After More Than $40 Million In Outside Special Interest Money Spent Against Him, Brown Calls For Three Steps That Could Help Get Big Money Out Of Politics

WASHINGTON, D.C. – After more than $40 million in outside special interest money was spent against him, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today renewed his call to limit special interest spending in our political process. Brown is urging enactment of three measures that would ensure that special interests do not have a louder voice in our democratic process than middle-class Ohioans.

“Special interests should not have a louder voice in our democracy than middle-class families. In 2012, powerful out-of-state special interests tried to buy our election, pouring more than $40 million into attacks against me,” Brown said. “While Ohioans proved they couldn’t be bought, we need to get the big money out of politics by improving transparency and ensuring greater accountability for corporate special interests that are seeking to influence our elections.”

Brown is calling for the following three measures:

Enhanced Disclosure: Brown is a cosponsor of the Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections (DISCLOSE) Act, which would address the Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. The ruling opened the floodgates for corporations to use company dollars to influence the democratic process. The DISCLOSE Act would provide important protections to the American people by promoting effective disclosure of campaign-related activity by special interests as well as banning “pay-to-play” by preventing government contractors and government bailout recipients from spending money on elections.

Shareholder Approval of Corporate Political Expenditures: Brown is calling for accountability measures that would require the shareholders of a corporation to vote to approve political expenditures in advance of any spending. This requirement would empower shareholders—many of whom are middle-class Americans whose pensions and 401(k)s are tied to stock—to determine if corporate funds should be spent on political campaigns or on creating jobs or paying out dividends.

Investigation of the Non-Profit Status of Super-PACs Disguised as “Social Welfare” Organizations: Brown is calling for the IRS to investigate groups that file for non-profit status as “social welfare” groups, but whose only aim is to affect the political process and largely only run political ads. These groups may not only evade taxes by benefiting from tax-exempt status, but they also aren’t required to register with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) or reveal their donors.

###