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Letter: Sen. Cullimore’s campaign financing bill amounts to virtue signaling and is dangerously deceptive

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Senate Majority Leader Kirk Cullimore, R-Sandy, at the Utah Capitol in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025.

Sen. Kirk Cullimore has introduced SJR7 Joint Resolution Urging Congress to Propose an Amendment to the United States Constitution which has a lot of whereas statements but a very interesting summary that’s worth diving into.

Cullimore’s resolution isn’t about better campaign financing. It’s about removing federal limits and allowing states to control that funding. Utah currently has no contribution limit for state legislative seats. Utah would undoubtedly remove contribution limits for federal funding as well.

What’s interesting about the resolution is that he does specifically call out unions. If you aren’t aware, Cullimore is the Senate House Sponsor of HB267 Public Sector Labor Union Amendments that would dismantle workers rights to organize. Of particular interest in committee and floor discussion are queries on union dues that go to campaigns (there are none, and there are no reported violations). Cullimore is adding language here to specifically target unions.

At a state level, Cullimore has done nothing to control campaign financing and unlawful political activity.

  • Reform current state legislative disclosure processes to include audits and tracking of online payment processing apps like Venmo that operate like banks;
  • Reform current state legislative disclosure processes to penalize egregious reporting errors, like Sen. Stuart Adams’ campaign disclosures that used his credit card name for expenses rather than the actual recipient
  • Address crypto currency as a source of unregulated campaign funds that need controls for reporting and audits
  • Reinforce the separation of church and state, where the Republican supermajority are also members of the predominant faith here in Utah
  • Prevent the church (i.e. an outside influence) from financing political activity here or elsewhere

    • At a federal level, if Cullimore were serious about reforming campaign finance, he would have included

  • Support to turn over Citizens United
  • Make it illegal for legislators to conduct insider trading
  • Prohibit foreign interference through blockchain, crypto currency and A.I.
  • Set transparency and reporting for cryptocurrency

    • But he says none of these things.

    Greg Green, South Jordan

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    By Greg Green | The Public Forum