HELENA, Mont. (Legal Newsline) - A Michigan political committee says Montana's confusion with its own rules caused the group to be punished.
"The Convention of States Political Fund filed suit July 22 in Montana federal court against the state's commissioner of political practices, Jeffrey Mangan. CSPF says Montana's rules for out-of-state political expenditures are vague and unclear.
"Under Montana law, CSPF saw, a wrong guess could potentially expose it to ruinous penalties: triple the total of all of its spending in Montana, and triple the total of all of its contributions nationwide - even though it did not solicit any money to spend in Montana," the suit says.
In April, CSPF asked Montana about a rule that allows non-resident committees to file their own state's reports in Montana and whether that meant CSPF would only need to file its Michigan reports in Montana for the time period it was active in Montana.
It was told it could file its Michigan reports when they are due, but Michigan's reports are quarterly and Montana's monthly. The group ran ads in May, though its Michigan quarterly report wouldn't be due until July 25.
On May 26, Montana told CSPF that was required to register as a Montana political action committee and that it was already late to file as such, the suit says. On June 16, Montana hit CSPF with a "Finding of sufficient facts to support a Campaign Practice Act violation," the suit says.
"Now, despite full awareness of the facts, COPP continues to threaten to bring a civil enforcement proceeding and seek potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines for only $125,000 in fully-disclosed spending, all due to CSPF’s decision to rely on COPP’s advice by making its Montana filings pursuant to Michigan’s deadlines," the suit says.