06/19/02

Ohio Gov. Bob Taft and Secretary of State Ken Blackwell proposed the following changes to Ohio's campaign finance law:

Full disclosure of all funds raised and spent by political parties. Current law allows parties to collect unlimited money for their operating accounts and does not require parties to disclose the donors' names and contributions.

Require county parties to file reports of state candidate fund donations and expenditures with the secretary of state, who would post the results on his Web site. Current law requires paper filings only with county boards of election - a system that makes it difficult to monitor county party funds.

Require political parties to list the address and employer of their donors.

Mandate full disclosure of money raised and spent for "issue advocacy campaigns," if the material distributed refers to the name, image or likeness of a candidate and if it occurs within 60 days of an election. The proposal follows controversial "issue advocacy" TV commercials aired during the 2000 Ohio Supreme Court races. Current law places no limit on issue advocacy giving and does not require donors to be disclosed.

Create "Levin Accounts," state party accounts that are modeled after federal election reforms. Political parties could use the accounts for general campaign activities, and the donors names and amounts would have to be disclosed.