JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. _ In a blow to supporters of transparency in campaign finance laws, a federal appeals court agreed with a lower court ruling Monday that Missouri cannot ban contributions between political action committees.
Despite concerns about dark money flowing into Missouri politics heading into the November midterms, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with U.S. District Court Senior Judge Ortrie Smith that the ban violated free speech laws.
"The district court concluded that the prohibition unconstitutionally infringed on a political action committee's First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and association," the ruling noted.
The decision permanently stops the Missouri Ethics Commission, which oversees campaign finance laws, from enforcing a ban on political action committees from receiving contributions from other PACs.
Under the November 2016 change to the state constitution, 70 percent of Missouri voters chose to cap contributions to individual candidates at $2,600 per election. Contributions to a political party were limited to no more than $25,000.
Support for the initiative came in an election year that saw a rise in large contributions to candidates including scandal-plagued former Gov. Eric Greitens and Attorney General Josh Hawley. Missouri has not had limits on contributions since 2008.
In the court case, the Association of Missouri Electrical Cooperatives and Legends Bank argued the new law unfairly stops them from donating to campaigns and political action committees.
Attorneys argued that if the law stayed in place, the electrical cooperatives would be unable to raise adequate money to ensure members' voices were heard by the Legislature and in upcoming elections.
The Ethics Commission said without the ban on PAC-to-PAC transfers, a donor could evade the individual contribution limits of $2,600 per candidate.
"The commission says that circumvention of the contribution limits creates a risk of quid pro quo corruption or its appearance. It therefore contends that the ban advances the State's interest in preventing corruption by preventing circumvention of contribution limits," the court ruling says.
But, the court noted, the MEC did not "provide any real-world examples of circumvention."
"It does not point to evidence of any occasions before the amendment where PAC-to-PAC transfers led to the circumvention of contribution limits. Nor does the Commission identify any donors who have exceeded contribution limits by using transfers among a network of coordinated PACs," the court added.
It remained unclear Monday whether the decision to strike down one part of the new law could result in the entire law being voided.
