Arizona Daily Star  04.24.2009

Editorial

A bill co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is a good start toward breaking the connection between lawmakers’ budget requests and companies that make campaign donations to politicians.

Giffords, a Democrat, is sponsoring the bill with Rep. Paul Hodes, D-N.H. The bill would prohibit donations to a lawmaker from lobbyists or top executives in companies that donated to that individual lawmaker in the two years leading up to a politician’s re-election.

The bill doesn’t outright ban members of Congress from sponsoring earmarks – requests for money for specific projects that are put into the federal budget and not considered individually – that would benefit companies that are their donors. The time-limit approach of Giffords’ bill, while not perfect, will build in delays between the donations and earmark requests.

Lawmakers routinely deny any connection between campaign donations and budget requests or bills sponsored, but even the hint of a connection undercuts our democratic system.

This bill, the Clean Law for Earmark Accountability Reform Act, or the CLEAR Act, covers any “entity” that makes donations and requests earmarks.

Railing against earmarks is almost a franchise for Arizona politicians. Sen. John McCain has made earmark reform a centerpiece of his political persona. U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake, a Republican from the Phoenix area, has made a mission of fighting earmarks.

Giffords joins that effort. She has followed the policy outlined in her bill since coming to Congress in January 2007 and has pledged, according to a story by the Star’s Daniel Scarpinato, not to make earmark requests that would benefit private companies. “Private companies don’t have that level of transparency that public organizations like the University of Arizona or nonprofits have,” Giffords said.

One shortcoming of the bill is that it doesn’t address donations and requests from political action committees, or PACs.

That loophole must be closed because federal election law allows individuals to donate up to $2,400 to a candidate, but PACs can collect donations of up to $5,000 and make contributions of up to $10,000 to a candidate.

Giffords’ bill should become law. It’s a small step in a much broader effort to resolve a problem that has continued to dog our political process. Mixing earmarks and political donations erodes the public’s confidence that lawmakers act in their constituents’ best interest, not at the bidding of monied corporations or donors.