(Columbia-AP) Aug. 27, 2003 - House Minority Leader James Smith wants more disclosure of campaign contributions by political appointees. The Columbia Democrat says he's writing a bill to require people appointed to a state board or commission to reveal political contributions made in the past four years.

Smith says he is responding to an analysis by The State newspaper in Columbia that showed almost half of the people Governor Mark Sanford has appointed were donors to his campaign. The newspaper says that's twice as many donor appointments as Jim Hodges made in the same period.

Sanford said last week that whether someone made a campaign contribution was one factor used in choosing appointees. He also said his appointees were friends and qualified people for the positions they were named.

Critics, including Hodges, say it looks like Sanford is doing what he accused Hodges of during the campaign: doling out appointments to people who gave money to his campaign.

House Speaker David Wilkins says the public already has access to contributions made to candidates for public office.

According to the newspaper's analysis, 81 of Sanford's 167 appointments donated money to his campaign. In all, the governor collected $360,000 from those appointees, their families and the companies they control.

In contrast, Hodges named 36 campaign donors to positions during his first six months, about a quarter of the appointments he made during that period. In all, those appointees gave about $62,000 to Hodges' campaign.

posted 7:47am by Chris Rees