MONTGOMERY, AL – Lt. Governor Jim Folsom and President Pro Tem Hinton Mitchem (D-Union Grove) joined forces today to give momentum to a bill that would ban PAC-to-PAC transfers and bring landmark campaign finance reform to Alabama.
Folsom and Mitchem teamed up and assigned the bill, HB 120 by Rep. Jeff McLaughlin (D-Guntersville) to the Senate Governmental Affairs committee, which is chaired by Sen. Wendell Mitchell (D-Luverne), Senate Deputy President Pro Tem and a senate champion of campaign finance reform. Folsom and Mitchem hailed the assignment as giving the PAC-to-PAC ban its best chance ever for passage.
Special interests often use multiple transfers between various political action committees to disguise the true source of a candidate’s political contributions. These interests have thwarted five previous attempts to pass a PAC-to-PAC ban. Last year, the bill died at the hands of a filibuster by senators aligned with Gov. Bob Riley. “I hope six will be a lucky number for this bill,” Rep. McLaughlin stated.
“Now is the time for landmark campaign finance reform in Alabama,” Folsom declared. “This legislation is long overdue, and I urge the committee and the full senate to pass it quickly.”
Mitchem said the bill is a necessary ingredient in giving the people of Alabama honest elections. “Honest elections require the people knowing where a candidate’s money is coming from. For too long, donors have used the cover of darkness to disguise the source of political contributions. This legislation will enable Alabama elections to be conducted in the light of day.”
Sen. Mitchell promised quick committee action on the bill. “I am committed to placing the bill on my committee calendar and giving the measure a full hearing and a vote.”
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