Modified Disclose Act - Window Dressing Censorship

by Brad Peck

There seems to be some confusion in the media over the modified version of the Disclose Act and how it relates to unions. As The Hill reported last week:

The bill specifically jettisons a provision dealing with requirements that all businesses, unions and groups must disclose transfers to or from or between their affiliates of $50,000 or more, according to a Senate aide familiar with the changes.

Note: "a provision" that favored unions over businesses and other groups was dropped. It was only one of several in the bill which create unequal treatment of speakers -- the rest remain. As this letter this morning from 309 organizations in opposition to the bill makes clear:

The DISCLOSE Act’s supporters do not deny that, to the extent the bill favored union speech over corporate speech, it would seriously depart from past campaign-finance legislation and would be unconstitutionally discriminatory. They claim, however, that the bill treats corporate and union speech evenhandedly. That is incorrect. As an initial matter, the bill contains several provisions that expressly target corporate speech while exempting the same type of speech when it emanates from unions.

and our Key Vote letter, also sent today, reinforces:

Although supporters of the DISCLOSE Act have argued that modifications in S. 3628 would address the problematic provisions of H.R. 5175, they do not. S. 3628 includes most of the "eleventh-hour" modifications made by the House in order to appease certain groups, and certain other "window dressing" changes. As a result, S. 3628 is more objectionable than the original Senate version.

Tell your Senators to support free speech and end this assault on the First Amendment.