You might be surprised to learn that, at a time when the state cannot afford to squander a single resource, hundreds of thousands of dollars remain uncollected by the Colorado secretary of state’s office for outstanding campaign finance penalties.

The problem of outstanding penalties highlights a larger problem with the campaign finance laws in our state; namely, a failed system of enforcement. Although Colorado has ambitious disclosure and reporting requirements for candidates and committees, without adequate enforcement one wonders what incentive there is to comply in the first place.

The secretary of state’s office is charged with monitoring compliance and imposing automatic penalties for any missed filings. Typically, automatic penalties begin and continue to accrue at a rate of $50 per day from the date of the infraction.

However, since no personal liability attaches to the debts of most committees, collection can be avoided by blatantly ignoring invoices, becoming inactive or simply dissolving, which is precisely what happens.

According to records obtained by Ethics Watch from the secretary of state’s office, some committees have been delinquent for more than five years, meaning their penalties now exceed hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Although candidates are personally liable for the debts of their committees, that seems to make little difference; some candidate committees have penalties dating back many years and accumulating at a rate of $50 per day.

More egregious violations like unlawful coordination, accepting excess contributions or making unlawful expenditures are not enforced by the secretary of state at all. Instead, secretaries of state past and present have taken the position that a private citizen must file a complaint and prove to an administrative law judge in a trial-like setting that a violation occurred.

A daunting task for Joe or Jane Citizen.

Secretary of State Bernie Buescher recently changed the secretary’s rules to make double-sure his office can take action only if a staff member discovers the apparent violation him or herself.

In other words, if an outside source brings an alleged violation to the staff person’s attention, then their hands are tied — someone else must file a complaint and the secretary’s office must let the potential violation languish in obscurity until then.

To his credit, Buescher is exercising his authority to shut down committees that have been delinquent for multiple years, but this does not make collection of outstanding fines any more likely.

As we gear up for another election season in 2010, it’s time to pressure lawmakers for meaningful solutions.

For starters, state law should be modified to extend personal liability to all committees and to spell out the secretary’s authority to pursue campaign finance complaints.

Colorado voters who have insisted on strict campaign finance regulation should be concerned that their efforts have been wholly undermined by a failed system of enforcement.