Group wants transparency in Missouri government. And it’s taking dark money donations

A good-government group pushing for a major overhaul of state ethics rules has received more than $325,000 in contributions from two dark money organizations.

A Post-Dispatch review of campaign finance records shows Clean Missouri, which is backing the Amendment 1 referendum on the November ballot, took in $312,000 from the Action Now Initiative and $13,287 from the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center.

The two groups, classified under federal tax law as social welfare organizations, do not disclose their donors, raising questions about who is helping to finance the ballot initiative.

The proposed amendment would ban most lobbyist gifts to lawmakers, lower limits on campaign contributions and make lawmakers subject to open records laws. (Read more…)