Crazyworld

State Rep. Nathan Ballentine, R-Richland, posted a campaign disclosure reform bill on his blog recently that would close at least one loophole in South Carolina law that gives candidates a two-week period before the election where they can rake in contributions without any scrutiny.

Current state law requires candidates to file a pre-election disclosure form 15 days before their election. As it stands, any contributions a candidate receives after that aren't disclosed until the election is over. And those post-election disclosure forms can be telling.

Ballentine's bill, which would also require county council, school board and municipal candidates to file online -- a requirement statewide candidates already must follow -- would force candidates to disclose any contribution they receive during the two-week blackout, as I call it, within 48 hours.

This would be especially helpful in seeing who is getting last-minute boxes of cash -- and, yes, it's likely that candidates supported by New York libertarian Howard Rich and his associates would feel this the most. (I hear the box of checks comes via FedEx a day or two after the blackout begins.)

We've pointed out Rich's influence before. This summer, the blog Barbecue & Politics went race-by-race to examine how much Rich funneled into various candidates' coffers during the blackout. See, for example, this entry on state Senate candidate Lee Bright, who received $50,000 during the blackout. Local candidates like Joey Millwood, Roger Nutt and Ken Roach, among others, also benefited from the current arrangement.

I have a feeling this may come up during the Oct. 20 forum. I have that feeling because I'm one of the people asking questions. And I'm only suggesting it now because I hate hearing disingenuous answers like, "Well, I haven't seen the bill," when the idea is more important than the piece of paper it's written on -- especially considering most bills are amended before they become law, anyway.