• Listen to this segment

New legislation, spearheaded by Democratic Senator Charles Schumer and Representative Chris Van Hollen, was introduced on Thursday to curb the effects of the Supreme Court’s controversial Citizen’s United ruling earlier this year. The ruling allows corporations, nonprofits, unions, and other groups to spend unlimited funds on election campaigns. The bill is called the DISCLOSE Act, which stands for “Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections.” It includes a number of proposals that would limit spending by corporations, and require more funding transparency. Only two Republicans, Representatives Mike Castle (Delaware) and Walter Jones (North Carolina) co-endorsed the House bill. This marks a sharp turn from the bipartisanship that led to the passage of the McCain-Feingold Act 8 years ago. Twenty one Republican supporters for that Act are still serving in Congress, but have not come forward in support of the DISCLOSE Act. The act would require the CEO or head of an organization sponsoring a political ad to appear on camera and claim responsibility for it. Corporations and other groups would also be obligated to create traceable campaign accounts, disclosing the sources of donations exceeding $1000 within 24 hours. The bill would also ban spending by any corporation with 20% or more of its shares owned by foreign nationals, or corporations dominated by foreign nationals. This would rule out companies such as Budweiser and T-Mobile from taking advantage of the Supreme Court ruling.

GUEST: Susan Anderson, Senior Program Adviser with Public Campaign

Find out more at www.fairelectionsnow.org.