Van Hollen Statement on Outside Secret Money Spent This Election Cycle

Press Release

Today Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen issued the following statement on the outside secret money spent this election cycle. The Center for Responsive Politics estimates that the amount of outside spending has gone from $309 million in the 2010 Congressional elections to $554 million in 2014. Of this cycle's outside spending, 39 percent came from sources where the donors were not fully disclosed:

"The surge of outside secret money spent in this midterm election is simply repugnant. This epidemic began with the Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United and has only gotten worse. Congress must restore the integrity of our democratic process -- the American people deserve a political system that is fair, transparent, and accountable. The DISCLOSE Act would help do that by ensuring that people know who is bankrolling the ads designed to influence their votes.

"We must also address the explosion of individual candidate Super PACs, which are often run by close political associates, friends, and family members of the candidate. The idea that they are operating with the "independence' that the Supreme Court envisioned when it authorized "unlimited expenditures' is ludicrous. The Empowering Citizens Act, which I have introduced with Congressman David Price, would shut down these PACs and strengthen the rules that prohibit coordination between other outside spenders and candidates.

"In the face of a secret special interest takeover of our democracy, failure to act is simply not an option."

BACKGROUND:

The Center for Responsive Politics estimates that the amount of outside spending has gone from $309 million in the 2010 Congressional elections to $554 million in the 2014 Congressional races. Of the 2014 outside spending, 39 percent came from sources where the donors were not fully disclosed. "As the post-Citizens United campaign finance system matures, we're seeing evidence that the traditional campaign apparatus has been overtaken by shadow counterparts," said Sheila Krumholz, the Executive Director of the Center for Responsive Politics.

This epidemic was started by the Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United, which opened the door for unlimited expenditures by and unlimited contributions to Super PACs and nonprofit corporations for political ads and other campaign expenditures. However, despite the fact that the Supreme Court opened the floodgates, it is clear from their decision that the Court anticipated the disclosure of the identity of donors. In fact, eight out of the nine Justices clearly indicated their express support for disclosure.

We continue to see an increase in anonymous outside money. We have also seen the explosion of Super PACs run by close political associates, friends, and family members of the candidates being supported by these PACs. These individual candidate Super PACs are not operating with the "independence" that the Supreme Court envisioned when it authorized "unlimited expenditures". The decision of Citizens United can only be overturned by a constitutional amendment. However, the damaging effects of it can and should be mitigated by requiring the full disclosure of donors that is required by the DISCLOSE Act (H.R. 148). Moreover, the improper coordination between candidates and individual candidate Super PACs should be stopped . The Empowering Citizens Act (H.R. 270), introduced by Congressman David Price and Congressman Van Hollen, would shut down these individual candidate PACs and strengthen the rules that prohibit coordination between other outside spenders and the candidates that they support.

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