The Center for Competitive Politics (CCP) submitted comments to a Maryland panel considering changes to the state’s campaign finance law. CCP’s policy recommendations include raising contribution limits to permit effective political speech within the structure of campaigns. This reform would diminish the time candidates need to spend fundraising and discourage strategies such as using multiple LLCs and loans to contribute to candidates. The Baltimore Sun‘s editorial board recently suggested such an approach.

CCP also commented on proposals to regulate political speech disseminated through social media, such as Twitter and Facebook, as well as proposals to invent new disclosure requirements supposedly justified by the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.

“While it may be tempting to treat Internet communications like broadcast advertising or mass mailings, there are significant differences,” Hayward wrote in CCP’s recommendations to the advisory committee today. “Much of what a person receives online is by choice. It makes little sense to require onerous sender identifications on discrete messages when an individual has chosen to hear from that sender.”