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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2015 - 2016
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | April 8, 2016 11:02 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Pamela A. DeLissio |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Political Communications Reporting |
| The U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United decision has resulted in a proliferation of political and issue advertising that is not connected to specific candidates or campaigns. While all parties certainly have the right under our state and federal constitutions to make their voices heard, these large-scale communications become a problem when citizens are prevented from knowing who is sending or paying for them. I will soon introduce legislation to level the playing field for everyone engaging in political communications in Pennsylvania -- from elected officials and candidates to advocacy groups and special interests -- and to improve transparency and accountability for the money spent to influence our electoral process. The growing influence of money in Pennsylvania elections -- particularly that of special interests -- has created a situation whereby the wealthiest voices can be the loudest and potentially the ones with the most influence and therefore access to government officials in Harrisburg. The extent to which these powerful and influential special interests have become entrenched in Pennsylvania politics is one of the primary reasons for the inability to reach a solution to our historic structural budget deficit. My legislation would require individuals and entities engaging in organized political communication in Pennsylvania to register with the Department of State and to file regular online disclosure reports. Similar to the way candidates and political parties are already required to do, these reports would disclose the names of individuals or entities that contribute to the sponsors of the political communication. "Political communication" would be defined as any advertisement or message that expressly refers to a candidate or elected official, whether or not the candidate is an elected official at the time the communication is made. An advertisement or message made within 60 days prior to an election would automatically be deemed to be a “political communication” whether or not it expressly advocates for or against the election of a candidate. Failure to register or file a disclosure report would be a misdemeanor subject to a fine of up to $5,000 and/or up to two years in jail. There is a sense among many citizens that government at the state and federal level is broken, and too beholden to special interests. One way to fix our broken government is to reform the electoral process that produces it. My bill is one of several reform bills being advanced by House Democrats, which will improve transparency in our state and limit the influence that wealthy individuals, corporations and other special interests have in our politics. They are an overdue, key component of returning control of politics and state government to the people of Pennsylvania. |
Introduced as HB1982