Public Campaign - Utah

New Rules

Katie Schlieper — Tue, 20 May 2008 19:51:01 +0000

On the campaign finance disclosure front a couple of states are looking to close some loopholes. In California new ethics rules will require an explanation for luxury purchases made with campaign funds to ensure they're necessary for the candidate to do his or her job. Meanwhile, Utah is looking to clear up a worrying feature of their electronic campaign finance filing system that lets campaign edit and delete entries at will, with no record of it having been done.

Big Waste

Katie Schlieper — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 19:28:45 +0000

How comfortable are you with the idea that the metric by which we determine how nuclear waste is disposed of could be campaign contributions? A Utah-based company seeking a contract to import nuclear waste for processing at their facility is throwing money at key members of Congress in an effort to advance their interests, over the objections of environmental groups.

Utah Looks at Lobbyist Rules

Katie Schlieper — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 21:06:36 +0000

A group of Republican legislators in Utah are putting ethics reform at the top of their list for this year with the goal of revising the guidelines on lobbyist gifts to lawmakers, the transfer of funds from one legislator's campaign account to another, and the "personal expenses" that a lawmaker may legally cover using campaign funds. It's not a Clean Elections proposal, but it's a step towards greater transparency and accountability in the legislature.

Utah Letter to the Editor

Katie Schlieper — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 19:10:32 +0000

Ilona Jappinem of Logan, Utah has this letter to the editor in the Salt Lake City Tribune advocating a Clean Elections program as the way forward in light of the recent Supreme Court decision weakening provisions of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law.