Mother Jones reports on California’s effort to further clamp down on “dark money” — the unattributed millions flowing into political races through nonprofits that shield the source of the money.
Dark money has long been a malign influence in Arkansas. A race for state Supreme Court and attorney general were particularly egregious examples in 2014. It can be an issue, too, in ballot issues.
Arkansas lawmakers interested in good government would do well to adopt the rules in California. Full disclosure of contributors to political campaigns. They ARE for accountability, aren’t they? Said Mother Jones of the California development:
State campaign finance rules already require any group that spends money on a California election to reveal its donors. Last week, another patch was added to regulations, making it explicitly clear that this doesn’t just apply to California-based groups, but to out-of-state and national outfits as well. The move extends California’s power to regulate dark-money groups—something few states have been wiling to do—and means that if a national group tries to step into state politics, it might be exposing its whole national network to scrutiny.