Campaign Finance Reform Bill Passed, Signed into Law
A week after passing both branches of the Massachusetts Legislature, An Act relative to campaign finance was signed into law by the Governor. The measure increases transparency and accountability in the Commonwealth’s elections by reforming fiscal reporting requirements. This bill also establishes a commission to study the use of campaign funds for family-related care.
“Running for public office is one of the most exciting and rewarding steps you can take as a citizen of a democracy,” said Senate President Karen E. Spilka (D-Ashland). “Massachusetts must ensure that our campaign finance laws and reporting requirements are under constant review to make certain that we are being as transparent as possible, while opening up the possibility of running for office to more people.”
The depository reporting system, run through the Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF)—the independent state agency that administers Massachusetts’ campaign finance law—directs candidates for public office to submit to stringent campaign finance reporting requirements. Currently, the legislature and some mayoral candidates are exempt from the law that requires statewide, county and many other municipal candidates to use this reporting system.
An Act relative to campaign finance, sponsored by State Senator Diana DiZoglio (D-Methuen), seeks to remedy this disparity by requiring all legislative and mayoral candidates in Massachusetts to participate in the depository system.
“I am proud that the Senate unanimously voted for legislators to be held to the same standard as statewide, county and municipal candidates—filing monthly reports of our campaign donations,” said DiZoglio. “It’s important that voters be able to quickly access information about who is donating to candidates and where candidates are spending their money. This compromise language takes a step in the right direction by moving legislators into the depository system and requiring that we file our reports more often. It’s essential that we move forward with this opportunity to improve good government practices. I’m thankful to the Senate President for her leadership in prioritizing this bill to ensure it was passed by the end of session.”
“I’m proud of the Senate for passing this campaign finance reform legislation today,” said State Senator Barry R. Finegold (D-Andover), Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Election Laws. “ The depository system will lead to increased transparency and uniformity, while minimizing the accidental errors in reporting that often plague campaigns. Voters deserve to know how we get our money as candidates and how we spend it, and the move to the depository system will make all of that data more readily available.”
“Accurate reporting of campaign donations and expenditures is critical for the integrity of our elections and the public trust our democracy depends on,” said Senate Minority Leader Bruce E. Tarr (R-Gloucester). “This modernization of our reporting system will expand a proven methodology to more candidates, and produce more timely and accurate information about financial activity.”
By including all legislative and mayoral candidates in the depository reporting system, this bill will increase accountability by requiring more frequent reports disclosing campaign contributions and confirmation of the expenditures reported in monthly statements filed by their designated financial institutions.
Currently, filings for those presently exempt from the depository system occur only two or three times a year. By increasing filing frequency and pairing candidate disclosures with bank reporting, the legislation seeks to increase transparency in statewide campaign finance activity.
This revised process will assist OCPF in identifying discrepancies between a candidate’s public disclosure of campaign finance activity and their bank accounting records. It would also help OCPF promptly address issues associated with data entry errors, missed deposits, balance issues and un-cashed checks. In addition, the change will make it easier to see how much money a candidate is raising and spending during the course of the entire election cycle.
An Act relative to campaign finance was signed into law by the governor.