BRUNSWICK, ME – Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) announced he will chair a Senate Rules Committee Hearing on Wednesday, April 30^th to examine the influence of undisclosed money on elections in the United States, particularly in the wake of the Supreme Court decision McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, which abolished caps on an individual’s aggregate donations to all federal candidates, parties and some political committees. The hearing, entitled “Dollars and Sense: How Undisclosed Money and Post-McCutcheon Campaign Finance Will Affect the 2014 Election and Beyond” will be the first to focus on campaign finance since the Supreme Court decision and will underscore the urgent need to increase transparency of campaign contributions.

“No matter who you are, or whether you live in a ‘red state’ or a ‘blue state,’ you deserve to know who’s funding the ads on your TV during an election year,” Senator King said. “But tracing the origin of campaign money – so-called dark money – has become nearly impossible. While this hearing can’t change the way campaign laws work overnight, it is a much-needed first step. It’s far past time we shine a bright light on the dark money dominating campaigns.”

The witnesses for the Majority will be: Ann Ravel, current Commissioner and Vice Chair of the Federal Election Commission (FEC); Trevor Potter, former FEC Commissioner and Chairman, General Counsel to Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), and Legal Counsel to Stephen Colbert’s Super PAC; and Norm Ornstein, Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and former Codirector of the AEI-Brookings Election Reform Project. For additional information on the witnesses, see below.

On April 2nd, King introduced the Real Time Transparency Act of 2014, which would require that all campaign contributions of $1000 or more be filed with the FEC within 48-hours.

WHO:             U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine)

WHAT:          Senate Rules Committee Hearing: “Dollars and Sense: How Undisclosed Money and Post-McCutcheon Campaign Finance Will Affect the 2014 Election and Beyond”

 WHEN:          Wednesday, April 30, 2014

                       10:00 a.m. ET

WHERE:        216 Hart Senate Office Building

                       Washington, D.C. 20510

The hearing will stream live HERE.

Ann Ravel is currently a Commissioner and Vice Chair of the Federal Elections Commission. She previously served as Chair of the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) where she oversaw the regulation of campaign finance, lobbyist registration and reporting, and ethics and conflicts of interest related to officeholders and public employees. During her tenure at the FPPC, Ms. Ravel was instrumental in the creation of the States’ Unified Network Center, a web-based center for sharing information on campaign finance.She has been an outspoken critic of money’s influence in politics, and was confirmed by the Senate last September. For more information on Ann Ravel, click HERE.

Trevor Potter is currently a Member at Caplin & Drysdale’s Washington, D.C. office and is one of the best-known and experienced campaign and election lawyers. He is a former Commissioner and Chairman of the FEC and also served as General Counsel for both of U.S. Senator John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) presidential campaigns. He has also served as Stephen Colbert’s legal counsel on campaign finance matters, and is the founding President of and General Counsel for the Campaign Legal Center. For more information on Trevor Potter, click HERE.

Norm Ornstein is currently Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he focuses his research on U.S politics, elections, and Congress.  He is a contributing editor and columnist for both National Journal and The Atlantic and is also an election eve analyst for BBC News. He co-directed the AEI-Brookings Election Reform Project and led a working group that helped shape the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (more commonly referred to as McCain-Feingold). For more information on Norm Ornstein, click HERE.

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