On the heels of its unanimous passage by the Massachusetts House of Representatives and Senate, Gov. Deval Patrick has signed into law campaign finance reform legislation sponsored by State Representative Diana DiZoglio (D-Methuen).
With the passage of House Bill 3760, An Act relative to strengthening campaign finance reporting requirements, prior campaign finance report law will extended to candidates for municipal office who file with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance. Previously, candidates for state or county office who failed to file campaign finance reports were prohibited from appearing on an election ballot, yet this law did not apply to municipal candidates.
“Candidates in municipal elections who file with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance will now be held to the same standards as those running in state and county elections,” said DiZoglio, who represents portions of North Andover, Methuen, Lawrence and Haverhill. “This measure was long overdue and I am grateful to my colleagues in both the House and Senate and the Governor for joining with me to pass this important legislation into law. This common sense law will bring more transparency to our government and a longtime loophole is now closed."
