Efforts by some political candidates to convince the State Ethics Commission to allow them to keep political contributions which exceed limits enacted by voters are shameful. Unfortunately, the State Ethics Commission's secret handling of the issue hasn't been much better. The commission should immediately schedule a public hearing for any candidate who requests to keep the excess contributions. These politicians should be required to personally and publicly explain why they should be allowed to keep these contributions.

The governor, who is yet to return excess contributions, should be given the first opportunity to personally explain why he needs to keep the $100,000 out-of-state contributions he received. He should publicly explain why his re-election effort is dependent on contributions which exceed the limits approved by voters. After these public hearings, the Ethics Commission should unanimously vote to require all candidates from every party affiliation to live within the limits voters established and refund excess contributions with interest. Voters should then vote against every candidate, regardless of party affiliation, who refused to voluntarily refund excess contributions.

Doug Harpool, Springfield