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Golden, DeSaulnier Introduce Crack Down on Dark Money Act

November 17, 2021

WASHINGTON — Today, Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02) and Congressman Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11) introduced legislation, the Crack Down on Dark Money Act, to help close loopholes that enable dark money to flood U.S. elections.

"Everyone knows Washington is broken and dysfunctional, and it should anger every American that the rich people and corporations who fuel this dysfunction remain hidden by shady campaign finance loopholes," said Golden. "If we're going to make real progress on the most important issues facing this country, like ending special tax breaks for the wealthy, we need to root out this soft corruption from the system. I'm proud to lead this effort to shine a light on the dark money from flooding our elections."

"A democracy depends on every citizen having an equal voice. By allowing the super wealthy to have excessive influence by funneling dark money into our political system, we risk losing our democratic system – and the American people are sick of it," said Congressman DeSaulnier. "I am proud to support the Crack Down on Dark Money Act to close these loopholes and restore Americans' faith and trust in our democracy."

Under current law, tax-exempt 501(c)(4) "social welfare" groups can pour up to half their budgets into political campaigns. The Crack Down on Dark Money Act would limit these groups' political expenditures to no more than 10 percent of their annual spending, and require them to disclose their donors of $5,000 or more if the group spends even a penny in elections. The bill would also establish a more detailed definition of political spending to more effectively enforce these rules.

Direct political expenditures by 501(c)(4) groups have grown from $2.23 million in the 2006 election cycle to more than $85 million in the 2020 cycle. The total spending, including contributions to super PACs, by all dark money groups in 2020 topped $1 billion. The Crack Down on Dark Money Act would count 501(c)(4) groups' contributions to Super PACs and other explicitly political groups as a political activity that triggers the donor disclosure requirement and counts towards the 10 percent limit.

The secret donors fueling this problem come from across the political spectrum, with hundreds of millions in dark money being spent by both conservative and liberal groups. In fact, liberal dark money groups spent more than twice as much as their conservative counterparts did in 2020.

The Crack Down on Dark Money Act is endorsed by End Citizens United // Let America Vote Action Fund, a leading anti-corruption and voting rights group working to unrig the corrupt status quo by both ending the influence of big money in politics and stopping efforts to restrict Americans' freedom to vote.

"Congressmen Golden and DeSaulnierknow that our democracy works best when it is open, accountable, and transparent. We fully support their Crack Down on Dark Money Act to shine a light on secret special interest spending in politics and applaud their continued leadership and commitment to ensuring our elections are truly of, by, and for the people," said End Citizens United // Let America Vote Action Fund President Tiffany Muller.

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