It will play a major role in the fundraising wars for next year’s governor race.
ATLANTA – Earlier this month, Governor Brian Kemp signed a new law that radically changes the way some select incumbents or party candidates raise money for their campaigns.
The law, SB 221, goes into effect this summer and will play a major role in the fundraising wars for next year’s gubernatorial race.
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It has been reviewed to create a two tier campaign funding system that has been described by critics – one where traditional rules apply and one where outsourcing allows for unlimited spending for certain key races.
So how does it actually work?
“Management Committees”
The text of SB 221 envisions a new type of campaign fundraising vehicle, called a “leadership committee”, which will facilitate the change.
They can be formed by the governor or lieutenant governor, or “a political party candidate for governor who was elected in a primary election in the year he was nominated, or a political party candidate for lieutenant governor who was in a primary in the year in which he was nominated to whom he or she is nominated. “
The second part is crucial, because while the wording of the law gives equal consideration to the opposition party, in practice a party does not select its candidate for these offices until a few months before the election – so that candidate has much less time over their Steering Committee “To raise funds, as the incumbent governor or lieutenant governor, who would effectively be able to raise his committee year-round.
How much can you raise?
Under current law, Georgia has campaign dues limits that are $ 7,000 for an area code and $ 7,000 for general election (with smaller amounts for runoffs) in statewide races – such as governor and lieutenant governor, according to the state ethics committee.
The part of the law that outlines these boundaries is Section 21-5-41 of the Georgia Code. SB 221 makes these new “leadership committees” a clear exception to this law:
“The contribution limits in Code Section 21-5-41 do not apply to contributions to a governing body or expenditure by a governing body in support of a candidate or group of named candidates,” the new law states.
The Campaign Funding Act is complex, and there have always been exceptions to the rules that allowed candidates to raise more than the maximum from individuals or organizations. But this law doesn’t even apply a nominal alternative fundraising limit, so that a governing body is free to raise as much money as it wants.
What else is affected?
The new law also extends to Republican and Democratic leaders in the House and Senate of Georgia – legislatures subject to even lower campaign dues under current law than the statewide races, and this becomes, for example, House Speaker David Ralston, now be able to handle.
The law has also raised objections from third parties. The Georgia Libertarian Party has stated that Georgia law only classifies “political parties” as Republican and Democratic parties, and that other parties are officially classified as “political bodies.”
Thus, the law that specifically applies to parties, the libertarians and other third parties is omitted in writing.
