A Massachusetts teachers union is lobbying Democrats to exempt them from strict reporting guidelines in state campaign finance reforms, according to the Boston Globe.
The Massachusetts Teachers Association, the state’s largest teachers union, has attempted to parlay millions for the Democratic Party to shield itself from transparency requirements in the bill.
The union and its allies are in a behind-the-scenes struggle with the bill’s Senate supporters and campaign finance reform advocates, as labor leaders try to remove language that would require political action committees to disclose the top five donors in their television ads, say two sources with knowledge of the negotiations.
The legislation would give Massachusetts some of the strictest campaign rules in the nation and is designed to restrict the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, which struck down restrictions on corporate and union political activity. The MTA is lobbying Democrats to make sure that unions still enjoy such freedom, according to the Globe.
The teachers association, which has spent millions of dollars trying to influence statewide elections, almost always for Democrats, wants to replace that provision with one stipulating that the names of donors be listed only on the PAC’s website, the sources said.
The union acknowledged that it was working to re-write the disclosure aspect of the bill, but refused to specify its policy goals.