Campaign Finance

The state’s groundbreaking 2012 law was the state’s response to the 2010 Citizens United decision. It requires groups spending to influence Rhode Island elections, independent of the candidates themselves, to report information about their donors who funded the advertising.

Rhode Island’s political spending transparency rules have been upheld by a federal appeals court, which held that “a well-informed electorate is as vital to the survival of a democracy as air is to the survival of human life.”

The U.S. House of Representatives passed sweeping voting reform legislation last month with the “For the People Act,” which would institute voting reforms at the federal level.

A newly introduced bill in the General Assembly aims to make legislative and statewide elections in Rhode Island more competitive by giving under-funded candidates financial help against deeper-pocketed rivals.

Donors to Gov. Gina Raimondo and House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello listed Goldberg Law Offices as employer instead of the Foxy Lady and other clubs. Mysterious errors in campaign finance records concealed the source of thousands of dollars in political donations from the Providence strip-club industry to Gov. Gina Raimondo and House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello.

The private transportation company at the center of an 11-day bus driver strike that left thousands of Providence children without rides to and from school in October donated $5,000 to Mayor Jorge Elorza’s inauguration and travel fund earlier this month, Target 12 has learned.