I’m Nancy Morgan, Coordinator of BigMoneyOutVA and we support this bill. This bill introduced for 11 years in a row is not a “gotcha’ bill. Rather revisions to this bill have come from 2021 Campaign Finance Study Group and a robust and confidential complaint process (detailed in two pages of the bill) has been built in to protect legislators from being attacked by frivolous complaints. It provides protections against potentially false complaints or complaints without merit by establishing a multi-layered review process. There is no excuse for not passing this bill which is the law in 48 states and provisions are in place for federal elections. It moves Virginia forward in terms of good governance legislation and is supported by 73 percent of Voters,.

The League of Women Voters supports legislation restricting personal use of campaign funds; Virginia currently has no legal restrictions on how campaign funds may be used. The League believes that funds raised for a campaign should be used only for expenses directly related to running for office. We support the expanded provisions for what constitutes personal use, and the provision disallowing converting any funds to personal use, not just surpluses at the end of a campaign or term in office.

Legislation banning personal use of campaign funds is long overdue and strongly supported by the public. This bill could be improved, however, if it were amended to eliminate the option of using active campaign funds for donations to political parties, caucuses, or other candidates. When everyday people contribute money to a candidate's campaign, they do it to help that particular individual get elected - and an officeholder's 'regifting' of campaign funds to political parties, other candidates, or the caucus is not what the donor has in mind.