Today, Ethics Watch submitted to Secretary of State Bernie Buescher comments in support of a proposed campaign finance rule that would require campaigns to provide detailed disclosures of expenditures that were paid for by the candidate, third parties or by credit card and later reimbursed by the campaign. Secretary Buescher's proposed rule would end the practice of reporting only the reimbursement or credit card payment and not the underlying expenditure that was being reimbursed. If adopted, the new rule will increase transparency of campaign spending.

The new Rule 4.25 would require committees to report the underlying expenditures paid for by a candidate or third person or through the use of a credit card. The rule would codify the Secretary of State’s office’s long-standing advice to committees to report expenditures in as much detail as possible.

In 2009, Ethics Watch observed that several candidate committees, from both parties, reported large reimbursements or credit card payments but provided no detail regarding the expenses that were being reimbursed or paid for through credit cards. Ethics Watch is submitting to the Secretary of State several examples of such reports filed by several candidate committees. These vague disclosures defeat the purpose of requiring campaigns to report expenditures. The proposed Rule will end the practice of reporting only the reimbursement payment and not the underlying expenditure, and will improve transparency of campaign spending.

The Secretary of State's Rulemaking Notice and Ethics Watch's comments can be viewed on the right hand side of this page.