Puerto Rico has continued its efforts to modernize and improve its campaign finance provisions by passing Project of the Senate 2674-2012. This project amends the Law for the Control of Financing of Political Campaign in Puerto Rico. This project has been referred to the Special Commission on Government Reform, and while not currently law, the Elections Commission has been working to update the campaign finance reporting requirements to reflect the project.

The project has several important elements. First, it elaborates on the definition of a coordinated expenditure by carving out a definition for specific expenditures made for the benefit of a party or candidate. Second, it modifies the campaign finance reporting dates for the 2012 general election. Lastly, the project addresses concerns with respect to state and federal PAC registration and reporting for entities wishing to participate in the electoral process without registering a PAC in Puerto Rico.

We will continue to track this project and provide updates as they become available.