By Laura Weber, Michigan Public Radio Network
LANSING, MI –
Lawmakers on a state House panel are expected to vote in coming weeks on a package of bills that would regulate corporate and union spending on political campaigns. The legislation is a result of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that allows corporations to spend money on political ads.
A state House panel opened discussion on the legislation this week. Democratic state Representative Dan Scripps sponsored the measure.
"The danger is we won't even know who's spending," he says. "We won't know who's funding the ads that are running for or against the candidates in the state, Democrats and Republicans. We won't know how much is being spent, who the different groups are behind it. We don't know."
Many lawmakers on the panel say they are concerned with foreign corporations being able to contribute to political campaigns.
The package of bills would ban some corporations from spending money on elections, and require the rest to report their political expenditures.