(C) South Dakota Searchlight
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Federal politicians could face a limit on money transfers to their state committees • South Dakota Searchlight [1]
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Date: 2025-02-03
PIERRE — Federal officeholders who seek a state office — such as a member of Congress who decides to run for governor — would face a limit on the money they could transfer from their federal campaign account to their state account if a legislative idea becomes law.
Rep. Spencer Gosch, R-Glenham, proposed the measure Monday at the state Capitol. It would put a $10,000 annual cap on federal-to-state transfers.
Gosch convinced a legislative committee to amend the new language into an existing campaign finance bill.
“If we’re already talking about limiting unfettered access to money, well, there’s another loophole that allows anyone unfettered access to money,” Gosh told South Dakota Searchlight.
He confirmed that the amendment would affect U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-South Dakota, if Johnson decides to act on his long-rumored interest in running for governor. The balance in Johnson’s federal campaign committee is $5.2 million.
Gosch also answered affirmatively when asked if the limit would have prevented then-U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem from transferring more than $1 million from her federal committee to her state committee when she ran successfully for governor in 2018.
The bill that Gosch amended is from state Sen. Michael Rohl, R-Aberdeen, who has proposed several campaign finance reforms this legislative session. Rohl’s bill would close a campaign finance loophole exposed last year when Aberdeen businessman Toby Doeden reported a $100,000 contribution to his Dakota First Action committee.
The contribution exceeded the state’s $10,000 annual limit on individual contributions to political action committees. So Doeden amended the report, reclassifying the contribution as a loan. State law allows loans to be forgiven, effectively providing a “pathway” to ignore campaign finance limits, Rohl told a legislative committee Monday.
“This essentially got rid of campaign finance limits in South Dakota,” he said.
Rohl’s bill says that any loan, when combined with contributions from the same source, could not exceed contribution limits in state law. In other words, in the case of Doeden, he would have been limited to a combined $10,000 of annual contributions and loans to his political action committee.
The original text remains in the bill alongside Gosch’s amendment. The House State Affairs Committee sent the amended bill to the full House of Representatives. Passage there would trigger a conference committee with the Senate, to iron out the differences between the amended bill and the original version approved by senators.
The committee also sent another Rohl bill to the House that would require candidates to file pre-primary reports of their fundraising and spending even if they’re not involved in a primary race. Current law exempts candidates from filing reports if they don’t have a primary race, but still allows them to raise and spend money that doesn’t get reported until the next deadline.
“It helps hide campaign finance donations for friends and allies,” Rohl said.
A third Rohl bill awaiting action by the committee proposes new restrictions on contributions from inactive candidate committees.
Committees associated with politicians who are retired or no longer seeking office sometimes retain significant balances and can make unlimited contributions. The bill would impose the same contribution limits that active committees face.
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