Groups lobby legislators on behalf of campaign finance reform

Several advocacy groups gathered at the Capitol on Tuesday morning for a rally and later to lobby legislators, urging them to pass campaign finance reform legislation.

A handful of legislators also joined them for a news conference about a number of bills taking aim at how they and their elected colleagues fund their campaigns. Proposals include measures to restrict personal use of campaign funds, to put limits on campaign contributions and a resolution requesting the U.S. Congress pass a constitutional amendment. That proposal, from Del. Vivian Watts, D-Fairfax, urges Congress to clarify that states have the power to regulate election contributions and expenditures in their own contests while Congress has such power in federal elections.

Organized by groups like BigMoneyOutVA, UpVote Virginia and Fair Vote, a crowd of about 50 people attended the morning rally and conference.

Dels. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax, Barbara Favola, D-Arlington, and Watts spoke in the House Briefing Room to an audience of volunteers with various advocacy groups.

Each legislator noted how they think the issue should not be partisan and expressed frustrations about trying to get Republicans on board. That’s when Del. Tim Anderson, R-Virginia Beach, walked in.

“I am a red M&M, I do exist,” he said, drawing laughter from the crowd.

Then he segued into discussing his bill, House Bill 1648, which would prohibit foreign-influenced corporations from contributing to candidates, campaigns, political action committees and political parties.

“We have seen corporations buy elections. There’s no other way to say it,” he said.

The Democrat-controlled Senate has already advanced a bill by Favola, Senate Bill 854, that would require candidates to name their top three donors in advertisements that are “an independent expenditure or that expressly advocates for the passage or defeat of a referendum.”

“To me, it’s a consumer protection kind of bill. It’s a voter transparency bill,” she said.

Before the Senate passed the bill Monday, Sen. Jill Vogel, R-Fauquier, said it wasn’t fair to donors who just want to contribute to a cause they care about. She also appealed to her colleagues on how the law could affect them.

“When you run an ad, you have to think about how few seconds you have and how much space you have allotted. Do you want a bunch of names?” she asked.

Still, the bill passed the Democrat-controlled Senate on a party-line vote. A companion bill by Helmer has been assigned to the House’s Privileges and Elections Committee for review. A number of other bills on the subject are still making their way through both chambers.

Campaign finance reform has oftentimes fallen along partisan lines and a subcommittee that was created to study campaign finance reform failed to meet last year as was planned.

In the meantime, Helmer said he and his colleagues are working to build more bipartisan support and to “shine a light on our democracy.”