Congressman to colleagues: Surrender surplus campaign cash

Serve in Congress. Leave office. Sit on a mountain of surplus campaign cash.

Such miserliness is surprisingly commonplace for lawmakers of all political stripes, some of whom have hoarded leftover election money for years, even decades.

But Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., has introduced a bill aimed at curtailing it — motivated, in part, by a Center for Public Integrity report that detailed the practice.

As of last year, nearly $100 million in campaign funds sat idle in the accounts of former political candidates.

The California Democrat's bill — H.R. 1518, also known as (cue Elsa) the "Let it Go Act" — would force former federal candidates who aren't again seeking federal office to "dispose of" lingering campaign money within six years of their last race.

After first paying off all outstanding debts, candidates' campaigns could disgorge extra cash by cutting refunds to contributors, transferring it to political party committees or donating it to nonprofit groups, according to the bill.

"If a person is not going to run for office, this money shouldn't be be able to sit around forever," Takano told the Center for Public Integrity.

Takano says he's particularly concerned about members of Congress leaving office, becoming lobbyists and maintaining political campaign accounts — the money in which could be given to other candidates.

"It becomes an extension of your lobbying salary and another tool for leverage on the political process," he said.

So far, Takano's bill, which he formally introduced last month, has no co-sponsors. And the House Administration Committee, to which the bill has been referred, has not yet set a hearing date for it.

Related: Nearly $100 million in campaign cash sits idle

There’s more to this story. Click here to read the rest at the Center for Public Integrity.

This story is part of Primary Source. Primary Source keeps you up-to-date on developments in the post-Citizens United world of money in politics. Click here to read more stories in this blog.

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Copyright 2014 The Center for Public Integrity. This story was published by The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C.