OKLAHOMA CITY – A bill that supporters say will make dark money committees more transparent has cleared a legislative conference committee and is expected to be heard by both houses of the Legislature this week.
House Bill 3056 would give municipalities more authority to regulate local municipal campaigns and election and make those campaigns more accountable to the public, Oklahoma Municipal League Executive Director Mike Fina said.
“Right now, there is no accountability,” he said. “We have seen local municipal elections where dark money groups come in with hundreds of thousands of dollars against a candidate. It’s probably some of the nastiest dark money efforts that I’ve ever seen and there’s no regulation.”
The problem has gotten worse, Fina said, because the Oklahoma Ethics Commission is not enforcing existing laws on the books. “They aren’t doing it,” he said. “They have looked us in the eye and said they are not going to enforce the law because they don’t have the money or the manpower.”
Fina said municipal officials were getting beat up because there was no oversight.
Ashley Kemp, executive director of the ethics commission could not be reached for comment. However, the bill’s author, state Sen. Lonnie Paxton (R-Tuttle) said lawmakers have meet with members of the commission about the issue and the bill.
“We’ve met with them and we’re trying to come to a resolution,” Paxton said during floor debate on the bill. He said the commission was concerned the legislation would reduce their funding.
Daniel McClure, an attorney for the OML said the measure would allow communities smaller than 10,000 in population to regulate their municipal campaigns and allow them to form interlocal agreements for that regulation.
The bill, McClure said, would also establish civil fines of not more than $500.
“What it does is give us the ability to shine a line on these campaigns,” he said. “It allows local government to pass its own codes and, if needed, share resources with other governments.”
Though the bill passed the House on an 82-5 vote in March and by a 45-0 vote in the Senate about a month later, since then it has bounced back and forth with amendments. In April the bill’s title and enacting clause were stricken, a legislative maneuver that prevents the bill from becoming law.
On May 12, a conference committee reached an agreement on the bill and voted to restore both the title and enacting clause. The measure is expected to be heard by both houses of the Legislature next week.
McClure said he remains hopeful the bill will make it to the governor’s desk.
“Right now things are positive,” he said. “We haven’t heard anyone push back against more disclosure.”
Lawmakers have until May 27 to finish their work.