Colorado lawmakers want to put clear guardrails around how dark money can be spent on ballot measures – By Sandra Fish (Colorado Sun) / May 6, 2022
Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold opposes the bipartisan bill, but won’t say why
Abipartisan effort to clarify how much money political nonprofits can spend supporting or opposing Colorado ballot measures before they have to disclose their donors would likely allow the so-called dark-money groups to keep their finances secret in most cases.
Two political nonprofits that often work against each other on Colorado ballot initiatives — the liberal-leaning Bell Policy Center and conservative-leaning Advance Colorado Action — are supporting Senate Bill 237, which passed the state Senate unanimously Thursday.
The bill, sponsored by Senate President Steve Fenberg, a Boulder Democrat, and Senate Minority Leader Chris Holbert, a Douglas County Republican, would require political nonprofits to disclose their donors only if their spending on two or more ballot measures exceeds 30% of their total spending over three years. If they’re spending on only one ballot measure, the spending can’t exceed 20% of their total expenditures for three years if they want to keep their donors secret.
Current state law requires disclosure if it’s determined that supporting or opposing ballot measures is a “major purpose” of a political nonprofit. But the catch is that the law doesn’t specify how that should be determined.
CONTINUE > https://coloradosun.com/2022/05/06/colorado-dark-money-regulation/
