Sponsors of the DISCLOSE Act (H.R. 5175), the legislative response to the Supreme Court’s campaign finance decision in Citizens United v. FEC earlier this year, unveiled their bill last week in front of the Supreme Court.

The bill, written by Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), would enhance disclaimers in political ads to require corporations, unions or trade associations to stand by any political ads they finance. Campaign finance law significantly changed with the Supreme Court’s ruling in January allowing unrestricted corporate spending in elections. The court also ruled that corporations, unions and special interest groups could use general treasury funds to pay for issue ads running just before an election.

A summary of the bill requires the identification visually of  the top five contributors to an organization. It also requires organizations to disclose donors. The bill gives organizations two options: either disclose all donors of $1,000 or above to its general fund, or set up a separate “campaign-related activity” account and disclose only those political donors of $1,000 or above. If, however, an organization transfers $10,000 or more from the general fund to the political account, it must then disclose all general fund donors in excess of $10,000. The bill also includes provisions to curb foreign influence in elections, mandate disclosures of political spending to shareholders and members, and prevent government contractors and recipients of government bailout funds from spending money on elections.

MSAE will monitor this legislation to keep you informed.