The Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections (DISCLOSE) Act (S. 3628), which would adversely impact the first amendment rights of businesses and trade associations, while allowing unions to retain their influence in the political process, Sept. 23 stalled in the Senate when it failed to get enough votes to move to the next step in the process.  The vote for cloture on S. 3628 was 59-39, one vote short of the 60 required.  

The bill was introduced in response to a Jan. 21 U.S. Supreme Court decision that restored free speech rights to businesses and trade associations by allowing them to engage in independent expenditures and electioneering communications in connection with federal elections.    

In a Sept. 22 letter, ABC asked Senators to oppose the DISCLOSE Act and called it, “a direct attack on businesses and trade associations, threatening to silence their voice in the nation’s political process.”

Included in the DISCLOSE Act is a ban on certain campaign-related activities by businesses with government contracts, although no similar restrictions were imposed on labor unions that receive federal grants or negotiate collective bargaining agreements with the federal government.  The bill also requires businesses and trade associations that engage in campaign-related activity to comply with new Federal Election Commission reporting requirements, including disclosing donors who give $600 or more – a requirement that wouldn’t affect most labor unions since dues are generally under that threshold.   

In addition, the DISCLOSE Act proposes mandatory disclosures for television and radio advertisements where the highest ranking official of an organization would have to appear in the ad and state that he or she “approves this message.”  These mandatory disclosures could consume 13 or more seconds of airtime in a 30-second commercial.