CT House Backs Requirement to ID Campaign Donors

Connecticut has taken the first step requiring corporations and other groups that independently spend money or run ads for political candidates to identify top donors. WAMC’s Lucas Willard has more…

The House of Representatives approved legislation 94-to-54 on Tuesday intended to bring more transparency to political financing.

Representative Russell Morin, co-chairman of the legislature's Government Administration and Elections Committee, says the legislation is not intended to reduce campaign spending by political supporters, but that the public should know who donors are.

Morin said the legislation was made necessary by the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United case that eased spending restrictions on corporations and unions and leading to "super PACs" that raise millions of anonymously donated dollars.

The measure heads to the Senate, which faces a deadline of midnight Wednesday when the legislative session ends.

Lucas Willard, WAMC News.

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