February 28, 2006

IA GOP Says Vilsack's PAC Violated IA Law

Iowa Republicans say a campaign account connected to IA Gov. Tom Vilsack's '04 re-election bid ran afoul of state campaign finance laws by giving $50,000 to Vilsack's political action committee last year.

In a complaint filed today with the state's ethics and campaign disclosure board, Iowa Republican Party director Cullen Sheehan contends that state law forbids campaigns from transferring money to any account that benefits an office-holder personally.

Sheehan argues that Vilsack allegedly uses his Heartland PAC "to travel all over the country for personal benefit."

"Money was contributed to his campaign committee with the intention that he would use it to get re-elected in Iowa, instead he is using this money to increase his visibility nationally," Sheehan said in a statement.

The Republican allegations come a week after state Dems accused Rep. Jim Nussle (R-IA), of improperly using his old federal campaign account to further his gubernatorial bid. [MARC AMBINDER]

At issue for Vilsack are two $25K in checks written to Heartland PAC, which Vilsack's advisers registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a non-federal account designed to help elect Democratic governors. The PAC does not contribute to races involving candidates for the U.S. Senate or House and therefore can avoid federal campaign finance laws that limit the size of contributions.

Charles Smithson, the executive director of Iowa's campaign disclosure board, declined via e-mail to comment on GOP's filing. But he did discuss, in general terms, what the law generally permits.

Iowa state law says that money raised for a campaign committee can be used for either "campaign purposes, educational and other expenses associated with the duties of office, or constituency services."

That broad definition was fleshed out by the Iowa elections board into a laundry list of permissible activities.

"So if something is not mentioned, campaign funds cannot be used for that purpose," Smithson says.

PACs are not mentioned, and so the state does "not allow use of candidate campaign funds to be given to [PACs} because those entities are not listed as a permissible recipient," he says.

Complaints about improper contributions generally trigger an examination of the benefiting account. In this case, that would be Vilsack's PAC.

"Part of the analysis would be, what does the 527 do and what relation does it have to the contributor," Smithson said.

An aide said the PAC has previously consulted with the ethics board to make sure all of its activities are above board.

One expense cited by Republicans was the PAC's payment of more than $70K to the Dewey Square Group in '05. The firm employs several Vilsack advisers who travel with him when he is out of IA and who coordinate his the PAC's political program.

Nearly every potential presidential candidate chairs a leadership PAC. The PACs seek donations and contribute to other candidates, collecting chits that come in handy years later.

Most PACs define their activity broadly enough; "helping elect Democrats" allows for a candidate to donate computers to, say, the NH state party. The FEC prohibits PACs from spending money solely to further the political ambitions of their chairs.

Vilsack's PAC is not registered with the FEC because it does not contribute to federal races.

Posted at 05:34 PM

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