Democracy 21 Praises Bill to be Introduced Shortly by Representatives Van Hollen and Brady to Close Campaign Finance Disclosure Loopholes, Including Super PAC Disclosure Problems
Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer
In a Dear Colleague letter sent yesterday to House Members, Representatives Chris Van Hollen and Robert Brady announced they would be introducing legislation shortly to close gaping loopholes in the campaign finance disclosure laws.
The legislation would close loopholes in disclosure that have resulted from a combination of the destructive Citizen United decision and improper FEC regulations. These loopholes resulted in more than $135 million in secret contributions being injected into the 2010 congressional races.
The legislation would also address the problem of untimely disclosure of donors by Super PACs that has surfaced in the 2012 presidential elections.
Representative Van Hollen provided outstanding national leadership for reform in the last Congress as the lead sponsor of the DISCLOSE Act of 2010 and as the leader of a successful effort to pass that legislation in the House. We are extremely pleased that he has chosen to lead this effort again in the House and has been joined by Representative Brady as a prime sponsor.
Democracy 21 worked closely with Representative Van Hollen in the development of the 2010 DISCLOSE Act and our organization has again worked closely with Representative Van Hollen in the development of the new legislation to be introduced shortly.
The new legislation, unlike the DISCLOSE Act of 2010, focuses solely on disclosure as outlined in the Dear Colleague letter. It does not contain any of the nondisclosure provisions from the 2010 bill, such as the restrictions on independent expenditures by government contractors.
The new legislation, unlike the 2010 Act, also addresses the problem of untimely disclosure of donors by Super PACs that has occurred in the 2012 election cycle.
The new bill also provides that Super PACs along with other entities which receive contributions and which make independent expenditures for broadcast ads, will have to list their top five donors in each ad and have the top official of the group appear in the ad to take responsibility for the ad.
Enclosed below is the Dear Colleague letter sent out yesterday by Representatives Van Hollen and Brady.
DISCLOSE Sources of Money in Federal Elections and End Secret Financing of Campaigns
January 24, 2012
Two years ago, in an extraordinary display of judicial activism, the Supreme Court overturned two decades of court precedents to strike down the ban on corporate expenditures in federal campaigns.
The Supreme Court, in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, permitted corporations to spend unlimited funds, directly or through third parties and Political Action Committees, to influence Federal elections.
This decision opened the door for the emergence of the SUPER PACs which are outside groups that raise unlimited contributions from individuals, corporations and other outside groups that spend these unlimited funds to influence Federal elections.
In June of 2010 the House passed the DISCLOSE Act which required enhanced disclosure by organizations that spend money to influence Federal elections. Unfortunately, the bill died in the Senate after falling one vote short of the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster.
In the absence of this enhanced disclosure, in 2010 we saw an estimated $135 million of secret money funneled into the Congressional elections. In 2011 we have seen the emergence of candidate-specific SUPER PACs spending their unlimited funding from corporations, outside groups and wealthy individuals.
Many of these outside groups do not have to disclose their donors. Other groups have a duty to disclose their donors but are not doing so on a timely basis.
We need to restore accountability in our elections. The American people have a right to know the source of the money that is being spent to influence the outcome of our elections. They should be told who is behind the millions of dollars in campaign ads and they should receive this information in a timely fashion.
I will soon be introducing a bill to address these issues through 4 requirements:
• ENHANCE DISCLOSURE BY SUPER PACs, CORPORATIONS AND OUTSIDE GROUPS OF CAMPAIGN FUNDING
• REQUIRE SUPER PACs, CORPORATIONS AND OUTSIDE GROUPS TO STAND BY THEIR ADS
• REQUIRE CORPORATIONS TO DISCLOSE THEIR CAMPAIGN EXPENDITURES TO THEIR SHAREHOLDERS.
• REQUIRE LOBBYISTS TO DISCLOSE THEIR CAMPAIGN EXPENDITURES
Please join me in demanding enhanced disclosure of the funding from outside groups that is pouring into our elections. If you are interested please contact Karen A. Robb at Karen.robb@mail.house.gov or 226-7200.
/s_____________________ /s_____________________
ROBERT A. BRADY CHRIS VAN HOLLEN
