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John Daley ReportingNo restrictions at all, that's how it is for Utah lawmakers when it comes spending campaign money for personal use. A couple of open government groups followed the money, and they label more than 40% of that as "questionable" spending, which would be illegal in other states.
What do golfing green fees, a babysitter and a digital camera have in common? All are items listed as an expenditure on campaign reports filed by Utah lawmakers.
Luke Peterson is a senior at UVSC who painstakingly analyzed the records.
Luke Peterson, Utah Students for Clean Elections: "We're the most apathetic voters out there. And the reason why is we don't really feel like we have a reason to trust our lawmakers, our elected representatives."
What he found was not reassuring. He discovered campaign money was being spent on personal items, travel, meals, gifts, charitable and political contributions, loan repayments and more. Of more than two million dollars in total campaign money, 41% was "potentially questionable" spending that's illegal in other states, or impossible to decipher because the reporting is so vague.
Utah is one of only 15 states with NO restrictions on how candidates spend their campaign money.
Anthony Musci, Chair, Common Cause of Utah: "I'm a legislator, I'm done with my term of service, I have leftover campaign money, what do I do with that? According to Utah law, I can go and put that in my pocket. I'm not breaking a single Utah law or rule."
Democrat Karen Hale has a bill to ban personal use of campaign money.
Sen. Karen Hale, (D) Salt Lake City: "I do think it's a big issue, especially as we're going into an election year, 2006, I think this is something that is definitely on people's minds."
But other lawmakers aren't sure there's a problem.
Sen. Sheldon Killpack, (R) Syracuse: "(Question: Do you think there's a problem here with the personal use of campaign funds?) To my knowledge, no, but this is the first I've heard of it."
Government watchdogs say new rules would minimize distrust.
Luke Peterson: "Things that feed it are when legislators say 'just trust me.' I think that there just needs to be clarity and openness that permits us to trust them."
A good start, he says, would be a tightening of reporting requirements. A bill from Senator Karen Hale last session, which would forbid candidates from spending money on personal expenses, never made it out committee so most lawmakers never had to vote on it.
To see how your lawmaker is spending his or her campaign money check the link at the top right of this story.
