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House Republicans vote to allow mystery ads to continue flooding campaigns
(Mar. 8) — A bill sponsored by Rep. Lisa Cutter, D-Jefferson County and Rep. Mike Weissman, D-Aurora to require expanded disclosure of funding behind campaign communications passed the House today.
“I’ve had a twenty-five year career in public relations and communications, and have been a strong advocate for fair and ethical communications,” said Rep. Cutter. “A healthy and functional democracy depends on transparency, so let’s do everything we can to ensure Colorado voters are fully informed.”
The bipartisan SB19-068 would require listing the name of any person or entity that spends more than $1000 per year on electioneering communications on the communication itself, be it a television ad, mailer, or a distributed flyer. It would also increase transparency and accountability in elections by including electioneering communications that occur at any point between the primary and general election.
“Voters get bombarded by political ads and mailers during elections from mystery sources, making it difficult for Democrats, Republicans and Unaffiliated voters to properly weigh the issues,” said Rep. Weissman. “Today, we took an an important step toward improving campaign disclosure laws. Coloradans deserve all the proper facts when they fill out their ballots.”
The bill passed with a final vote of 39-23 with nearly every House Republican voting against it and now heads to the Governor’s desk.
The bill is sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Rachel Zenzinger, D-Arvada and Sen. Jack Tate, R-Centennial. It passed the Senate with bipartisan support on a vote of 23-12.