"The lack of transparency in politics is harming our democracy, breeding even more mistrust in government, and depressing voter participation."

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Anna G. Eshoo: End secret sponsors of political advertisements
By Anna G. Eshoo, May 19, 2015

Californians know the power of transparency in politics. Our state laws require campaign advertisements to include the disclosure of their true sponsors. It's why in 2010, when voters learned who actually was sponsoring political TV ads in support of a state ballot initiative to weaken greenhouse gas emission rules -- two major oil companies -- they rejected it by a 23 percent margin.

As the 2016 presidential campaigns commence, the entirety of the American electorate has a right to be just as empowered. Voters are sickened spectators to the corrosion of our democracy by moneyed interests following the Supreme Court's devastating decisions in Citizens United and McCutcheon. The decisions struck down virtually all limits on the amount of money that can be spent on campaigns without any effective disclosure regime in place. For a large portion of political spending, the American public has no way of knowing who is putting up the money or how much they're spending.

Justice Anthony Kennedy offered some consolation in Citizens United, writing for the majority: "The First Amendment protects political speech and disclosure permits citizens and shareholders to react to the speech of corporate entities in a proper way. This transparency enables the electorate to make informed decisions and give proper weight to different speakers and messages." Even Sen. Mitch McConnell agreed, asking in 2000, "Why would a little disclosure be better than a lot of disclosure?"

Transparency in politics is a critical step toward tipping the scales of power back to the people, and we should start by disclosing the true sponsors of political advertisements aired on the public airwaves.

When Congress passed the Communications Act, it clearly intended that the sponsors of broadcast advertisements be disclosed to the listener or viewer. The FCC recognized this in its disclosure rules, stating that sponsored advertisements must "fully and fairly disclose the true identity of the person or persons, or corporation, or committee ... or other entity by whom or on whose behalf such payment is made."

But enforcement by the FCC has stagnated for decades. The problem stems from a weak interpretation of the disclosure rules in which editorial control is the test for who sponsored an advertisement. While a nonprofit organization designed to conceal its donors may technically claim it has editorial control over an advertisement, the true sponsors of the advertisement are those who put up the money to pay for it. A Government Accountability Office report published last year confirmed the FCC's authority to require more meaningful disclosure of the sponsors of on-air advertisements, including political advertisements.

Experts are estimating the 2016 presidential campaigns could generate a record $10 billion in outside spending, including a sizeable portion of money for advertisements backed by front groups who keep their donors secret.

House Democratic members have introduced legislation to require the FCC to update its interpretation of disclosure rules to reflect the original intent of Congress. It's called the Keeping Our Campaigns Honest (KOCH) Act (yes, like the Koch brothers who've infamously promised to funnel $900 million into the 2016 presidential campaign). The bill, which I am cosponsoring, would shine a light on the true sponsors of political ads that flood the nation's airwaves.

The lack of transparency in politics is harming our democracy, breeding even more mistrust in government, and depressing voter participation. The public has a right to know who is persuading them over the public airwaves, and the FCC should honor that right.

Rep. Anna G. Eshoo represents California's 18th District in the U.S. House of Representatives. She wrote this article for this newspaper.
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