Politics & Government

Vispoli Takes Campaign Transparency Push to Beacon Hill

The Andover Selectmen chair filed legislation this year to toughen campaign finance disclosure requirements.

Andover Selectmen Chair Alex Vispoli testified in writing to the state's Joint Committee on Election Laws about his campaign transparency legislation Wednesday.

"The public has the right to know about all expenditures and donations when selecting their leaders," Vispoli wrote. "My legislation is all about creating more transparency so voters are fully informed when they go to the polls."

Earlier this year, Vispoli filed a bill sponsored by State Rep. Jim Lyons aimed at doing just that.

H3340, An Act to Increase Transparency Within Campaigns, would toughen the states campaign finance laws and in some ways bring them up to par with federal campaign laws.

The bill would require all donations be disclosed, not just those that add up to more than $50 in a year. It would also require campaigns disclose names and addresses for every donation, not just for large donations as is the law now.

It would prohibit political committees from expensing motor vehicles but still allow mileage expenses.

It would require that all robo-calls come with a disclosure of who's paying for them. The same would apply to campaign literature.

Find out what's happening in Andoverwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"Why shouldn’t campaigns disclose the names and addresses of every donation?" Vispoli asked the committee. "Why shouldn’t campaigns disclose who is paying for a robo-call? Why shouldn’t campaigns disclose who is paying a mail piece? Having served as a Selectman for 10 years, I have been involved in numerous campaigns. Sunlight doesn’t hurt the process. It helps it."

Vispoli, who works as a business development director for a Boston-based technology company, has served on the Board of Selectmen since 2004. In 2012, he ran for State Senate but was defeated in the Republican primary.

Campaign finance and disclosure were spotlighted that race, because Adams and his family had been fined for violating campaign laws when they donated more than the maximum amount and he didn't disclose the donor information.

Find out what's happening in Andoverwith free, real-time updates from Patch.


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