Reid campaign agrees to pay $3,000 fine

Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2000 | 9:53 a.m.

Reid's campaign committee didn't report individual salaries paid to 19 staffers until the day before the Nov. 3 election, according to the FEC. Instead, during 1998 it reported lump sum deposits of $316,737 into a Bank of America account. The money then was disbursed to the aides by a Reno payroll service.

There was no allegation the payment method was improper. Rather, the FEC said it found reason to believe the committee violated election law by failing to itemize how much each worker was paid each month. The law requires campaigns to itemize any expense more than $200 in reports it files periodically with the agency.

The Reid campaign entered settlement negotiations with the FEC last spring after an initial probe by the elections agency. The matter stemmed from a complaint filed late in the 1998 campaign by the Republican Party.

A settlement was completed on Nov. 3 and was announced by the FEC late last week. In addition to the fine, Reid's campaign committee agreed to amend its financial reports to the agency.

Paul Eisenberg, Reid's treasurer, told the FEC a Reno payroll service company, Quick Pay Inc., was hired in February 1998 to streamline administrative costs.

Because the committee's payroll was deposited at Bank of America to be processed by Quick Pay, Reid's financial advisers believed they didn't have to itemize the salary payments.