CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Senate passed Tuesday changes to the state’s election financing law increasing the contribution limits for donations to candidates and political groups.
Under Senate Bill 622, people would be allowed to contribute up to $2,800 per person to candidates in elections. State party executive committee donations would be capped at $10,000, and contributions to a political action committee would be a maximum of $5,000. The current limit for each category is $1,000.
The bill passed 19-15.
Sen. Stephen Baldwin, D-Greenbrier, voted against the legislation, citing a West Virginia Public Broadcasting analysis of campaign expenditures in the 2018 midterm elections.
“I think we need to move to a system where we don’t need to read headlines like this. We don’t need mailboxes filed with more dark money ads,” he said. “We need to limit the amount of money in politics, and provide real transparency about who is spending it.”
Sen. Mike Romano, D-Harrison, also spoke in opposition to the legislation, saying more money funneled to campaigns adds to the public distrust of the government.
“We failed to take advantage of an opportunity to get under control the dark money spent in this state,” he said. “Money that is used for independent expenditures against all of us on both sides.”
Among the legislators who voted for the measure was Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Trump, R-Morgan, who cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision ruling campaign spending as a form of speech allowed by the Constitution’s First Amendment.
“We cannot impose restrictions on what speech other people may engage in,” he said.
Trump added the legislation will result in additional reports, thus creating additional transparency on campaign spending.