This page contains bill sponsorships in the Senate and House. Bill sponsorships indicate the topics that legislators are most interested in, and spend the most time on.

12-S3369 on Jul 10, 2012

• Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light On Spending in Elections Act of 2012 or DISCLOSE Act:
• Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA) to add to the definition of "independent expenditure" an expenditure by a person that expressly advocates the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate, or takes a position on a candidates, qualifications, or fitness for office.
• Expands the period during which certain communications are treated as electioneering communications.
• Prescribes disclosure requirements for corporations, labor organizations, and certain other entities, including a political committee with an account established for the purpose of accepting donations or contributions that do not comply with the contribution limits or source prohibitions under FECA (but only with respect to such accounts).
• Repeals the prohibition against political contributions by individuals age 17 or younger.

• On January 21, 2010, the Supreme Court, in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, ruled that prohibiting corporations and unions from making independent expenditures in political campaigns was unconstitutional. This ruling is frequently described as permitting corporations and unions to donate to political campaigns, but these claims are incorrect. The ruling did remove the previous ban on corporations and organizations using their funds for direct advocacy, including endorsing for or against specific candidates, actions that were previously prohibited.

  The result of Citizens United was that "Super PACs" spent millions on TV ads in the 2012 election, advocating both issues and candidates. The DISCLOSE Act attempts to reduce the negative effect of Citizens United by requiring disclosure of independent expenditures made by advocacy groups.

  Also see the related House of Representatives bill H.R.4010.

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  Participating counts on VoteMatch question 16. Question 16: Stricter limits on political campaign funds Scores: -2=Strongly oppose; -1=Oppose; 0=neutral; 1=Support; 2=Strongly support.
  • Topic: Government Reform
  • Headline: Sponsored disclosure of independent campaign expenditures (Score: 2)
  • Headline 2: Require full disclosure of independent campaign expenditures (Score: 2)
    
    
  • Key for participation codes:
  • Sponsorships: p=sponsored; o=co-sponsored; s=signed
  • Memberships: c=chair; m=member; e=endorsed; f=profiled; s=scored
  • Resolutions: i=introduced; w=wrote; a=adopted
  • Cases: w=wrote; j=joined; d=dissented; c=concurred
  • Surveys: '+' supports; '-' opposes.
  
  
  

  Democrats participating in 12-S3369
  Daniel Akaka	s2o	HI Democratic Jr Senator (Retiring)	Jul 16, 2012
  Mark Begich	s2o	AK Democratic Jr Senator	Jul 16, 2012
  Michael Bennet	s2o	CO Democratic Jr Senator	Jul 10, 2012
  Jeff Bingaman	s2o	NM Democratic Sr Senator (Retiring)	Jul 11, 2012
  Richard Blumenthal	s2o	CT Democratic Sr Senator	Jul 11, 2012
  Barbara Boxer	s2o	CA Democratic Jr Senator	Jul 17, 2012
  Sherrod Brown	s2o	OH Democratic Sr Senator	Jul 10, 2012
  Benjamin Cardin	s2o	Maryland Democrat	Jul 16, 2012
  Tom Carper	s2o	DE Democratic Sr Senator	Jul 16, 2012
  Kent Conrad	s2o	ND Democrat Sr Senator (Retiring)	Jul 11, 2012
  Chris Coons	s2o	DE Democratic Jr Senator	Jul 11, 2012
  Richard Durbin	s2o	IL Democratic Sr Senator	Jul 16, 2012
  Dianne Feinstein	s2o	CA Democratic Sr Senator	Jul 16, 2012
  Al Franken	s2o	MN Democrat/DFL Jr Senator	Jul 10, 2012
  Kirsten Gillibrand	s2o	New York Democrat	Jul 11, 2012
  Kay Hagan	s2o	NC Democratic Jr Senator	Jul 11, 2012
  Tom Harkin	s2o	IA Democratic Jr Senator (retiring 2014)	Jul 11, 2012
  Daniel Inouye	s2o	HI Democratic Sr Senator	Jul 11, 2012
  Tim Johnson	s2o	SD Democratic Sr Senator (retiring 2014)	Jul 16, 2012
  John Kerry	s2o	MA Democratic Sr Senator	Jul 16, 2012
  Amy Klobuchar	s2o	MN Democrat/DFL Sr Senator	Jul 16, 2012
  Herbert Kohl	s2o	WI Democratic Sr Senator (Retiring)	Jul 11, 2012
  Mary Landrieu	s2o	LA Democratic Sr Senator	Jul 11, 2012
  Frank Lautenberg	s2o	NJ Democratic Sr Senator (retiring 2014)	Jul 16, 2012
  Patrick Leahy	s2o	VT Democratic Sr Senator	Jul 11, 2012
  Carl Levin	s2o	MI Democratic Sr Senator (retiring 2014)	Jul 11, 2012
  Claire McCaskill	s2o	MO Democratic Sr Senator; previously state Auditor	Jul 11, 2012
  Robert Menendez	s2o	New Jersey Democrat	Jul 11, 2012
  Jeff Merkley	s2o	OR Democratic Jr Senator	Jul 10, 2012
  Barbara Mikulski	s2o	MD Democratic Sr Senator	Jul 11, 2012
  Patty Murray	s2o	WA Democratic Sr Senator	Jul 16, 2012
  Bill Nelson	s2o	FL Democratic Sr Senator	Jul 10, 2012
  Jack Reed	s2o	RI Democratic Sr Senator	Jul 11, 2012
  Charles Schumer	s2o	NY Democratic Sr Senator	Jul 10, 2012
  Jeanne Shaheen	s2o	NH Democratic Sr Senator	Jul 10, 2012
  Debbie Stabenow	s2o	MI Democratic Jr Senator	Jul 11, 2012
  Mark Udall	s2o	CO Democratic Sr Senator; previously Representative	Jul 11, 2012
  Tom Udall	s2o	New Mexico Democrat (Senate 2008)	Jul 10, 2012
  Mark Warner	s2o	VA Democratic Sr Senator; previously Governor	Jul 16, 2012
  Sheldon Whitehouse	s2o	RI Democratic Jr Senator, previously attorney general

  
  
  

  Republicans participating in 12-S3369

  
  
  

  Independents participating in 12-S3369
  Bernie Sanders	s2o	Vermont Independent	Jul 11, 2012

  
  
  

  Total recorded by OnTheIssues:

  Democrats: 40 Republicans: 0 Independents: 1