Press Release: 10/22/2025

New Bill Would Reveal Who’s Funding Massachusetts Ballot Questions in Real Time

 

Oct 22, 2025

The Ballot Spending Transparency Act empowers voters by requiring real-time reports on ballot question spending 

 

Boston, MA – Today, Common Cause Massachusetts testified in support of the Ballot Spending Transparency Act (H.868/ S.507.) This newly introduced legislation would increase transparency in the reporting process for campaign spending on statewide ballot questions.  

“Massachusetts voters deserve to know, in real time, who is bankrolling their ballot questions,” said Geoff Foster, Executive Director of Common Cause Massachusetts. “The Ballot Spending Transparency Act gives shines a light on dark money and puts power back to where it belongs, with the people.”   

Currently, the reporting schedule for ballot question spending includes an eight month long ‘unmonitored’ window where donations and expenditures go completely unreported in real time, only being published just 60 days before the election. This legislation would strengthen ballot question transparency by subjecting ballot question funds to a similar reporting process used by all state and county elected official campaigns: the existing depository system. Ballot campaigns would have to appoint a bank to file monthly reports on their behalf, thereby eliminating the ‘unmonitored’ window. 

In the past 10 years, or six election cycles, Massachusetts ballot campaigns have received over $340 million for an average of $57 million each election cycle. 36% of those contributions, or $123 million, were received during the unmonitored eight-month window.  

Under current law, Massachusetts has no limit on how much money wealthy, sometimes out-of-state, special interests can spend on ballot questions. Massachusetts consistently ranks among the states raising the highest dollar amounts for ballot questions, and the state spends more than the national average on ballot question campaigns. 

With so much money coming into statewide ballot questions, this legislation will take much-needed steps to ensure stronger transparency with ballot campaign contributions and expenditures attempting to influence public policy. 

Watch the testimony here.

Common Cause is a nonpartisan, 501(c)4 organization. Tax ID: 52-6078441. The Common Cause Education Fund is our 501(c)3 affiliate. Tax ID: 31-1705370.