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Campaign to stop 'Zombie Campaigns' begins on Capitol Hill

A recent investigation done, in part, by 13 On Your Side and our parent company TEGNA found dozens of former members of Congress who are retired or are even deceased, who still have active political campaigns spending tons of money.

A recent investigation done, in part, by 13 On Your Side and our parent company TEGNA found dozens of former members of Congress who are retired or are even deceased, who still have active political campaigns spending tons of money.

After our series of reports, bipartisan legislation is being introduced to try to stop this from happening. The Honest Elections and Campaigns, No Gain Act (HR 5409), if approved, would require former Congress members to close down campaign accounts within two years of leaving office, or sooner if they register as a lobbyist.

When a candidate leaves Congress, leftover money should either go back to donors, to another political committee, or to non-profits. But the investigation done, jointly, by TEGNA and the Tampa Bay Times, uncovered retired lawmakers spending hundreds of thousands of dollars each from their old campaign coffers on things to furnish their new lifestyles: expensive dinners, travel, social club memberships, country club dues, or political donations to sitting lawmakers they could be lobbying.

Our investigation uncovered more than 100 former politicians still spending leftover funds long after retiring from campaigning – in some cases, decades after leaving office. In some extreme cases, campaign spending of dead members of Congress spiked, as family members or well-connected political operatives were accessing the candidate’s former campaign funds – and the Federal Election Commission (FEC) says there appears to be nothing illegal about it.

There were several Michigan connections to the "zombie campaign" investigation. Former Michigan U.S. Rep. Dave Camp was highlighted in the investigation after federal records showed he spent thousands of dollars of his campaign money on Gogo in-flight internet, credit card bills and a cell phone in 2017. He retired in 2015.

U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan) was in Muskegon Thursday talking with local veterans about problems within the VA. She said she would support the zombie campaign bill, if it gets off the ground.

"I certainly think there should be some accountability and if (a former member) is receiving some support (from) a campaign, they should not be able to use that for other purposes afterwards," Sen. Stabenow said. "There should be strict accountability."

LEARN MORE: ZombieCampaigns.com

Federal law suggests candidates should close campaign accounts down within six months of the end of their campaigning. But a giant loophole exists allowing former politicians and candidates to keep accounts open – and spending – indefinitely, long after they’ve left the public sector for retirement or private careers in lobbying.

In addition to a two-year limit on campaign spending after leaving office, the Honest Elections and Campaign, No Gain Act proposes to close FEC loopholes that have allowed former members of Congress to use old campaign money to help fund new careers in lobbying, as well as loopholes that have retired members to pay family members to do simple tasks such as filing quarterly documents with the FEC.

You can add your comments to the FEC here.

The new bill also targets political action committees (PACs) affiliated with former members of Congress, setting a two year-limit on their existence as well after a member leaves office.

The FEC strictly prohibits any personal benefit from campaign funds, and the agency began soliciting public comments on whether it should restrict what "zombie campaigns" can do with leftover money, following the investigation.

Previous legislative attempts to close campaign finance loopholes have not fared well in Washington, typically failing to get a single committee hearing. The sponsors of the bill, Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Florida) and Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Florida) acknowledged it could be an uphill climb.

"It's the right thing to do," Bilirakis said.

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