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In a presentation in which he emphasized the fight against corruption, Electoral Comptroller Walter Vélez urged the House committee to give priority to advancing the bill as part of efforts made during the pre-electoral year.

One of the bill’s main proposals is to set an annual limit of $250 on the money that can be donated to an aspirant, candidate, committee or political party. The limitation, similar to that existing in the federal law that regulates the financing of electoral campaigns, includes cash, money orders, and manager’s or traveler’s checks.

The $250 limitation involves the combination of cash and guaranteed payment instruments. Velez said the proposal will allow the OEC to more effectively trace the origin of those donations greater than $250.

“The adoption of this measure seeks to provide transparency about the origin of the money donated to the different political committees, while constituting a mechanism to prevent a person from violating the law by making donations with money belonging to another person or in excess of what is allowed by law,” Vélez said.

Another proposal presented by Vélez is to require political committees to identify their collectors and that each donation be matched with its collector.

The information of each collector would be included in the records with the identity of the income and expenditure reports, so that it is visible to voters.

The OEC chief also proposed that the statute of limitations for offenses under Act 222 be increased from

Likewise, she opposed the elimination of the presumption against coordination of expenses and its restrictive interpretation by indicating that the jurisprudence upholds the right of an aspirant, candidate or party to incur the expenses necessary to carry out an “effective campaign.”