From The Bloomington Pantagraph:

Group questions funding for Rutherford office

By Kurt Erickson
Statehouse bureau chief
SPRINGFIELD -- A political reform group has singled out state Rep. Dan Rutherford as one reason Illinois should tighten state campaign-finance laws.

In a study released Tuesday, the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform questioned Rutherford's "unusual" use of campaign funds to build an office building in Pontiac, which he uses as both a campaign headquarters and district office.

Since 2000, the five-term Republican from Chenoa has spent more than $220,000 in campaign contributions to build the office.

But the group says Rutherford's campaign committee has never reported receiving any rental income from the facility, nor has the committee reported the office itself as an investment.

The organization suggests state law be toughened to make sure such arrangements are clearly reported to the Illinois State Board of Elections so citizens studying campaign disclosure forms can determine if there are conflicts of interest involved.

"It just seems to fly in the face of disclosure. The whole point of disclosure is to let people know where your money is coming from and how you are supporting your campaign," said David Morrison, who oversaw the study. "His failure to list this as an asset seems to violate the spirit of the law."

Rutherford said he believes construction of the office has been properly disclosed.

"We've gone through this with the state Board of Elections," he said Tuesday.

And Rutherford said he doesn't consider the building an investment because the committee is not making money off of it.

The findings come on the heels of a Pantagraph report last month that revealed workers in Rutherford's district office are routinely paid out of state coffers as well as his campaign fund.

Rutherford, who is unopposed in his bid for the 53rd Senate District seat, told the newspaper his employees do not mix politics with their taxpayer-funded duties.

But just as his payment system to workers is a rarity among lawmakers, Morrison said Rutherford's office arrangement also is extremely rare.

Out of thousands of campaign funds in Illinois, the group said only two other politicians use a similar set-up.

One is Donald E. Stephens, the clout-wielding mayor of Rosemont -- who has beaten fraud and tax-evasion charges, and is a key player in trying to bring a casino to his suburban Chicago community.

The other person who has used campaign funds for building purposes is Betty Loren-Maltese, who had to give up her post as mayor of Cicero last month when she was convicted in federal court on corruption charges.

The group's study focused on political fund investments made by candidates. While most states forbid investments in stocks and other speculative ventures, Illinois' wide-open campaign laws neither bar nor restrict investments. In 1999, the state did begin requiring candidates to report investments.

In additions to raising questions about Rutherford's office building, the study found that some political funds had lost money when candidates invested their funds in the stock market.

House Republican Leader Lee Daniels, R-Elmhurst, for example, lost an estimated $155,000 on just one investment.