For far too long, shady organizations have played a big role in our elections, eroding public trust and threatening our democracy. New Yorkers must be the ones choosing their representatives – not wealthy special interests. That’s why I’ve worked hard and stood up for free and fair elections and why I’ve co-sponsored legislation that closes loopholes in campaign finance law and shines a light on dishonest ads.

This week, I helped pass the Democracy Protection Act, which requires all political advertisements, including internet and digital, to disclose who is paying for them (A.9930). The legislation, which I co-sponsored, holds internet and digital advertising, and all other political communications, to the same disclosure and attribution standards as television and radio communications. It’s a vital step toward ensuring that voters know where information – especially false information – is coming from as we become increasingly reliant on social media.

Under the new measure, all political communications by a political committee, including advertisements posted online or to social media, would need to include a “paid for by” statement followed by the name of the committee. If the ad is too small to contain the statement, it must contain a link to another webpage where the information is displayed prominently. Those who are trying to influence our elections shouldn’t be hiding in the shadows.

The bill also requires each online platform to maintain and make available online a complete record of all political communications made by independent expenditure committees, including the audience targeted by the advertisement, the number of views generated and the name, address and phone number of the person purchasing the ad. Further, the legislation prohibits any foreign national or government agent from registering as an independent expenditure committee in order to purchase political communications in state or local elections. By passing this legislation, we’re taking a stand to protect democracy and tell foreign governments that they have no place in our electoral system.

This legislation builds on my previous work pushing to close the LLC loophole in the state’s campaign finance law (A.1926 of 2017). Under current law, individuals and corporations can make unlimited contributions to the same candidate, political party or campaign committee by creating new LLCs for each contribution. This legislation would extend the $5,000 aggregate contribution limit, already applicable to corporations, to include LLCs and require them to disclose the name of individuals with membership interests. Closing the LLC loophole is a vital part of taking big money and greedy special interests out of politics.

The only way we’re going to move New York forward is if public officials truly work on behalf of the people they represent – not special interests. That means keeping dark money and anonymous false information out of our elections, and the Democracy Protection Act brings us one step closer to making that a reality.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns about this or any community matter, please don’t hesitate to contact me at 315-452-1115 or at StirpeA@nyassembly.gov.