{"id":2198,"date":"2025-10-22T12:05:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T16:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/?post_type=press&p=2198"},"modified":"2025-10-22T12:05:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T16:05:09","slug":"new-bill-would-reveal-whos-funding-massachusetts-ballot-questions-in-real-time","status":"publish","type":"press","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press\/new-bill-would-reveal-whos-funding-massachusetts-ballot-questions-in-real-time\/","title":{"rendered":"New Bill Would Reveal Who\u2019s Funding Massachusetts Ballot Questions in Real Time"},"template":"","class_list":["post-2198","press","type-press","status-publish","hentry","press_type-press-release"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"The Ballot Spending Transparency Act empowers voters by requiring real-time reports on ballot question spending ","featured_image":"","press_type":146,"authors":"","related_issues":[92,464],"related_work":false,"location":24},"sidebar":{"helper_enable_sidebar":false,"helper_media_contact":{"heading":"Media Contact","manually_enter_person":false,"person":"","name":"","role":"","phone":"","email":""},"helper_links_downloads":{"heading":"Links & Downloads","links":null}},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"

Boston, MA \u2013<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Today, Common Cause Massachusetts testified in support of the<\/span><\/span>\u00a0Ballot Spending Transparency Act<\/span>\u00a0(<\/span><\/span>H.868\/<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>S.507.)<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>This\u00a0<\/span>newly introduced\u00a0<\/span>legislation would increase transparency in the reporting process for campaign spending on statewide ballot questions.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cMassachusetts voters deserve to know, in real time, who is<\/span>\u00a0bankrolling their ballot questions<\/span>,\u201d said\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Geoff Foster, Executive Director of Common Cause Massachusetts.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u201cThe<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Ballot Spending Transparency Act\u00a0<\/span>gives shines a light on dark money and puts power back to where it belongs, with the people<\/span>.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Currently, the reporting schedule for ballot question spending includes an eight month long \u2018unmonitored\u2019 window where donations and expenditures go completely unreported<\/span>\u00a0in real time<\/span>, only being published just\u00a0<\/span>60 days<\/span>\u00a0before the election. This legislation would strengthen ballot question transparency by subjecting ballot question funds to<\/span>\u00a0a<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>similar<\/span>\u00a0reporting process used by all state and county elected official campaigns<\/span>: the existing\u00a0<\/span>deposi<\/span>tory\u00a0<\/span>sys<\/span>tem<\/span>. Ballot campaigns would have to appoint a bank to\u00a0<\/span>file monthl<\/span>y reports on their behal<\/span>f, there<\/span>by\u00a0<\/span>eliminat<\/span>ing<\/span>\u00a0the \u2018unmonitored\u2019 window.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the past 10 years, or six election cycles, Massachusetts ballot campaigns have received over\u00a0<\/span><\/span>$340 million for an average of $57 million each election cycle.<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a036% of those contributions, or $123 million, were received during the unmonitored eight-month window.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Under current law, Massachusetts has no limit on how much money wealthy, sometimes out-of-<\/span>state,<\/span>\u00a0special interests can spend on ballot questions. Massachusetts consistently\u00a0<\/span><\/span>ranks among the states raising the highest dollar amounts for ballot questions<\/span><\/span><\/a>, and the state spends more than the national average on ballot question campaigns.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

With so much money coming into statewide ballot questions, this legislation will take much<\/span>-neede<\/span>d steps to ensure stronger transparency with ballot campaign contributions and expenditures\u00a0<\/span>attempting<\/span>\u00a0to influence public policy.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Watch the testimony\u00a0here.<\/a><\/span><\/p>"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_add_component","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_add_component":null},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_work","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_work":{"heading":"Work","manually_curate":false,"work":null}}]},"yoast_head":"\nNew Bill Would Reveal Who\u2019s Funding Massachusetts Ballot Questions in Real Time - Common Cause Massachusetts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Ballot Spending Transparency Act empowers voters by requiring real-time reports on ballot question spending\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press\/new-bill-would-reveal-whos-funding-massachusetts-ballot-questions-in-real-time\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Bill Would Reveal Who\u2019s Funding Massachusetts Ballot Questions in Real Time\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Ballot Spending Transparency Act empowers voters by requiring real-time reports on ballot question spending\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press\/new-bill-would-reveal-whos-funding-massachusetts-ballot-questions-in-real-time\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Common Cause Massachusetts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/darkmoney.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"437\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press\/new-bill-would-reveal-whos-funding-massachusetts-ballot-questions-in-real-time\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press\/new-bill-would-reveal-whos-funding-massachusetts-ballot-questions-in-real-time\/\",\"name\":\"New Bill Would Reveal Who\u2019s Funding Massachusetts Ballot Questions in Real Time - 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