A non-partisan “watchdog” group is issuing an alarm about a recent Iowa Ethics Board ruling on campaign contributions. The Board ruled it’s legal for candidates, including the Governor and legislators, to accept money from out-of-state political action committees and lobbyists while the legislature is in session. Joan Lucas, a leader of MAPIowa which stands for Money and Politics in Iowa, says that’s alarming, as groups and businesses will try to influence the outcome of bills.A general ban has prevented lawmakers and the Governor from accepting campaign checks from lobbyists and PACs during the legislative session, but Governor Vilsack and Doug Gross, a republican candidate for Governor, asked if that ban applied to PACs and lobbyists based in other states. Lucas says the ban has been helpful in preventing “undue influence.”
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