Transparency: Dark money groups evade light on election spending

Congress passed two transparency reforms recently, one a success and the second a failure. The first required disclosure of campaign finance reports for U.S. Senate candidates. House candidates were required to file electronic reports. Senate candidates all chose to file paper reports delaying public access and costing the government $900,00 annually to convert the files. The second reform was aimed at stopping dark money groups from skirting Federal Election Commission guidelines that require groups spending more than $250 to disclose every donor who gave the group more than $200 for a “specific political purpose.” Dark money groups quickly found loopholes to exploit in failing to meet reporting requirements. (OpenSecrets, March 15, 2019, by Lucas Robinson)