independent expenditures

May 13, 2021 - Measures under consideration in states including several in the South are being promoted as protecting the privacy of people who donate to nonprofits. But because the bills don't distinguish between charitable nonprofits and those that engage in partisan politics, they could make it harder to know who's trying to influence elections.

January 17, 2020 - It's been a decade since the Supreme Court ruling opened a new era of Big Money influence in politics, heightening concerns over corruption and creating new barriers for lower-income candidates and candidates of color. But democracy advocates and their allies have responded by building a movement that links anti-corruption measures with broader reforms.

December 7, 2018 - The latest tool that industry has used to tilt Georgia's regulatory field against electric utility ratepayers? An outside spending group tied to the faltering nuclear power industry, which helped Georgia Power's candidate of choice hold his seat on the state commission that oversees utilities.

November 8, 2016 - The battleground state's elections board uses outdated software that often prevents the public from learning who outside groups are targeting in their ad buys. Reports on some $2.3 million spent in the state by these groups lack this basic information as of the day before the election.

May 28, 2015 - North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory has become a leading national advocate for expanded offshore drilling — a role that builds on almost three decades of his close personal, economic and political ties to the energy industry.

May 27, 2015 - A Facing South/Institute for Southern Studies analysis finds that disclosure of more than $7 million spent in North Carolina's 2014 state-level elections was slowed due to inconsistencies in state reporting rules — including details about more than $1.6 million that were hidden from the public until after the elections had passed.

May 15, 2015 - Bills to provide additional funding for charter schools were introduced this session at the North Carolina legislature. Most of the sponsors have benefited from campaign donations or independent spending by groups advocating school privatization.