House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

NEW!

Subscribe to receive notifications of new Co-Sponsorship Memos circulated

By Member | By Date | Keyword Search

House of Representatives
Session of 2015 - 2016 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted:	September 17, 2015 01:20 PM
From:	Representative Neal P. Goodman
To:	All House members
Subject:	Campaign Finance - Greater Disclosure of Independent Expenditures and Donors

In the near future, I will introduce legislation similar to Delaware’s Election Disclosure Act to make it easier for citizens to identify the source of funding for issue ads and other electioneering communications that have proliferated in recent years at election-time. Specifically, my legislation would require those engaged in electioneering communications –advertisements made independent of candidates and political committees just before an election and which refer to a clearly identified candidate, including so-called issue advocacy - 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 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. This legislation would not alter current reporting requirements for candidates and party committees. Delaware’s statute was challenged on First Amendment grounds, but it was upheld in July by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Delaware Strong Families v. Delaware.

---