Wyo Legislature Looks At Mapping Campaign Spending

from the Wyoming News Service

One of the items on the Wyoming Legislature’s to-do list is a result of the U-S Supreme Court ruling in the “Citizens United” case related to corporations and direct spending in elections. Current Wyoming law that prohibits corporations and unions from direct spending has to change, and a state Senate committee is looking at the options .

Dan Neal with the Equality State Policy Center says Wyoming has a strong tradition of requiring public information about spending, and he says that can continue if a public reporting requirement is added to the proposal currently on the table.

"Let’s make sure we know where the money’s coming from, so that the spending by corporations and others would be more transparent."

Neal explains that if the state law doesn’t include specifics on reporting, a company, even one from another country, can set up a dummy nonprofit with a misleading name and hide behind that name.

"Then, contribute money under that name, and the way the bill is written right now, that’s all they would have to say. We want them to have to report what the corporation itself has contributed."

Disclosure amendments were debated on Tuesday.