After Citizens United: The Story in the States

Citizens United allows unlimited election spending by outside groups, but requires this spending to be independent of candidates and campaigns; this requirement is frequently violated as campaigns and outside groups coordinate activity. This report reviews coordination laws and enforcement procedures in 15 states to create generally applicable recommendations for regulating coordinated spending more effectively. Recommendations include extending regulation of coordination to advertisements that attack candidates' stance on issues; (if a candidate raised money for a group) treating all spending by that group on behalf of the candidate as coordinated; mandating "cooling-off" periods before a candidate's former adviser may staff a group that is permitted to make unlimited expenditures to promote their election; and more.