Unlimited candidate fundraising, spending to end

BY SANDRA FISH AND JESSE PAUL THE COLORADO SUN

is year could be the last of unlimited fundraising and spending by candidates in municipal elections if a bill approved last week by the House also passes the Senate and is signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis.

House Bill 1245 would limit individual donations to municipal candidates to $400, while small-donor committees would be able give up to $4,000. e measure originally limited contributions to $250 and $2,500 and banned political parties from contributing directly to candidates in municipal elections, which are supposed to be nonpartisan, but was amended to increase the amounts and removed that prohibition.

e limits in the latest version of the bill are close to what statehouse candidates may accept — their maximum went up to $450 this year because of in ation. But they are considerably lower than the $2,500 maximum school board members may accept from individual donors and political parties under a bill passed last year.

“ is bill will go a long way in ensuring that wealthy donors, special interests and everyday people all have the same level of in uence on municipal elections,” said Rep. Jenny Willford, a Northglenn Democrat and lead sponsor of the bill.

House Bill 1245 would apply to any city that isn’t a home-rule municipality with donation limits already in law, according to Rep. Jennifer Parenti, an Erie Democrat and another lead sponsor of the bill. A home-rule city with higher campaign donation limits in lawwouldn’t have to lower their amounts if the bill passes.

For instance, two of Colorado’s biggest home-rule cities, Denver and Aurora, already have such rules. In Denver this year, candidates may accept up to $500 from an individual if they participate in the city’s Fair Elections Fund that matches small contributions and $1,000 if they don’t. In Aurora, atlarge council and mayoral candidates may accept up to $1,000 per donor, although council candidates running to represent individual wards may only take $400.

e new municipal limits, if approved by the legislature, would be