06/19/02

Columbus

- Ohio Gov. Bob Taft and Secretary of State Ken Blackwell acknowledged that a sweeping campaign finance reform bill they unveiled yesterday has little chance of being approved this year by their fellow Republicans in the legislature.

The bill, designed to help the public discern who is trying to influence political campaigns, comes more than two years after Taft first pledged such reforms.

It also comes during an election year in which Republicans enjoy a huge fund-raising advantage.

The legislation would close a loophole that allows political parties to raise and spend unlimited amounts, regulate so-called "soft money," and require county political parties to list the addresses and occupations of their donors.

Taft called the bill "reasonable and responsible" and pledged to lobby legislators for its passage.

Democrats decried the plan as an election-year stunt, and said if Taft really wanted reform he would persuade the Republican-ruled Ohio General Assembly to enact it.

"This proposal is . . . another example of Taft's never-put-off-until-tomorrow-what-you-can-put-off-until-after-the-next-election approach to governing," said Tim Hagan, the Democratic candidate for governor.

State Sen. Dan Brady, a Cleveland Democrat who has watched his own reform bill collect dust, noted that the Taft/Blackwell plan comes as the Ohio House and Ohio Senate prepare to adjourn for the year.

"The timing indicates to me that they're not serious about this," he said.

The current law, which Taft helped craft while he was Ohio secretary of state in 1995, limits to $2,500 the amount individuals can give per election and requires candidates to list the occupation of each donor.

It also exempts political parties from those caps and allows them to collect unlimited money for their operating accounts without disclosing donors.

Taft insisted that the 1995 law "has served Ohio well."

Blackwell, however, talked of the "cloud of suspicion and thunderstorms of cynicism raining on our democracy" - comments that follow news reports detailing the fund-raising troubles of Ohio Treasurer Joe Deters, a Cincinnati Republican.

Deters has been under fire for fund raising that relied heavily on donations from the Hamilton County Republican Party. At the urging of the Deters' campaign, bankers, brokers and others doing business with his state office have given large donations to the Hamilton County party.

Republican legislative leaders have shown no inclination to pass any reforms.

Speaker of the House Larry Householder has not seen the Taft/Blackwell plan and cannot comment on it, a spokesman said. Senate President Richard Finan has opposed similar legislation, but he said he would withhold judgment until the bill is introduced.

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