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Montana Campaign Contribution Limits Under Scrutiny

By Beacon Staff

HELENA – Conservative groups told a judge Wednesday that campaign contribution limits in Montana get in the way of running effective political campaigns.

The contention at the opening of a federal trial on the issue marked the latest episode in a multi-pronged effort to refashion the state’s political finance restrictions.

Conservative and Republican groups argued that the limits are unconstitutionally low and prevent effective campaigning.The effort has been joined by the American Tradition Partnership, a conservative group based in the Washington, D.C., area that has fought state efforts to force it to disclose its donors.

Lawyers for the state countered that political parties are allowed to help candidates in other ways.

U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell previously struck down other state campaign laws dealing with attack ads and loosened restrictions on some corporate political spending.

Attorney General Steve Bullock’s office said the current laws are necessary to prevent political corruption. It is appealing part of Lovell’s previous decision to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Separately, the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year threw out the state’s century-old restrictions on other corporate politicking. That decision, along with a ballot initiative that asks Montanans to symbolically reject it, have helped place Montana at the forefront of the fight over such restrictions.

In the current case, assistant attorney generals want Lovell to keep intact the state campaign contribution limits established by the Legislature.The case does not involve limits for federal offices.

The limits at stake range from $630 for an individual contributing to a governor’s race to $160 for a state House candidate. The amounts are adjusted each election cycle automatically to account for inflation.

Lawyers for the conservative groups presented testimony that the limits get in the way of campaigning. A former candidate for the Legislature from Bozeman said higher limits would allow candidates to focus more time on activities other than fundraising.

“Fundamentally, I believe that if a friend of mine wants to give me more than $160, then that is fair,” said Republican John Milanovich.

Republican attorney Jim Brown, who also helps run the Beaverhead County Republican Central Committee, said the state’s aggregate limits for parties and political action committees is flawed.

A candidate for governor, for instance, cannot accept more than $22,600 from all political party committees.

Brown said the groups want the aggregate limit struck down because it unfairly gets in the way of the committees to contribute to candidates.

The groups are asking the judge to tell the Legislature it must raise the individual contribution limits.