation can impose local limits and take away local authority if it does not already exist in the state."

Attorney Deborah Goldberg of the Brennan Center adds, "I completely agree that innovation at the local level should be strongly encouraged…. But I also believe that there is great value in having reformers submit their proposals to thorough and independent legal scrutiny, before plunging ahead with a particular measure." (Letter to Ric Bainter of the National Civic League, 9/30/98).

The Brennan Center for Justice is happy to advise reformers on the constitutionality of their proposed laws. Ms. Goldberg is the attorney assigned to Ohio cases or questions. Ms. Goldberg has edited a 1998 guide for developing local reforms Writing Reform: A Guide to Drafting State and Local Campaign Finance Laws (cost $25).

References and Resources

J. Kenneth Blackwell, Ohio Secretary of State, 30 E. Broad Street, Columbus, OH 42266-0418, (614) 466-2655, http://www.state.oh.us/sos/

Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, 161 Avenue of the Americas, 5^th Floor, New York, NY 10013, (212) 998-6730, www.brennancenter.org, e-mail brennancenter@nyu.edu

National Civic League, 1445 Market Street, Suite 300, Denver, CO 80202, (303) 571-4343, www.ncl.org/ncl

Copies of the campaign finance ordinances for the Ohio cities listed above are available in the LWVO office.

17 South High Street
Columbus, OH 43215-3413
(614) 469-7918

www.lwvohio.org

March 1999