HB 153 – Increasing Transparency of Campaign Donations to Religious, Charitable, Educational Organizations

The House passed House Bill 153 last week unanimously. The bill, sponsored by House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf and Senate President Pro Tempore David Sokloa, would formalize reporting of campaign expenditures for donations to religious, charitable, education or scientific organizations.

Political campaigns already can utilize campaign funds for donations to various organizations – such as buying tickets for a fundraiser or gala – but they must enter those expenditures manually, which can lead to discrepancies in how they’re reported. HB 153 would increase transparency by establishing the expenditures as a formal category on the campaign finance reporting system.

HOUSE BILL 153 – Increasing Transparency of Campaign Donations to Religious, Charitable, Educational Organizations	Currrent Status – House Passed 39-0-2. Senate Elections & Government Affairs 5/19/23
House Sponsors – Schwartzkopf, Longhurst	Senate Sponsors – Sokola
House Yes Votes – Baumbach Bolden Bush Carson Chukwuocha Cooke Dorsey-Walker Griffith Harris Johnson Lambert Longhurst Lynn Matthews Minor-Brown Moore Neal Osienski Parker-Selby Phillips Romer Schwartzkopf Williams Wilson-Anton // Briggs King Collins Dukes Gray Hensley Hilovsky Morris Postles Ramone Short Shupe Smith Spiegelman Vanderwende Yearick	Senate Yes Votes –
House No Votes – None	Senate No Votes –
House Absents or Not Voting – Morrison, Heffernan	Senate Absent or Not Voting –

“It’s not uncommon for political campaigns to make these types of contributions to different charities, whether in the form of tickets or a donation, but there’s no simple, uniform way to report those expenditures,” said Rep. Schwartzkopf, D-Rehoboth Beach. “This bill will streamline the reporting so it’s crystal clear where the funds are going, making reports more consistent.”