DATELINE: Wednesday, March 28, 2012
CONTACT: Sarah Lee, Communications Director, Center for Competitive Politics
770.598.7961
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – CCP President David Keating will present testimony tomorrow morning before the Senate Committee on Rules & Administration concerning S. 2219, the “Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections Act of 2012” (DISCLOSE Act of 2012).
Keating will present testimony pointing out key flaws with the current iteration of the DISCLOSE legislation, not the least of which is burdensome new regulations related to non-profit advertising.
“While supporters say the bill would increase disclosure of election spending, in fact it’s a radical attempt to chill political speech,” said Keating. “Rather than increasing disclosure, it would force nonprofits to drastically alter their fundraising and public advocacy efforts, and would hijack 25% or more of advertising copy with bureaucratic disclaimers for ads that merely mention the name of a congressman.”
Keating will be facing the panel as the lone proponent of supporting the First Amendment’s free speech protections and will make the case that further disclosure regulation would harm public debate on key issues and candidate platforms.
The hearing, scheduled to begin at 10 a.m, Thursday, March 29, 2012, in room 301 of the Russell Senate Office Building, will feature Keating as well as two other witnesses, Fred Wertheimer, Founder and President of Democracy 21, and Richard Hasen, Chancellor’s Professor of Law and Political Science at UC-Irvine School of Law.
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