Final Major Campaign Finance Reform Bill On Way To Governor

(Sean Whaley/Nevada News Bureau) – The third piece of a package of campaign finance reform bills sought by Secretary of State Ross Miller this legislative session is on its way to Gov. Brian Sandoval for his consideration.

The bill was sent to Sandoval [Sunday] after the Senate on Saturday receded from an amendment it had previously approved to Assembly Bill 81.

AB81 contains a provision restricting the creation of political action committees to circumvent limits on how much money can be contributed to a campaign. The use of multiple PACS became an issue with Rory Reid’s failed gubernatorial bid.

That issue was resolved this past week when Reid agreed to pay a $25,000 administrative penalty to resolve the matter. No wrongdoing was admitted in the settlement.

Miller’s office investigated Reid’s use of 90 shell political action committees his campaign established to funnel $750,000 into his failed race for Nevada governor. Reid has said the use of the multiple PACs was legal.

Another section of AB81 would allow for bigger financial penalties if a third-party group spends money in a Nevada campaign without filing the required disclosure information.

AB81 joins AB82 and AB452 which are already before Sandoval.

AB82 includes a prohibition on candidates accepting campaign contributions from foreign nationals.

AB452 would require on-line filing of campaign contribution and expense reports by most candidates and require earlier reporting of the information so voters could review the data before casting their ballots.