The Limits Are The Thing

By Kleinheider Posted on May 18, 2009 at 8:09 am

While Ron Ramsey seems optimistic about passing a bill this session that would free up he and other gubernatorial candidates across the aisle to raise money during next year’s legislative session, Kent Williams is not so sure noting that the bill, progressing nicely in the Senate, finds itself in a closed House subcommittee.

Either way, what is noteworthy about this bill is not just the lifting of the legislative ban. Certainly, this is important for all candidates but another portion of the bill is just as important, if not more.

This bill retroactively indexes for inflation the limits individual contributors can give to a candidate over a two year period. A bump from $2,000 to $2,800 for legislative candidates and a bump from $5,000 to $7,000 for gubernatorial candidates.

That is big. Now no Republican is going to be able to match the dollars that Bill Haslam spends, just as no Democrat will be able to match Ward Cammack. It isn’t about catching them because even if they were caught, each could simply write a check.

The point is funding the campaign they need to run the race they need to run. And a legislator is going to be hard pressed to fund a viable campaign with contribution limits set in 1995 and a fundraising ban during much of the year. The campaigns can manage without one, but not both.

Ramsey can deal with the session band — if when session is out he can go to his biggest contributors and hit them up (and their wives and their children) for an extra 2K. You start getting 2K more a maxed out contributor, your coffers start filling up quick.

So while the focus in the media is on lifting the ban, indexing the limits are just as important. Ramsey, if he wants to mount a legitimate campaign against Haslam, can deal with a ban or unindexed limit — but not both.

A bill fixing one or both of these problems needs to pass before lawmakers leave for the year in a few weeks or the Ramsey campaign may be done before it even starts.

SEE ALSO: Daily News Journal

permalink | 3 Comments

Tags: contribution limits, fundraising ban, Jim Kyle, Ron Ramsey, Roy Herron