Florida Democrats Demand Cuentas Claras. Where Is the Money Coming From?

Bills put forward by Senator Annette Taddeo and Representative Joy Goff-Marcil seek to increase accountability by closing loopholes that allow untraceable money into state elections.

Como bien sabes, el derecho al voto es fundamental en una Democracia. Sin embargo, para muchos floridanos este peligra after in May of 2021 Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 90, a new voting law that makes it harder to vote, particularly for people of color.

The Republican incumbent’s law requires voters to renew their standing request for a vote by mail ballot every calendar year (instead of every two, as under current law), and limits who can deliver a vote-by-mail ballot on a voter’s behalf, among other restrictions.

This spurred Florida Democrats into action. While vocal critics of the law, like gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist, who calls it a “Republican attack” on democracy, promise to reverse it if he is elected governor, others, like Sen. Annette Taddeo and Rep. Joy Goff-Marcil, are working to remove a conflict in two Florida Statutes that currently allow a political committee to claim a “starting balance” without having to report where that money came from.

Saying “No” to Dark Money

“Political Action Committees should not simply be able to submit a report with a so called “beginning balance” without having to report the donors behind said balance,” said Sen. Taddeo, who is proposing Senate Bill 1836 to resolve the conflict created by statutes 196.03 (1)(b) and 106.011 (8)(a).

“Floridians do not want dark money undermining their elections. Current loopholes in the reporting requirements for groups engaged in electioneering communications have allowed anonymous organizations the ability to heavily influence our elections with no ability for Floridians to see who is behind their message, or their money,” added Rep. Goff-Marcil, the proponent of House Bill 1373.

The bills put forward by Sen. Taddeo and Rep. Goff-Marcil increase accountability by tightening reporting deadlines, increasing civil penalties, and closing loopholes that allow untraceable money into elections.

“No matter what we look like or where we come from, Floridians agree: we need a transparent election process that we can trust,” said Taddeo, who is running to unseat DeSantis in November.