Common Cause Massachusetts has voiced its support for the Ballot Spending Transparency Act (H.868/S.507), a bill aimed at increasing transparency in campaign spending on statewide ballot questions.
Geoff Foster, Executive Director of Common Cause Massachusetts, stated, “Massachusetts voters deserve to know, in real time, who is bankrolling their ballot questions. The Ballot Spending Transparency Act gives shines a light on dark money and puts power back to where it belongs, with the people.”
Currently, there is an eight-month period during which donations and expenditures related to ballot question campaigns are not reported in real time. Information about these financial activities only becomes public 60 days before the election. The proposed legislation would require ballot question funds to follow the same reporting process as state and county elected official campaigns by using the existing depository system. This change would mandate that ballot campaigns appoint a bank to file monthly reports on their behalf, closing the gap in unmonitored financial activity.
Over the past decade—covering six election cycles—ballot campaigns in Massachusetts have raised more than $340 million, averaging $57 million per cycle. Of this total, 36%, or $123 million, was contributed during the unmonitored eight-month window.
Massachusetts law does not limit how much money individuals or special interest groups can spend on ballot questions. The state regularly ranks among those raising and spending the most on such campaigns compared to national averages.
The Ballot Spending Transparency Act seeks to address concerns about large sums of money influencing public policy by ensuring more timely disclosure of contributions and expenditures related to statewide ballot initiatives.
