Mass. Lawmakers Seek Limits On Corporate Campaign Spending

As Massachusetts’ campaign season gets underway, three legislators are trying, preemptively, to reign in corporate spending on elections. The move comes in the wake of last year’s landmark Supreme Court ruling on Citizens United v. FEC, which gave corporations and special-interest groups broad leeway to participate in political speech.

The bill, called the Massachusetts Corporate Political Accountability Act, would place restrictions on corporations and other special-interest groups that choose to participate in political advertising, as well as ban certain state contractors from making campaign contributions.

As similar federal legislation struggles in Congress, we talk about how the Massachusetts election season will be affected by the Supreme Court ruling and what the proposed legislation would change.

Guests:

• Sen. James Eldridge, co-sponsor of the Massachusetts Corporate Political Accountability Act
• Andrew Kingsley, assistant director of Common Cause Massachusetts
• Rep. Paul Frost, member of the state Joint Election Laws Committee