JACKSON - The public could get more information about who's giving money to influence elections under a bill that may go up for a vote in the Legislature today.
Negotiators signed off on the bill after removing some disclosure requirements to make it more palatable to the Senate.
The House and Senate must vote on the bill today or it is a dead issue for the 2004 session.
The proposal filed Thursday has more stringent requirements for campaign loans and contributions.
Stripped from the bill was a stipulation that political action committees that make contributions to other PACs disclose the original source of the money.
"We feel that was a golden opportunity missed when it came to PAC-to-PAC. It's a huge loophole," said Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Compretta.
"They prevent citizens from knowing who their true contributors are by simply laundering money from one PAC to another until you have no clue as to who the ultimate source of the money was," he said.
Senate Elections Chairman Bobby Chamberlin, R-Hernando, said he's confident the final version of the bill will pass the Senate. On Tuesday, the Senate sent an earlier version of the campaign finance bill back for more negotiations. Some senators complained it would limit a corporation's ability to contribute to Mississippi campaigns.
Restrictions on corporations and labor unions were removed from the final version of the bill, Chamberlin said.
Chamberlin said the legislation would be stronger than current law because it requires that any nonprofit group such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce or any other 501(c) entity disclose the source of contributions of $200 or more if the organization names specific candidates in advertisements purchased during an election cycle.
Currently, those groups don't have to reveal donors.
The bill would require disclosure of the identity of anyone who loans money to a candidate or co-signs for a candidate's loan. Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck has said she wanted the law to be clearer about loans. Tuck weathered criticism last year about getting multimillionaire attorney Richard Scruggs to back $510,000 in loans for her in 1999.
Also in the bill is a requirement that candidates who spend or raise $75,000 or more a year file campaign finance reports electronically.
Secretary of State Eric Clark said the bill isn't "everything we hoped for, but it is most of what we worked for. If the Legislature passes the bill and the governor signs it, we will begin to return sunlight and accountability to the financing of our election campaigns."
The debate over outside groups influencing Mississippi elections was fueled in 2000 when the U.S. Chamber of Commerce spent about $1 million on ads for judicial races.
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