News from Michele
Reagan Arizona Secretary of
State
(602) 542-4285
Phoenix, AZ –
A bill to allow the Secretary of
State’s office to crack down on illegitimate, unlawful political spending has
passed the Arizona Senate.
“I’m pleased our campaign
finance bill (SB1516) to root out unlawful political spending has passed the
Senate,” said Secretary Reagan. “Hopefully, If the bill passes the House and is
signed into law by the Governor, our office will finally have the tools
necessary to go after fly-by-night “convenience corporations” who show up in
Arizona on Tuesday and start spending money on Friday in our
elections.”
“The ability to differentiate
between bad actors and perfectly legitimate companies exercising their basic
right to speak is historic,” continued the Secretary. “It’s concerning to many
that institutional groups like the Cattlemen’s Association, Planned Parenthood,
Chamber of Commerce or Sierra Club would have to hand over the personal
information of their members and supporters to a government agency. These
provisions strike the right balance between holding wrongdoers accountable and
protecting legitimate not-for-profits from big brother tracking the issues and
causes they support and deciding what political speech they wish to regulate.
“In conjunction with our
revolutionary, soon-to-be-released campaign finance reporting system, citizens
will better able to educate themselves about the connections between the people
who write checks and the politicians that cash them.”
Sponsored by Senator Adam
Driggs, SB1516 is a comprehensive rewrite of Arizona campaign finance law.
While provisions related to anonymous political spending are extremely
important, the legislation also provides a clear, concise set of policies and
procedures where citizens can easily find and understand the rules by which they
can engage in political activity.
