Schumer to push new campaign law

By JOHN BRESNAHAN | 7/22/10

Sen. Charles Schumer has introduced a new version of a controversial campaign-finance reform bill opposed by Republicans and special-interest groups — changes he hopes will give Democrats enough votes to break a filibuster when the bill comes up for a vote Tuesday.

Schumer, chairman of the Rules and Administration Committee – which has jurisdiction over campaign-finance issues – dropped the new bill Wednesday night. By late Thursday evening, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) filed cloture on the legislation and announced that the Senate will vote on the motion to open debate on the bill Tuesday afternoon.

The New York Democrat, aware that Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other GOP leaders will move to block it, will try to bring the measure to the Senate floor without first marking it up in committee.

Schumer’s revised version of the DISCLOSE (Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections) Act differs in several ways from the version passed by the House in June.

The bill would require corporations, unions and advocacy groups to reveal their roles in political ads or mailings in the closing months of a campaign. Companies that receive TARP funding and smaller government contractors are also barred from underwriting “electioneering communications.”

The Democratic proposal is a response to the Supreme Court's January ruling in the Citizens United case, which struck down decades of campaign-finance laws that had barred corporations and labor unions from running TV ads advocating the defeat or election of federal candidates in the closing months of a campaign.

The measure is vehemently opposed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other special-interest groups that see it as an attempt to muzzle their involvement in the political process.

But Democrats believe the legislation is necessary to prevent corporations and advocacy groups from dumping tens of millions of dollars into federal races without having to acknowledge their role in such activities.

Schumer has left intact a contentious provision exempting the National Rifle Association and several other large organizations from the reporting requirements of the legislation. But he has removed other language that had been backed by the AFL-CIO and other unions excusing the labor organizations from having to report money transfers between affiliates.

An AFL-CIO spokesman said the giant labor organization hasn't decided whether it will oppose the Schumer bill yet, but noted that union officials were displeased that the senator has stripped the affiliate transfer. Though it might ultimately cost the unions’ support, Schumer believes the move will pre-empt GOP attacks that the bill panders to such groups.

"Based on reports, we are concerned that recent developments could hamper working families' ability to have a voice in the political process. We continue to review the legislation and fight to ensure that the final bill addresses the tilted advantage that big business has enjoyed for far too long."

Schumer also did not include a measure inserted into the House bill by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) that bars any company holding leases for drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf from engaging in political activity. The Kucinich amendment was aimed at the U.S. subsidiary of oil giant BP.

The Senate bill also requires campaigns to electronically file versions of their disclosure reports to the Federal Election Commission. House candidates and incumbents are currently required to do so, but Senate campaigns file paper reports, which are then posted online after being scanned into electronic format.