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Virginia General Assembly introduces bills barring contributions from public utilities

Virginia legislators have introduced three bills seeking to limit public utilities’ ability to influence the state’s elections. HB71 (introduced by Del. R. Lee Ware (R) on Jan. 4), SB45 (introduced by Sen. Chap Petersen (D) on Dec. 28, 2021), and SB568 (introduced by Sen. Richard Stuart (R) on Jan. 12), would all prohibit public utilities from making political contributions and bar candidates, campaign committees, or political committees from soliciting or accepting such contributions.

Background

Utilities’ political contributions have been a reoccuring issue in Virginia politics in recent years. Sen. Petersen has introduced multiple measures similar to SB45, most recently in Jan. 2021, that died in committee. Peterson said calls from reform from progressive Democrats “in a lot of ways moved the needle on this issue.”

Dominion Energy, one of Virginia’s largest electric utilities, faced criticism from Republicans after reports showed it contributed more than $200,000 to Accountability Virginia PAC, which ran ads against then-candidate Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) during the 2021 gubernatorial race. In an Oct. 2021 interview, Youngkin said, “I’m going to disrupt all of these entrenched interests in Richmond,” including Dominion. Dominion CEO Bob Blue said the company “would not approve or knowingly support” the PAC’s activities and “we failed to vet sufficiently the scope of their intended activities.” “We will not be giving to organizations of this nature in the future,” Blue said.

Reactions

Ware said he introduced HB71 because utility providers “need to be responsible to the State Corporation Commission and not use massive lobbying monies and a large lobbying corps to get around and get what they want from the assembly.” Referring to the Dominion contributions, Sen. David Suetterlein (R) said the General Assembly “needed to change disclosure policies in Virginia because we would not know exactly what was done until after the next governor was inaugurated.” Suetterlein introduced SB67 on Jan. 12, which would require in-state political action committees to file a report for any single expenditure of $1,000 or more received in the month before the election on the following day.

Peterson called for Younkin, who has not taken a public stance on the legislation, to support it. “The commonwealth needs the new governor to take a firm stand on this issue, and my hope is that will change the dynamic,” Peterson said. Asked about the governor’s stance on the bills, Youngkin press secretary Macaulay Porter said, “The governor will review all legislation that comes to his desk.”

Rayhan Daudani, a representative for Dominion Energy, said, “Campaign finance laws should apply to all equally.” As of Jan. 18, no other utility companies have issued public statements on the proposed legislation.

Virginia has a divided government: Republicans control the office of governor and 52 of the 100 seats in the House of Delegates, and Democrats occupy 21 of the 40 seats in the Virginia State Senate.

The big picture

Number of relevant bills by state: We’re currently tracking 79 pieces of legislation dealing with donor disclosure and privacy. On the map below, a darker shade of green indicates a greater number of relevant bills. Click here for a complete list of all the bills we’re tracking.

Number of relevant bills by current legislative status:

Number of relevant bills by partisan status of sponsor(s):

Recent legislative actions

For complete information on all of the bills we are tracking, click here.

Arizona HB2443: This bill would prohibit individuals from contributing more than a total of $5,610 in a calendar year to state and local candidate committees and political action committees that contribute to candidate committees.
- Primary emphasis: Disclosure
- Democratic sponsorship
- This bill was introduced on Jan. 13.
Colorado HB1060: This bill would set limits on contributions to candidates for school district director and require candidates to disclose campaign contribution information to the secretary of state.
- Primary emphasis: Disclosure
- Democratic sponsorship
- This bill was referred to committee on Jan. 14.

