Bill to toughen Nevada campaign finance rules clears Senate

CARSON CITY — A bill that would ban gifts from lobbyists and require candidates to file monthly campaign finance reports during election years was approved unanimously by the Nevada Senate on Thursday.

Senate Bill 307, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Michael Roberson, R-Henderson, also would require lobbyists to report any expenditures made to lawmakers for educational trips, informational meetings or events.

The measure passed out the upper chamber 21-0 and now moves to the Assembly where passage is uncertain.

Existing law sets a $100 cap on gifts from lobbyists to lawmakers and public officers, though it does not include the cost of entertainments such as food and drink, meaning there’s no limit to how much or how often a lobbyist can wine and dine legislators or members of their families.

State Sen. Greg Brower, R-Reno, said the bill is “aimed at transparency” so constituents, media and others “can understand who is funding our campaigns and how the money is being spent.”

Some Democratic lawmakers questioned the lack of a fiscal note attached to the bill, especially from the secretary of state’s office, because of the extra reporting requirements.

“I think it’s laughable that we’re going to entertain the idea that no extra staff is going to be needed and no extra customer service will be needed,” said state Sen. Debbie Smith, D-Sparks.

Smith, who serves on the Senate Finance Committee and the Legislature’s Interim Finance Committee between sessions, said she will be “furious” if the secretary of state seeks extra funding during the interim if the bill becomes law.

She later clarified she supports the concept of the bill, but is concerned about “the cost for government to do its job.”

Candidates and public officers currently must file five campaign reports during election years, not including an annual financial disclosure statement due each January.

The bill would require monthly reports in election years and just the annual report in non-election years.

Reports on donations and expenses would be due two weeks after the end of the month, and some legislators questioned whether the requirement would be burdensome to some lawmakers and candidates.

State Sen. Kelvin Atkinson, D-Las Vegas, noted some people are likely to face fines for violating the law if enacted.

Roberson rejected those arguments.

“This is an electronic process,” he said. “We all know the process,” he said, adding it requires just a “basic competency level” to comply.

“You have two weeks after the end of the month to hit the send button,” he said.

Another big change would be the reporting and disclosure of any expenditures from lobbyists for a lawmaker to attend educational or informational trips and meetings. Under the bill, lobbyists and lawmakers alike would have to disclose those items, though they would not constitute a gift or contribution.

Legislators in the past have avoided reporting such trips, saying they were advised by legal counsel that they amounted to fact-finding trips and therefore did not need to be disclosed.

Contact Sandra Chereb at schereb@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901. Find her on Twitter: @SandraChereb.