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After ousted Rep. George Santos came under fire last month for allegedly using campaign funds for personal items such as beach trips and expensive spa treatments, the leader of a local advocacy group offered an interesting take. .
“The craziest thing about this Santos debacle is that if he were a Virginia state representative, his ‘misappropriation’ of campaign funds would have been completely legal,” Clean Virginia political director Justin Jones said on social media. That’s what I mean.”
Assistant Chief of Staff Marcus Simon responded immediately.
“Working on it,” he wrote.
Simon, a Fairfax Democrat, has pre-filed a bill for consideration in the next General Assembly session that would prohibit politicians from using campaign funds for personal expenses. Virginia currently has some of the most lenient campaign finance laws in the nation. Politicians can legally use campaign contributions for basically anything, and there are no restrictions on who can donate or how much donors can give.
Simon introduced various versions of the bill over the years, but it never reached the governor’s desk. Some lawmakers who opposed the measure argued that the new rules would confuse well-meaning politicians. Some say donors should trust the candidates they support.
Several groups advocated on behalf of the bill during the last legislative session, including the League of Women Voters of Virginia. The League is a nonpartisan organization that works to protect democracy and the right to vote.
Janet Boyd, the league’s director of voter services, told The Virginian-Pilot that the league will continue to support the bill in future legislative sessions.
Parliament will reconvene on January 10th.
“(The League) plans to educate General Assembly members about the value of Delegate Simon’s personal use restriction bill during the 2024 session,” she wrote in an email Thursday. “We look forward to passing this bill in the General Assembly, but we know it will not be easy.”
Previous efforts have failed, but with many newcomers to the General Assembly this year, the bill may find new supporters. The state Legislature is in the midst of major turmoil due to a large number of recent retirements and resignations.
Spending on state legislative elections has been on the rise in recent years.
The Senate, where 40 seats are up for election every four years, spent about $56.2 million on the 2019 election, compared to $52.5 million in 2015 and $42.6 million in 2011. This year’s election spending was already far higher than those numbers at the midpoint. As of June 8, about $111 million has been spent on Senate races, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.
The House of Representatives, which contests 100 seats every two years, will spend about $81.4 million on the 2021 election, up from $68.1 million in 2019 and $47 million in 2017. VPAP reported that campaign costs for this year’s House elections are approximately $93.4. 1 million people as of June 8th.
Candidate campaign spending can be viewed on the VPAP and Virginia Department of Elections websites. However, the reporting requirements are vague and it is not always clear what specific items were purchased.
Some commonly reported expenditures, such as political consulting services, are clearly related to election campaigns. However, other charges, such as those for hotels, airlines, restaurants, and gas stations, may more easily qualify as personal use.
Sen. Jennifer Boisko, one of the three senators passing this year’s bill in the Senate, previously told the Pilot that the fight to enact campaign reform was “really daunting.”
“This is money that people are giving to campaign,” Boyzko, a Fairfax Democrat, said in April. “They should understand that their money will be spent responsibly, rather than funding a long weekend in a luxury hotel.”
Katie King, katie.king@virginiamedia.com
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