Florida H0617: This bill would create an exemption from public records requirements for personal identifying information of current or prospective donors to the direct-support organization of the Statewide Council on Human Trafficking who wish to remain anonymous. It would also create an exemption from notice requirements for specified meetings. It provides for future legislative review and repeal of the exemption under the Open Government Sunset Review Act.
- Primary emphasis: Privacy
- Republican sponsorship
- This bill was referred to committee on Jan. 13.
Florida H0921: This bill would prohibit a foreign national from making or offering to make contributions or expenditures in connection with any election held in the state.
- Primary emphasis: Disclosure
- Republican sponsorship
- This bill was referred to committee on Jan. 11.
Florida H1359: This bill prohibits the governor, lieutenant governor, or a member of the cabinet from soliciting or accepting a contribution during the 60-day regular legislative session or a special legislative session. It would also require a political committee that is dissolved to dispose of all residual funds and file a report reflecting the disposition of such funds within 90 days of its dissolution.
- Primary emphasis: Disclosure
- Republican sponsorship
- This bill was referred to committee on Jan. 14.
Florida H1373: This bill would lower the contribution threshold requiring a group to file a statement of organization from $5,000 to $1,000. It would also change the deadline for filing the statement to within 24 hours after the close of the qualifying period for the office the candidate seeks. It would also require electioneering communications organizations to disclose the identity of donors, the amount contributed, and the purpose of each expenditure.
- Primary emphasis: Disclosure
- Democratic sponsorship
- This bill was referred to committee on Jan. 14.
Florida H1547: This bill would prohibit a public agency from requiring 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations to provide the public agency with personal information or otherwise compel the release of personal information. This bill would not apply to any report or disclosure required for campaign financing under chapter 106 or lobbying under chapter 11.
- Primary emphasis: Privacy
- Republican sponsorship
- This bill was referred to committee Jan. 16.
Florida H6109: This bill would remove provisions that preempt counties, municipalities, and other local governmental entities from restricting certain contributions and expenditures or establishing contribution limits different than those defined under state law.
- Primary emphasis: Disclosure
- Democratic sponsorship
- This bill was referred to committee on Jan. 12.
Florida S1352: This bill would prohibit a foreign national from making or offering to make contributions or expenditures in connection with any election held in the state.
- Primary emphasis: Disclosure
- Republican sponsorship
- This bill was referred to committee Jan. 12.
Florida S1836: This bill would change the contribution threshold requiring a group to file a statement of organization from $5,000 to $1,000. It would change the deadline for filing the statement to within 24 hours after the close of the qualifying period for the office the candidate seeks. It would also require electioneering communications organizations to disclose the identity of donors, the amount contributed, and the purpose of each expenditure.
- Primary emphasis: Disclosure
- Democratic sponsorship
- This bill was referred to committee Jan. 12.
Florida S1848: This bill would prohibit a public agency from requiring 501(c)(3) nonprofits to provide the public agency with personal information or otherwise compel the release of personal information. This bill would not apply to any report or disclosure required for campaign financing under chapter 106 or lobbying under chapter 11.
- Primary emphasis: Privacy
- Republican sponsorship
- This bill was referred to committee Jan. 12.
Kentucky HB301: This bill would require all costs and expenses related to election administration be paid for with public funds and prohibit a state government employee from accepting contributions to assist with election administration unless entered into as a lawful contract.
- Primary emphasis: Disclosure
- Republican sponsorship
- This bill was referred to committee Jan. 13.
New Hampshire SB302: This bill would prohibit public agencies and bodies from disclosing any information that directly or indirectly identifies a person as a member, supporter, volunteer, or donor of financial or nonfinancial support, to any nonprofit organization. It would also ban government entities from requiring a nonprofit to disclose information about its donors.
- Primary emphasis: Privacy
- Bipartisan sponsorship
- This bill was referred to committee on Jan. 11.
New Jersey A924: This bill would prohibit any person holding an administrative position in a Type II school district from making campaign contributions, directly or through a family member, to a board of education candidate of that district of more than $100 per election.
- Primary emphasis: Disclosure
- Republican sponsorship
- This bill was introduced on Jan. 11.
