DENVER—Two Colorado government accountability groups filed a complaint against Secretary of State Scott Gessler alleging that he wrongly changed a campaign finance rule to increase the monetary threshold for some disclosures.
Colorado Ethics Watch and Colorado Common Cause say Gessler was wrong to increase the contribution trigger for when a group has to file as an issue committee from $200 to $5,000.
The groups say Gessler doesn’t have the authority to make that change.
The complaint was filed Thursday in Denver District Court. A hearing date hasn’t been set.
Gessler’s office says an appeals court ruled the $200 threshold is unconstitutionally low and that issue committee reporting would be unenforceable without a higher trigger.
Common Cause argues contributions will be hidden from the public because of the rule change.
