Press Release
Free Press Action Fund Praises House Members for Choosing Transparency in Political Ads
Contact: Timothy Karr, 201-533-8838
WASHINGTON -- On Wednesday, the House Appropriations Committee withdrew a measure that would have prevented the Federal Communications Commission from carrying out its new rule requiring broadcasters to put political ad spending records online. Instead, the House adopted a new measure requiring the Government Accountability Office to study the issue.
The provision in the 2013 Financial Services bill removes an earlier measure that would have prevented the FCC from using federal funds to implement the online-posting rule. Broadcasters are already legally required to maintain data on political ad spending, but this information is currently maintained only in paper form at the TV stations themselves.
If signed into law, the draft appropriations bill would require the GAO to analyze the data kept by the FCC and the Federal Election Commission to determine whether there is any duplication of costs to maintain them. The GAO is also tasked with evaluating whether publicizing the information on political ads will have any impact on pricing throughout the market. The GAO study is not expected to delay implementation of the FCC’s rule.
Free Press Action Fund Senior Policy Counsel Corie Wright made the following statement:
"We are pleased that members of the Appropriations Committee have sided with the public and chosen transparency over secrecy, accessibility over inconvenience. The committee rightly abandoned an earlier measure that would have prevented the FCC from implementing these common-sense improvements.
“We thank Representatives Norm Dicks, Jose Serrano and Anna Eshoo for championing the public’s right to access information about the sources of political advertising on our nation’s airwaves. Voters deserve to know who is trying to influence their choice on Election Day, and the FCC's online political file rule will shine a brighter light on that process."
The provision in the 2013 Financial Services bill removes an earlier measure that would have prevented the FCC from using federal funds to implement the online-posting rule. Broadcasters are already legally required to maintain data on political ad spending, but this information is currently maintained only in paper form at the TV stations themselves.
If signed into law, the draft appropriations bill would require the GAO to analyze the data kept by the FCC and the Federal Election Commission to determine whether there is any duplication of costs to maintain them. The GAO is also tasked with evaluating whether publicizing the information on political ads will have any impact on pricing throughout the market. The GAO study is not expected to delay implementation of the FCC’s rule.
Free Press Action Fund Senior Policy Counsel Corie Wright made the following statement:
"We are pleased that members of the Appropriations Committee have sided with the public and chosen transparency over secrecy, accessibility over inconvenience. The committee rightly abandoned an earlier measure that would have prevented the FCC from implementing these common-sense improvements.
“We thank Representatives Norm Dicks, Jose Serrano and Anna Eshoo for championing the public’s right to access information about the sources of political advertising on our nation’s airwaves. Voters deserve to know who is trying to influence their choice on Election Day, and the FCC's online political file rule will shine a brighter light on that process."
