Durbin's state campaign fund pulls in big donors
More than $500,000 raised in six years
By DENNIS CONRAD
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON - United Airlines, Archer Daniels Midland and
other corporations are prohibited by federal law from donating to U.S. Sen.
Dick Durbin's re-election committee, but Illinois' far looser campaign laws
offer such heavyweight donors another option.
Durbin has used the 21st Century Leadership Fund, a state political action
committee he controls, to raise more than $500,000 since his election nearly
six years ago.
Illinois law, unlike federal law and those in most states, places no limit on
the size of political contributions, and Durbin's fund has collected single
donations of up to $25,000, according to reports filed through June 30 with
the Illinois State Board of Elections.
The biggest donors include United, agricultural giant ADM and Great Lakes
Dredge & Dock Co., a government contractor - all Illinois companies and all
barred from giving directly to federal campaign committees.
Federal law also prohibits the money received by the state committee from
being used in any federal campaign, including Durbin's own re-election battle
this fall with GOP state Rep. Jim Durkin.
But the state committee serves as another avenue for Durbin's supporters to
pitch in with cash that, in an indirect way at least, may serve the senator's
political interests by strengthening his hand within the party.
The 21st Century Fund has given $20,000 to state Rep. Tom Dart's cur-rent
campaign for Illinois state treasurer, $5,000 to help retire defeated
gubernatorial candidate Paul Vallas' primary campaign debt and thousands of
dollars to mayoral candidates in 2001.
The creation of such state committees is increasingly common across the
country. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., started a similar state
committee, KOMPAC State Victory Fund, in 2000.
The 21st Century Fund, established in 1997, lists Springfield attorneys
Steven J. Rosen and Christine Zeman as fund chairman and treasurer in reports
filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections. Durbin is not listed as an
officer on the state reports.
But Michael Daly, Durbin's longtime political aide, described himself as the
fund's bookkeeper and deputy treasurer. Daly and Durbin said in recent
interviews that they sometimes refer campaign donors to the state committee.
For Durbin's federal campaign fund, Friends of Dick Durbin, an individual may
give only up to $1,000 per primary and $1,000 per general election - a
maximum of $2,000 over the six-year cycle between senate elections. Political
action committees, such as those tied to corporations and organized labor,
are limited to making $5,000 contributions per primary and per general
election.
"At my level, there is a limited amount you can contribute because of hard
money requirements and limitations and such, but when you get at the state
level ... it's a different ballgame altogether," Durbin said.
As an example, officials and employees at Development Specialists, a
Chicago-based corporate management firm, have donated $6,500 to Durbin's
federal fund in the 2002 election cycle. But as a company, Development
Specialists gave the 21st Century Fund $25,000 in April 2001 and $25,000 in
September 2001.