DISCLOSE Again and Maybe for the Last Time

The DISCLOSE Act, slightly modified, is headed for a cloture vote on Tuesday afternoon. The alterations to the bill have changed few minds outside of Congress. It remains to be seen whether the modification in the bill --- the sponsor removed a passage allowing labor unions to transfer funds among its affiliates --- will be enough to attract enough support to achieve cloture.

My policy analysis of DISCLOSE applies to the altered bill.

The Center for Competitive Politics provides an analysis of the altered bill here.

The American Civil Liberties Union is sending around a letter of opposition that states "we believe this legislation would fail to improve the integrity of our campaigns in any substantial way while significantly harming the speech and associational rights of Americans."

The ACLU has four objections to the altered bill:

• The DISCLOSE Act fails to preserve the anonymity of small donors, thereby especially chilling the expression rights of those who support controversial causes.
• The DISCLOSE Act would chill not only express advocacy on political candidates, but also issue advocacy.
• The DISCLOSE Act imposes impractical requirements on those who wish to communicate using broadcast messages.
• The DISCLOSE Act imposes unjust restrictions on contractors, TARP participants and corporations with minimal foreign participation.