Reps. Crow, Porter Crack Down on Dark Money Spending From “Pop-Up” PACs With New Bill

WASHINGTON – Reps. Jason Crow (D-CO) and Katie Porter (D-CA), Co-Chairs of the End Corruption Caucus, introduced the Expanding Transparency for Hidden Independent Campaign Spending (ETHICS) Act, legislation to close the pop-up PAC loophole which allows for newly formed super PACs to pop-up in the final weeks before Election Day and funnel unlimited, undisclosed money into elections.

“Super PACs and big-money donors are misleading American voters by exploiting loopholes in campaign finance law,” said Crow. “As Co-Chairs of the End Corruption Caucus, Rep. Porter and I are working to close those loopholes and shine a light on dark money in politics.”

“Elections are one of the fundamental ways that Americans make their voices heard in our political system; voters should have clarity before polls close on who’s spending to sway the outcome,” said Porter. “Our ETHICS Act fixes a loophole that super PACs and big-money donors have exploited to spend millions of dollars before elections without disclosing who they are. This will provide more accountability and help earn back the people’s trust in government.”

Under current campaign finance rules, a PAC that files a statement of organization less than twenty days before an election can opt to disclose their donors on the 20th of the following month — weeks after the polls have closed. In the 2020 election cycle, areport detailed that prominent members from both sides of the aisle used the pop-up PAC loophole to purposefully conceal millions of dollars of campaign contributions. In 2022, pop-up PACsspent millions in primaries and likely more in general elections.

The ETHICS Act would close the pop-up PAC loophole by requiring all political committees to disclose any contribution of $1,000 or more within 48 hours if received within 20 days of an election in which the committee is participating on behalf of a candidate.

The ETHICS Act is supported by End Citizens United / Let America Vote Action Fund and Public Citizen.

"Americans deserve to know the big donors and special interests attempting to influence their votes — and they deserve to know it before an election,” said Tiffany Muller, president, End Citizens United / Let America Vote Action Fund. “We applaud Reps. Crow and Porter for introducing the ETHICS Act to close this major loophole in our campaign finance system.”

“Today’s campaign finance arena is increasingly plagued by dark money “pop-up PACs” that suddenly emerge weeks before an election and thus evade disclosure of their donors until 20 days after the election. These “pop-up PACs” provide an avenue for wealthy special interests to finance ads for and against candidates while hiding in the dark until after voters cast their ballots.” said Craig Holman, Government Affairs Lobbyist at Public Citizen. “ The ETHICS Act by Reps. Crow and Porter is desperately-needed legislation to require full disclosure of these donors before we cast our ballots. Public Citizen heartily endorses this disclosure legislation.”

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