Big Victory for Campaign Finance Reform

This afternoon, Rhode Island scored a huge victory for campaign finance reform. Governor Chafee, Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed, and House Speaker Gordon Fox endorsed the Transparency in Political Spending Act (TiPS), our coalition’s top priority this legislative session. Our bill sponsors, Representative Chris Blazejewski and Senator Juan Pichardo, as well as Senate Minority Leader Algiere and John Marion of Common Cause RI were also there to voice their support.

Our message is clear: we, Rhode Islanders, want to know where the money is coming from. In Rhode Island alone, $1.9 million was spent in the 2010 elections through independent expenditures. But who were the sources or figures aiming to shape our elections? With this bill, previously unregulated political expenditures must be fully disclosed, making clear whose interests are being promoted by these messages.

“Campaign finance disclosure is absolutely vital to the health of our representative democracy."

- Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed