Something Maryland Gets Right

By Marc Korman.

The Maryland political calendar in December and early January is filled with fundraisers, as lawmakers rush to raise money before the 2009 legislative session begins on January 14th. Although a drain on schedules and wallets of political activists around the state, the rush to raise money is a good thing. It is a byproduct of what is arguably Maryland’s best good government law, the ban on fundraising during the legislative session.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Maryland is one of sixteen states with a prohibition or restriction on any campaign contributions during its legislative session. Thirteen other states prohibit or restrict lobbyist donations. What that means in Maryland is that during the 90 day legislative session the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Comptroller, or any General Assembly member cannot receive a contribution, conduct a fundraiser, solicit or sell a ticket to a fundraiser, or even deposit any campaign funds. If an elected official violates the law, they are subject to a $1,000 fine and forfeiture of the donation.

The explanation I usually hear for the law is that it limits the ability of lobbyists to sway (some would say bribe) elected officials on issues during the session. For example, if there is a bill to raise the tobacco tax before the State Senate, the ban prevents the tobacco company’s lobbyist from buying a few votes with some well timed campaign donations.

Although there may be some truth to that reasoning, I believe lobbyists think a bit more long term than that. They can identify potential swing votes on issues they expect to come before the General Assembly before the session and make donations accordingly. Lobbyists understand that they are establishing long term relationships with their regularly occurring donations, not paying by the vote.

But the ban on fundraising fulfills another important purpose. It creates time for legislators to do the work they are in Annapolis for. On Capitol Hill, where there is no similar restriction on fundraising, Members of Congress and Senators are regularly stepping away from their offices and committee hearings to dial for dollars. According to one source, Congress members need to raise $11,000 a week and Senators need to raise $30,000 a week for their reelection battles.

Thankfully, state races are much cheaper. But fundraising still comes with the job. The law preventing lawmakers from focusing on fundraising during the 90 days they are in Annapolis makes for a better government. It also raises the question of whether public financing should be enacted, but that is a topic for another day.

There is a loophole in the current law however. It does not apply to Special Sessions. Delegate Saqib Ali first proposed plugging the loophole during the 2007 Special Session and introduced legislation in the 2008 session. Legislative leaders have also expressed an interest in plugging the hole. A Special Session fundraising ban would be a bit more difficult for lawmakers than the regular session ban, since they could have previously scheduled events planned when a Special Session is called. But that inconvenience is a small price to pay for the benefits of fundraising bans during session.

So if your email and mailbox are being inundated with fundraising requests, remember there is a good government reason for it. Elected officials may spend the next two weeks raising money, but that will ensure they then spend 90 days doing their jobs.