Senators to begin accepting donations

State representatives have to wait until June 16 before they can begin accepting campaign contributions, though state senators have already been given the green light to start taking contributions, as a result of differing interpretations of House and Senate rules.

Similar House and Senate rules create a blackout period starting 30 days before a regular session and ending 30 days after a regular session. During that time, representatives and senators are barred from accepting campaign contributions.

But House and Senate rules also state that, “If there is an extended recess of the General Assembly, the period shall end thirty [30] days after the beginning of the recess.”

The Legislature recessed on April 23 before convening to adjourn its regular session on May 17.

Senate attorney Steve Cook told the 18 senators with two-year terms that they could accept campaign contributions starting May 23 for their re-election campaigns.

“Since we are in recess (we are scheduled to adjourn sine die on May 17), the 30-day period begins to run from today,” Cook wrote in a letter dated April 23.

House Speaker Davy Carter, R-Cabot, said in a letter Tuesday to representatives that he concurs with the traditional interpretation maintained by the House that campaign contributions may be received starting 30 days after adjournment of the regular session.

The regular session ends upon adjournment and, thus, “because we adjourned sine die on Friday, May 17th, the period for accepting contributions begins thirty (30) days later on Sunday, June 16, 2013,” he said.

Cook said Friday that his interpretation of the Senate rule has been consistent since it was adopted prior to the 2001 regular session, though the rule doesn’t define what “an extended recess” is.

Carter, an attorney, said he’s unclear what an extended recess is because it’s not defined in the House rules.

He said the House rules state it’s a violation of House rules for any member of the House to accept campaign contributions during the period starting 30 days before and ending 30 days after any regular session.

Rep. Ann Clemmer, R-Benton, said she plans to challenge Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, R-Little Rock, in the Republican primary next year and she plans to make a formal announcement about it in the future.

She said she doesn’t think it is going to make a difference in the long run that she can’t begin accepting campaign contributions until June 16, while Hutchinson can accept contributions now.

Clemmer said the House’s interpretation of the rule will delay representatives’ announcements of their campaigns and make their second quarter contribution reports smaller than those of their counterparts in the Senate.

Hutchinson said he had thought the Senate rule meant that he couldn’t accept campaign contributions until 30 days after the Legislature adjourned on May 17, so he’s planning to hold a fundraiser on June 18.

He said he’s hoping to raise $50,000 before June 30, no matter whether he has to do it in 12 days or 30 days.

“You have a year and a half to run [for office], so I don’t think having an extra 20 days [to raise campaign contributions] is going to make a difference,” Hutchinson said.

Earlier this month, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that thirteen state lawmakers reported taking campaign contributions within 30 days of the Jan. 14 start of this year’s legislative session or while the session was under way, although House and Senate rules bar them from accepting contributions during that time.

Two of the lawmakers, Rep. James McLean, D-Batesville, and Sen. Joyce Elliott, D-Little Rock, have said they mistakenly accepted campaign contributions during those periods and would return the contributions.

Eight other lawmakers said they actually received the contributions more than 30 days before the session and they incorrectly reported the days that they received them. A few of them initially provided copies of checks that they said they received before the blackout period and dated before the blackout period. Two others - Sens. Alan Clark, R-Lonsdale, and Gary Stubblefield, R-Branch - have subsequently provided copies of checks dated before the blackout period began.

Three first-term representatives said they were allowed to accept donations during the start of the blackout period because they had not yet been sworn into office and were therefore not bound by the rules.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 05/27/2013

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