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Senate committee weighs late amendment to S 298 that would narrow PAC definition; members warn of "dark money" gap
Summary
Legislative counsel and an advocacy director told the Senate Government Operations Committee that a late amendment to S 298 would change the statutory test for political committees from an "or" standard to an "and" standard, potentially allowing significant fundraising or spending to escape PAC registration and disclosure across two-year cycles; the committee deferred final action pending more testimony.
The Senate Committee on Government Operations on May 8 heard a briefing and wide-ranging questions about a late amendment to S 298, the voter-protection bill, that would alter the statutory definition of a political committee (PAC) and, members warned, could allow large sums to avoid disclosure.
For the record, Tim Dublin, legislative counsel, told the panel the two-page amendment would replace a subsection of the bill and change the definition so an entity would be a PAC only if it both accepted contributions and made expenditures within the same two-year general election cycle. "The effect of this change is that the entity can either accept or expend large sums without being considered a PAC so long as it does not do both," Dublin said, explaining the language and the examples he had prepared for the committee.
Committee members pressed…
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