DENVER—Elected officials, lobbyists, and political candidates and campaigns owe the secretary of state’s office more than $500,000 in fines, mostly for failing to properly file paperwork disclosing their donors, according to a news report.
Campaigns are fined $50 a day and lobbyists pay $10 daily for late filings. The paperwork is required to be filed by Amendment 27, passed by state voters in 2002.
Among those owing money are the Conservative Caucus of Delta County, with $67,900 in fines, The Denver Post reported in Sunday editions.
State Rep. Jack Pommer filed his January paperwork in July. The Democrat from Boulder paid $15,000 in accumulated fines and then paid the remaining $9,120 after the Post contacted him last week.
“There is a cost to being stupid,” Pommer said. “I could appeal, but I don’t know what I would say.”
Build the Future Education, a small donor committee financed by a carpenters union, owed $66,894. That’s a little more than half of what it originally owed until the secretary of state’s office waived $57,175.
The Colorado League of Taxpayers owes $7,150. A former contender for House District 41 in Arapahoe County has a $13,087 bill, a candidate for House District 33 in Broomfield a few years ago owes $60,160, and a district attorney in southern Colorado owes $12,870 in fees, the Post also reported.
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Information from: The Denver Post,
