The Disclosure Digest: March 29, 2022

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Welcome to The Disclosure Digest! Keep an eye out for new editions published on Tuesdays through June 2022. 

Wyoming governor signs disclosure bills into law

On March 15, Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon (R) signed HB0049, a bill requiring groups to register as political organizations if they accept or spend funds over a certain threshold. The Joint Corporations, Elections & Political Subdivisions Interim Committee , which was introduced on Jan. 30.

Gordon signed another disclosure bill, HB0080, on March 9. This bill requires all campaigns and political action committees to file an itemized statement of contributions and expenditures and imposes a daily, rather than one-time, fine for noncompliance. The bill was introduced on Feb. 8  and the Joint Corporations, Elections & Political Subdivisions Interim Committee also sponsored the bill.

What the bills do

HB0049 requires organizations raising or spending more than $1,000.00 to register as a political organization if they make or intend to make independent expenditures or electioneering communications. They must file a statement of formation within 10 days of making an independent expenditure or electioneering communication in any election or within 24 hours if the independent expenditure or electioneering communication is made within 10 days of an election. Wyoming law requires political organizations to disclose the names of donors who contribute more than $100. Organizations can be fined up to $5,000 for their first violation and up to $10,000 for repeated offenses. 

Wyoming law previously required campaigns and political action committees to file an itemized statement of contributions and expenditures or face a one-time fine of $500. HB0080 allows the secretary of state to levy a fine of up to $500 per day against any person or organization failing to file campaign finance reports. These fines would continue to be imposed until the organization files the required reports.  

Wyoming has a Republican state government trifecta, meaning the Republican Party holds the governorship, a majority in the state senate, and a majority in the state house. Republicans have a 28-2 majority in the Wyoming Senate and a 51-7 majority in the Wyoming House of Representatives. 

Two other states have enacted donor disclosure laws this year, and one state enacted a donor privacy law. In Indiana, Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) signed SB0134 on March 11  and SB0388 on March 15, and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear (D) approved HB301 on March 24. Utah enacted a donor privacy bill, HB0040, on Feb. 11.

Wyoming HB0049 is the only bill enacted this year increasing penalties for violating reporting requirements. Maryland HB340 and SB15, which are still in committee, would prevent a person from running from public office if they violate reporting requirements and fail to pay the penalty. 

Reactions

Wyoming Promise Chair Ken Chetsek said his organization supported HB0080 because “Our whole mission is to create transparency in government and allow the voices of individual voters to be heard by the legislators, rather than the voice of big owners.” Chetsek said, “We thought [the one-time fine] was an easy loophole. You can buy your way out of the reporting requirements for a pretty low price, especially when you’re probably spending tens of thousands of dollars in electioneering campaigns.” 

House Corporations Committee Chairman Rep. Dan Zwonitzer (R) said HB0080 might not prevent some organizations from circumventing campaign finance laws: “One of the things I’ve learned after 20 years of doing this is no matter how robust the laws are, the really bad actors will keep finding ways around them, and loopholes. But I do think it’s important to have that framework in place, especially for transparency and accountability.”

Sen. Bill Landen (R) said the HB0049 was important because “We’re about to see more dark money in Wyoming in the next few months than ever in the history of the state.”

Sen. Chris Rothfuss (D) said the penalties enacted under HB0049 were not severe enough:  “I don’t see how this closes the door well on bad actors, especially with penalty provisions that are not daunting.” 

What we’ve been reading

• NBC, “Republicans rail against liberal ‘dark money,’ oppose laws to disclose donors,” March 23, 2022
• Philanthropy Roundtable, “Elon Musk’s Philanthropy and Donor Privacy,” March 24, 2022
• Oregon Capital Chronicle, “Campaign finance reform advocates ask Oregon Supreme Court for a new hearing,” March 23, 2022

The big picture

Number of relevant bills by state: We're currently tracking 132 pieces of legislation dealing with donor disclosure and privacy. Of these bills, 107 are primarily focused on disclosure, and 25 are primarily focused on privacy. To reflect this distinction, the charts in this section and the recent legislative actions below are divided between disclosure legislation and privacy legislation. On the maps below, a darker shade of green indicates a greater number of relevant bills. Click here for a complete list of all the bills we're tracking. 

Donor disclosure legislation

Number of relevant bills by current legislative status: 

Number of relevant bills by partisan status of sponsor(s): 

Donor privacy legislation

Number of relevant bills by current legislative status: 

Number of relevant bills by partisan status of sponsor(s): 

Recent legislative actions

For complete information on all of the bills we are tracking, click here. 

Donor disclosure legislation

• Idaho S1367: This bill would require disclosure reports to be publically available on the secretary of state's website. 
  • Unknown sponsorship
  • This bill was referred to committee on March 21.
• Maryland HB1343: This bill would require a state contractor to file a disclosure statement with the State Board of Elections if the contractor contributed to a nonprofit organization that funds public communications relating to a project in which the contractor has a financial interest.
  • Democratic sponsorship
  • This bill was referred to committee on March 25.
• Michigan SB0788: This bill would require campaign committees to report contributions received by an individual acting on behalf of a committee no later than five days before the closing date of any campaign statement required to be filed by the committee. An independent committee or political committee must include in the name of the committee the name of the sponsor(s) of the committee, if any.
  • Republican sponsorship
  • This bill was referred to committee on March 24.

Donor privacy legislation

• Connecticut HB05222: This bill would repeal the requirement for paid solicitors to submit the text of planned solicitations and remove the ability of the Department of Consumer Protection to inspect contribution records upon request. 
  • Unknown sponsorship
  • This bill was referred to committee on March 24.
• Kansas HB2495: This bill would prohibit a state agency from requesting or releasing the personal information of donors to 501(c) organizations.  
  • Unknown sponsorship
  • This bill passed the lower chamber on March 23.