Is there a loophole in NH campaign finance law?

Last Thursday, April 20 the Senate killed a bill that aimed to close a supposed loophole in New Hampshire’s campaign finance laws.

The bill, HB 537, aimed to limit individual donations to a candidate before the candidate officially declares he or she is running for office.

According to bill sponsor Rep. Marjorie Porter, there is an ambiguity in the law on the maximum donation a candidate can receive in the exploratory phase of a campaign. The state limits individual donations to $1,000 during a campaign. The Attorney General and Secretary of State have set a limit of $5,000 on individual donations before a candidate declares. However, that $5,000 is not in law and the Attorney General has requested clarification from the legislature.

Bill supporters included campaign finance reform organizations, such as NH Rebellion.

However, the Senate Election Law and Internal Affairs committee said HB 537 had many technical problems.

HB 537 also did not address a potentially bigger loophole: the ability for committees to make unlimited donations to other committees. This gained attention in 2014, when a committee affiliated with Maggie Hassan accepted a $25,000 donation from a union. Hassan then turned that committee into her official campaign committee. The Attorney General ultimately ordered Hassan to pay back the $25,000 donation, but only because the money was accepted a day after she officially filed for office. If the committee had accepted the donation a few days earlier, the Hassan campaign would have been able to keep the cash. 

“So if someone was serious about closing a loophole, the biggest loophole we have is the fact that political committees can do unlimited transfers to political committees,” Sen. Andy Sanborn said in a hearing for HB 537.

Of course, all campaign finance regulations are limited by the Citizens United U.S. Supreme Court ruling, which allows committees unaffiliated with a candidate to accept unlimited donations.

To learn more about campaign finance regulations, visit our issue page. 

Do you think New Hampshire needs to tighten campaign finance regulations for the time before a candidate officially declares? Share your opinion in the comments below.