House Republicans Advocate for Increased Accountability Statewide

House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones, Jr. (R-North Reading) today announced that the House Republican Caucus will file legislation which will close an ongoing loophole in the state’s campaign finance laws.

In response to a gap in campaign finance laws which fails to address candidates at the town or city level who neglect to comply with certain reporting requirements, House Republicans have proposed extending laws which currently apply only to candidates for state office to include those running for positions at the municipal level.

  “Accountability in government is paramount at all levels,” said House Minority Leader Brad Jones. “All elected officials in Massachusetts need to be held to the highest standard; it is, after all, what the residents expect. Our intention in filing this legislation is to ensure that any candidate, regardless of the office they seek, is in full compliance with all campaign finance laws.”

Under current law, the Office of Campaign and Political Finance can only block candidates running for state or county office from appearing on a ballot should they refuse to disclose a legally required campaign finance report. Given the law’s omission of municipal elections, candidates for city or town offices with unresolved campaign finance violations legally cannot be barred from appearing on the ballot. The legislation proposed by House Republicans would remove this loophole by extending the law to all elections in the Commonwealth, including municipal elections.