Wyden wants new disclosures for political ads

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., this week co-sponsored legislation that would direct federal regulators to update and expand disclosure rules that govern commercial and political ads.

Wyden said the Sunshine in Sponsorship Identification Act introduced by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and also cosponsored by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), and Gary Peters (D-Mich.) is a must because it directs the Federal Communications Commission to act upon campaign finance excesses and abuses spawned by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling in 2010.

“Untold billions of dollars are spilling into the U.S. campaign system from special interests manipulating the system from the shadows,” Wyden said.

“The FCC simply must update its rules to pull these big-spending special interests from the dark corners of politics into the sunlight,” he said. “Voters in Oregon and nationwide deserve basic information about who’s paying for the ads that are besieging them.”

Wyden has long advocated for campaign finance reform, writing the “Stand by Your Ad” law included in the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 requiring leaders of corporations, unions and other organizations to identify that they are behind political ads; and cosponsoring legislation to create a constitutional amendment allowing Congress and the states to regulate and restore faith in our campaign finance laws.