SL Trib: Lieutenant Governor Refuses to Enforce the Law

Weirdly, Republican Lt. Governor Herbert says his job is merely to "accept" campaign donation reports, and not not to enforce the Utah reporting law violations

By Curmudgeon

There was a story in Friday's SL Trib that was worthy of mention, I think. It reported that Utah's Lt. Governor Gary Herbert says his office "won't enforce" a law passed last legislative session that requires campaign donations of more than $25 dollars to be disclosed by the candidate receiving them within 30 days. The Lt. Governor's office says its job is merely to "accept" the reports, not to enforce the reporting law. Even if the report came in more than 30 days after the deadline, Joe Demma, Herbert's chief of staff, said the Lt. Governor's office would not enforce a penalty.

From the story:

However, state law firmly puts the onus on Herbert's office to make sure that all candidates are filing reports that conform with the law and to report any candidates in violation to the Attorney General's Office. Candidates who break the law could be charged with a class B misdemeanor. Why then would the Lt. Governor's office not file charges in such a case? You will love the answer. So will Mayor Godfrey and Councilman Johnson:

“I think simply filing an amended report would work.” But, Sheena McFarland's probing story points out, "that report could come well after the election ends." Uh hun. Yes it could. And has, right here in River City. This is so blatant a "protect our political friends" approach to non-enforcement of election laws, it has outraged even Republican legislators. To their credit. From the story:

That's not good enough for Sen. Greg Bell, R-Fruit Heights, who cosponsored the bill. “To play games by not properly reporting contributions and then filing an amended report and say 'No harm, no foul'... that was not our intention,” Bell said. Kudoes to Sen. Bell, who is not one of my favorite legislators.

The story goes on:

When a candidate misreports campaign finances, it can impact a race. In Utah, supporters of the state's lax campaign finance laws often argue the laws are lenient because everything is disclosed for voters to see, said Kirk Jowers, a campaign finance attorney.

However, that only works if candidates accurately report contributions. “If voters cannot get timely contributor information, it eliminates their ability to fairly see influence on that legislator that may or may not make a difference to them,” said Jowers, who also is the director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah. And what says Rep. Brad Dee, a sponsor of the bill? He "understands" the Lt. Governor's position on not enforcing the law that makes enforcement his responsibility. But Dee sees no real problem because he can't imagine candidates not complying because "it's simple and entirely possible." Uh huh. [Rep. Dee, may we introduce you to Councilman Johnson?]

So, the legislature passes a law to require reporting campaign contributions within thirty days, and we include in the law the Lt. Governor's responsibility for enforcing it, and he says "Nah. Don't feel like it." And Rep. Dee says that's fine with him, because he can't believe that any candidate would not comply with the law anyway.

I presume Rep. Dee also believes in the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny and that Bill Clinton never inhaled.