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Crow Closes Dark Money Campaign Finance Loophole in Funding Bill; Passes House

June 27, 2019

The End Dark Money Act, Crow’s First Bill, Incorporated into Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act

Today, Rep. Jason Crow (CO-06) successfully removed language from the House funding bill that had previously created a loophole for mega-donors to hide their political contributions in so-called "social welfare" organizations. By striking the campaign finance rider, Crow passes the core provision of his first bill, the End Dark Money Act, which he introduced in January. Both his bill and the funding bill repeal the language that prohibits the IRS from investigating the abuse of social welfare organizations to funnel dark money into our elections.

"Dark money pollutes our democracy. It has given rise to a rigged system that allows mega-donors and corporate special interests to drown out the voices of the American people," said Crow. "By closing this loophole, we're breathing new life into our democracy. It's time we restore trust in our government and end the corruption of Congress by the wealthiest few."

"By working to remove this dangerous restriction on transparency, Rep. Crow continues to follow through on his promises to make government more accountable to the American people. The last thing we need are more vehicles for mega-donors to hide their political contributions through phony social welfare organizations. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell should take a page out of Rep. Crow's playbook and allow the bill to proceed in the Senate without any provisions aimed at giving special interests more undue influence. We thank Rep. Crow for his continued leadership and standing up for good government," said End Citizens United Action Fund President Tiffany Muller.

"I was proud to work with Representative Crow on this important effort," said Congressman Sarbanes, Chair of the Democracy Reform Task Force. "Thanks to Jason's leadership, House Democrats took an important step today in the fight against big money in politics by passing the core provisions of the End Dark Money Act. From the moment he arrived in Congress, Jason has been committed to bringing secret money out from the shadows and making our democracy more accountable to the people."

A proud co-sponsor of H.R.1, Crow has a long history of fighting for reform and speaking out against the influence of corporations in our elections. Dedicated to transparency and accountability, Crow is one of the few members of Congress to list his public schedule, available on his congressional website.