Secretary of State Jena Griswold Celebrates Passage of Major Campaign Finance Reform Legislative Package

Denver, May 3, 2019 – Secretary of State Jena Griswold applauds the Colorado General Assembly for passing a package of campaign finance reform bills: the Clean Campaign Act of 2019 (HB19-1318) and Campaign Finance Enforcement (SB19-232). Secretary Griswold ran for office to reform money in politics, and since being sworn in as Secretary of State, has traveled around Colorado to speak with everyday Coloradans about the importance of transparency in political spending. She worked closely with bill sponsors Representative Mike Weissman, Senator Mike Foote, and Senator Jeff Bridges to develop and advance this legislation.

This campaign finance reform package, in conjunction with SB19-068, Expanding Disclosure of Electioneering Communications, and HB19-1248, the Lobbyist Transparency Act, will bring more transparency to, and accountability of, money in politics in Colorado. These reforms will help bolster Coloradans' confidence in our democracy by detecting and deterring corruption, stopping foreign financial influence, and increasing transparency.

"Too often, Coloradans feel that their politicians are beholden to big-money special interests, and that the rich and powerful are allowed to side-step the rules," said Secretary Griswold. "With this package of democracy reforms, we are shining light on the millions and millions of dollars used to influence our elections, stopping foreign financial influence, and holding those who break the law accountable."

The Clean Campaign Act of 2019:

• Exposes large, hard-to-trace donations by requiring organizations that give money to Colorado SuperPACs to disclose their funding sources. Special interests will no longer be able to hide their money by transferring it through various shell organizations.
• Prevents all foreign nationals, foreign corporations, and foreign countries from spending money on any type of political communication or contributing to, or controlling, any type of campaign finance committee in the state.
• Ensures that corporations that spend money in support of, or against, ballot initiatives disclose that they paid for the communication.
• Requires "Paid for by" disclaimers on communications to voters from any committee, including online communications.
• Tightens Colorado's law on coordination between Colorado SuperPACs and candidates, and stops politicians who have not yet announced they are running for office from gaming the system by raising millions into SuperPACs that plan to support their future campaigns.

Campaign Finance Enforcement codifies existing rules put in place in 2018 in response to a Federal District Court ruling in Holland v. Williams. Codifying these rules puts enforcement mechanisms into law and modernizes Colorado's enforcement process to be more fair, speedy, and constitutional.

"With these reforms, Colorado will have one of the most transparent campaign finance systems in the nation. This helps build a democracy that all Coloradans can believe in," said Griswold.