King Cosponsors Legislation to Increase Transparency in Political Donations

Press Release

Today, the Office of U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), a member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, announced Senator King's cosponsorship of the Sunlight for Unaccountable Non-Profits (SUN) Act, legislation that requires the IRS to publish the names of any donors who give more than $5,000 to tax-exempt political organizations.

"The Framers intended to create a government that is both by the people and for the people. This cannot and should not allow secretive special interest groups to put a finger on the scale of the democratic process," said Senator King. "I've often said that Maine's town meetings are some of the finest examples of democracy at work -- anyone can walk in at any point and share their views, and they do so openly with the rest of the public. America should work the same way. But right now, the lack of transparency and openness regarding political donations is un-American and simply unacceptable. Let's work to make sure that no one vote is worth more than any other and get secretive donors and dark money out of the political process."

Today's announcement represents the most recent example of Senator King's commitment to and advocacy for campaign transparency to increase voter trust and engagement in our democracy.

In December 2018, he voted to overturn the U.S. Treasury Department's controversial decision that allows special interests to hide their donors and donations from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
In July 2018, Senator King supported the Spotlight Act, a bill that would reverse the Treasury Department's decision that allows non-profit organizations that engage in political activity to avoid disclosing certain donor information to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
In September 2017, Senator King announced his support for a series of campaign finance bills called the We the People Democracy Reform Act of 2017. This bicameral legislation proposes a series of wide-ranging electoral reforms to restore integrity, accountability, and transparency to America's political system.
In June 2016, Senator King joined with a group of his colleagues to announce a legislative package aimed at reforming America's campaign finance system and making government more accountable to the people.

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