DENVER—Colorado Secretary of State Bernie Buescher said Wednesday state lawmakers must fix several state laws on campaign finance because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling backed by the Colorado Supreme Court.
Gov. Bill Ritter asked the Colorado high court to weigh in after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled businesses and unions should be allowed to directly spend unlimited amounts of money to produce and run their own ads for campaigns.
The Colorado Supreme Court says that conflicts with Colorado’s Amendment 27, which was approved by Colorado voters in 2002 banning such contributions.
Republicans see overturning the amendment as a potential game-changer in an important election year which they believe will level the playing field on political contributions from core constituents.
Buescher says one issue that needs to be addressed is whether companies based in foreign countries should be allowed to influence Colorado elections.
“I personally don’t think that’s a good idea, but these are some of the complex things that have to be worked out,” Buescher said.
Buescher said the state also needs to tighten disclosure rules, which were not necessary because those contributions were illegal.
He said some regulations can be changed by rules, but conflicting statutes need to be clarified and lawmakers also need to review possible new regulations on federal races, including as Congress and the U.S. Senate.
Buescher said the U.S. Supreme Court also suggested, but did not require, that states consider requiring shareholder approval for corporate contributions.
Rep. Paul Weissmann, D-Louisville, said lawmakers will need to get it done before the Legislature adjourns in May because two sections of the campaign law were struck down, but other provisions were left intact.
One section struck down makes it unlawful for a corporation or labor organization to make contributions to a candidate committee or a political party, and to make expenditures expressly advocating the election or defeat of a candidate. The other makes it unlawful for a corporation or labor organization to provide funding for an electioneering communication, with some exceptions.
“The court said what we already knew, that some parts of our constitution are unconstitutional,” Weissmann said.
