A tumultuous morning in the Michigan State Capitol revealed a stark divide between Secretary of State Ruth Johnson and the Michigan State Senate on the issue of disclosure of dark money. At stake was was whether the sources of “some of the most negative advertising in political campaigning,” to quote Johnson, should be required to disclose their spending and their donors.
In our recent 2013 scorecard of essential disclosure requirements for independent spending, the National Institute on Money in State Politics gave the state of Michigan an F because it was one of 25 states that do not require any disclosure of electioneering communications, which are those that stop just short of advocating for or against candidates. This lack of transparency has been Michigan’s policy dating back to 2004, when then-Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land ruled that electioneering communications were not covered under Michigan’s campaign finance laws and thus were free from disclosure requirements. This morning, Secretary of State Johnson announced that she planned to use the powers of her office to require reporting of electioneering communications within 30 days of a primary election or 60 days of a general election, and also require groups spending more than $500 on electioneering communications during a single election cycle to form a committee and disclose donors.
Within an hour of Johnson’s announcement, the Senate Committee on Local Government and Elections voted 3-1 to prohibit administrative regulation of electioneering communications. The full bill, passed 20-18 a few hours later by the full senate, also included provisions that would double existing contribution limits for candidates and PACs and require the Secretary of State to adjust the limits every four years to account for inflation. The fate of additional disclosure now rests with the Michigan House of Representatives and Governor Rick Snyder. Will Michigan retain its failing grade for disclosure or will it support transparency?
Reposted from Follow The Money - Nov 14, 2013 by Zach Holden, shared using Creative Commons Attribution
In our recent 2013 scorecard of essential disclosure requirements for independent spending, the National Institute on Money in State Politics gave the state of Michigan an F because it was one of 25 states that do not require any disclosure of electioneering communications, which are those that stop just short of advocating for or against candidates. This lack of transparency has been Michigan’s policy dating back to 2004, when then-Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land ruled that electioneering communications were not covered under Michigan’s campaign finance laws and thus were free from disclosure requirements. This morning, Secretary of State Johnson announced that she planned to use the powers of her office to require reporting of electioneering communications within 30 days of a primary election or 60 days of a general election, and also require groups spending more than $500 on electioneering communications during a single election cycle to form a committee and disclose donors.
Within an hour of Johnson’s announcement, the Senate Committee on Local Government and Elections voted 3-1 to prohibit administrative regulation of electioneering communications. The full bill, passed 20-18 a few hours later by the full senate, also included provisions that would double existing contribution limits for candidates and PACs and require the Secretary of State to adjust the limits every four years to account for inflation. The fate of additional disclosure now rests with the Michigan House of Representatives and Governor Rick Snyder. Will Michigan retain its failing grade for disclosure or will it support transparency?
Reposted from Follow The Money - Nov 14, 2013 by Zach Holden, shared using Creative Commons Attribution
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