“Defining ‘dark money’ and discussing the state of money, politics and ethics in Missouri”

St. Louis Public Radio:

Earlier this month, the spotlight was cast on the brand new nonprofit called A New Missouri Inc. Formed by Gov. Eric Greitens’ campaign treasurer, the group’s focus will be to advocate for the governor’s policy agenda. Its nonprofit status assigned by the IRS means that A New Missouri can take unlimited contributions and it does not have to release information about who gave those contributions.

While the non-profit’s status is perfectly legal, this raises questions about so-called “dark money,” political contributions and ethics in the state of Missouri. This non-profit is viewed by some as a potential loophole out of Amendment 2, which placed caps on campaign donation limits in Missouri.

It should be noted that politicians on both sides of the aisle, like New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, utilize such loopholes in campaign finance.

On Thursday’s St. Louis on the Air, host Don Marsh spoke with several people from across the political spectrum about how money and politics are treated in today’s world.

Wally Siewert, the director of the center for ethics in public life at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, is organizing a conference on this subject for March 24 and joined the program. Alongside him were University of California-Irvine Professor Richard Hasen and the Show Me Institute’s Director of Government Accountability Patrick Ishmael.

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