Litigation

Ten States Pass New Campaign-Spending Disclosure Laws

By Peter Hardin

A bill to require disclosure of corporate and labor union spending to influence elections has stalled in the U.S. Senate, but one-fifth of the states have passed legislation to require further disclosure of political spending.

This update comes from an article in USA Today, reporting that states have passed measures quickly in response to the Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. FEC decision in January.

States adopting new rules are Iowa, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, South Dakota and West Virginia. In Washington state, existing laws governing disclosure were broadened.

“In most of the states, it’s ‘Hey, what’s the big deal? Let’s provide information,’ ” said Meredith McGehee, policy director of the Campaign Legal Center, a partner of Justice at Stake.

Jennifer Bowser of the National Conference of State Legislatures said the new statutes represented “a fairly moderate attempt to shed light on where the money is coming from for voters.”

In the U.S. Senate, meanwhile, Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer of New York submitted a new version of the disclosure bill that eliminated several controversial provisions in order to attract support from two centrist Republican senators, The Hill newspaper reported.

You can learn more from Gavel Grab about varying responses to Citizens United, which allows corporations and labor unions to spend unlimited sums on advertising to support or defeat political candidates.

Full post as published by The Gavel on July 23, 2010 (boomark / email).