Share:
House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2017 - 2018
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | March 10, 2017 02:49 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Neal P. Goodman |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Reporting of Donors for Third-Party Election Ads |
| In the near future, I will re-introduce legislation (former HB 1695) modeled on Delaware’s Election Disclosure Act to make it easier for citizens to identify the source of funding for issue ads and other political communications that have proliferated in recent years at election-time. Specifically, my legislation would require those engaged in “electioneering communications” –advertisements and other communications made independent of candidates and political committees just before an election and which refer to a clearly identified candidate, including so-called issue ads - to file campaign finance reports of their expenditures. They would also be required to disclose the names of donors. Finally, my legislation would require all such ads/communications to include a statement informing voters of who is paying for the ad and where they can review the campaign finance reports of the party responsible for the ad. Just as candidates and political parties must disclose donors, it is in the public’s interest to require disclosure of who is funding third-party advertisements, so that the public can make informed decisions about issues and the candidates being tied to those issues. Delaware’s statute has withstood court challenges – it was upheld by the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Delaware Strong Families v. Denn, and in 2016 the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal. It is time Pennsylvania had a similar law to end “dark money” influence. Previous co-sponsors: ACOSTA, BULLOCK, COHEN, D. COSTA, FREEMAN, HARHAI, HARKINS, W. KELLER, MURT, NEILSON, O'BRIEN, PASHINSKI, SCHLOSSBERG, SCHWEYER, THOMAS, TRUITT, DEAN, SNYDER, DERMODY, HANNA, YOUNGBLOOD, STURLA, FRANKEL, MARKOSEK, PETRARCA, DeLUCA, GIBBONS, DeLISSIO and CARROLL |
Introduced as HB1272