By John A. Tures, Professor of Political Science, LaGrange College

Earlier, I wrote about 501(c)(4) groups, which claim to be “social welfare organizations” yet have the power to raise and spend nearly unlimited sums of money, with little or no oversight by our government, even on rules of disclosing who is behind such groups. I also wrote about how the federal courts at the highest level seem to be enabling such practices since the Citizens United ruling and the gutting of legislation designed to stop such unchecked campaign cash and political influence of the few.

And as you can see here, the Peach State is not immune to the presence of dark money, according to this AJC report.

But there may be something you can do about it. Colorado Congressman Jason Crow has joined with Congresswoman Nikema Williams of Georgia in introducing the “End Dark Money Act,” a bill designed to lock down loopholes allowing powerful donors to slip campaign contributions into these 501(c)(4) so-called “social welfare organizations.”

In a statement, Crow let listeners know “Corruption is harming the American people and making it harder for working families to achieve the American Dream. That’s why in Congress, I’m focused on fighting corruption, lowering costs, and taking on the power of special interests on our government.”

On her page, Representative Williams added “The whole world is witnessing an unelected billionaire, Elon Musk, buy his way into the Oval Office and receive unprecedented power. For every Elon in plain sight, we have millions of mega-donors who remain hidden. Under current policies, the faces behind massive political spending like this are usually kept in the dark. The End Dark Money Act stops this shady abuse of the system and, in the process, empowers voters and strengthens our democracy.”

This bill would enable the IRS to force non-profits to either provide some semblance of social welfare or be registered as a Political Action Committee (PAC), where everyone can see who is donating to whom. Otherwise such groups would lose their tax-exempt status. In other words, they’ll have to enter the political game the way most of us have to, despite their wealth and power in society.

Earlier versions of the bill are short and to the point. You can read House Resolution 327 which calls for the legislative body “[t]o repeal the restriction on the use of funds by the Internal Revenue Service to bring transparency to the political activity of certain nonprofit organizations.” There’s also HR 7244, the “End Tax Breaks for Dark Money Act,” introduced last year by Rep. Judy Chu. The legislation reads “This bill extends the capital gains tax on transfers of appreciated property to certain tax-exempt social organizations (e.g., civics leagues, agricultural organizations, or business leagues). Currently, the tax is imposed only on transfers to political organizations.”

But as you can see, attempts to regulate dark money like H.R. 327 and H.R. 7244 didn’t go anywhere. Few outside of Washington may have pushed hard for them. I am one of them, as I didn’t even know about them until I started researching dark money.

To avoid similar inaction in Congress, you need to get on board and bring family and friends along. The bill you need to focus on, called “The End Dark Money Act,” is to contact your members in the House and Senate, and tell them to pass House Resolution 2498, which treats these dark money groups as PACs, forcing them to disclose their donors and follow regulations of other political groups or have their group subjected to paying taxes like the rest of us.

You can find your representatives and senators here. Let them know you want a level playing field, not some tipped scales in favor of a small, select few. Without it, you can count on our democracy being replaced by an oligarchy.

John A. Tures is a professor of political science at LaGrange College in LaGrange, Georgia. His views are his own. He can be reached at jtures@lagrange.edu. His “X” account is JohnTures2.