New Jersey A1016: This bill prohibits a legislative aide who works, or worked, directly for a member of the Legislature in a district office from making a political contribution or giving other things of value greater than $30 to that legislator.
- Primary emphasis: Disclosure
- Bipartisan sponsorship
- This bill was introduced on Jan. 11.
New Mexico HB51: This bill would repeal a statute requiring candidates for the state retirement board to file a report disclosing contributions they received.
- Primary emphasis: Privacy
- Bipartisan sponsorship
- This bill was introduced on Jan. 18.
Utah HB0040: This bill would prevent the disclosure of the names and information of donors or prospective donors to a governmental entity. This would include an institution within the state system of higher education defined in Section 53B-1-102, if the donor requests anonymity in writing and the government entity is engaged in educational, charitable, or artistic endeavors, and has no regulatory or legislative authority over the donor.
- Primary emphasis: Privacy
- Bipartisan sponsorship
- This bill was introduced on Jan. 12.
Virginia HB489: The bill would require advertisements that are independent expenditures or support the passage or defeat of a referendum to disclose the names of the sponsor’s three largest contributors in a disclaimer.
- Primary emphasis: Disclosure
- Democratic sponsorship
- This bill was introduced on Jan. 11.
Virginia HB492: This bill would require campaign committee treasurers to keep accounts of campaign contributions and expenditures and authorizes the Department of Elections to conduct reviews of a percentage of campaign committees. The Department of Elections would report the results of the reviews to the State Board of Elections, the Governor, and the General Assembly and make them available on the Department’s website.
- Primary emphasis: Disclosure
- Democratic sponsorship
- This bill was introduced on Jan. 11.
Virginia HB500: This bill would broaden the scope of campaign advertisement disclosure requirements to include electioneering communications.
- Primary emphasis: Disclosure
- Democratic sponsorship
- This bill was introduced on Jan. 11.
Virginia HB524: This bill would prohibit any candidate from soliciting or accepting a contribution from any public service corporation or any political action committee established and administered by such a corporation.
- Primary emphasis: Disclosure
- Democratic sponsorship
- This bill was introduced on Jan. 11.
Virginia HB575: This bill would establish contribution limits from any individual to any candidate campaign committee, political action committee, and political party committee and from any political action committee or political party committee to any campaign committee. It would also prohibit corporations from making any contribution to any candidate for elected office.
- Primary emphasis: Disclosure
- Democratic sponsorship
- This bill was introduced on Jan. 11.
Virginia SB318: This bill would broaden the scope of campaign advertisement disclosure requirements to include electioneering communications. It would also require advertisements that are independent expenditures or support the passage or defeat of a referendum to disclose the names of the sponsor’s three largest contributors in a disclaimer.
- Primary emphasis: Disclosure
- Democratic sponsorship
- This bill was referred to committee on Jan. 11.
Virginia SB568: This bill would prohibit public utilities from making political contributions.
- Primary emphasis: Disclosure
- Republican sponsorship
- This bill was referred to committee on Jan. 12.
Virginia SB67: This bill would require in-state political action committees to file a report for any single expenditure of $1,000 or more received in the month before the election on the following day.
- Primary emphasis: Disclosure
- Republican sponsorship
- This bill was referred to committee on Jan. 18
West Virginia HB2841: This bill would require political committee reports to include the name of any donors and would make those reports public.
- Primary emphasis: Disclosure
- Democratic sponsorship
- This bill was referred to committee on Jan. 12.
West Virginia SB54: This bill would require political committees to disclose contributors’ names and addresses to the secretary of state.
- Primary emphasis: Disclosure
- Bipartisan sponsorship
- This bill was referred to committee on Jan. 12.
West Virginia SB107: This bill would require the disclosure of the names and addresses of contributors, including federal political action committees that make state level independent expenditures or engage in state level electioneering communications.
- Primary emphasis: Disclosure
- Democratic sponsorship
- This bill was referred to committee on Jan. 12.
West Virginia SB258: This bill would allow members of the Legislature or Board of Public Works to collect donations for a regional or national organization conference or other function related to the office of the member to be held in the state for the purpose of deferring costs to the state for hosting of the conference or function. The organization must file a complete list of the names and last known addresses of all donors and the amount of donations received with the secretary of state.
- Primary emphasis: Disclosure
- Democratic sponsorship
- This bill was referred to committee on Jan. 13.