Clinton Signs Bill on Donor Lists

President Clinton has signed into law a measure that bars public-broadcasting entities that receive federal money from renting or exchanging their donor lists for political uses.

The measure, which was included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act for 2000, blocks the disbursement of federal funds to public-broadcasting entities that make donors’ names available to political parties, candidates, or committees through rental or exchange.

In addition, the new law requires public broadcasters that want to rent or exchange donor lists for non-political uses to tell the donors “clearly and conspicuously” that their names may be disclosed to a third party and to allow the donors to choose not to have their names made available.

The law, which amends the Communications Act of 1934, does not apply to list sharing by non-profit groups other than public-broadcasting stations.

The new law is consistent with restrictions that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting imposed on public stations in the wake of Congressional hearings last summer, which followed reports that several dozen stations had given their donor lists to Democratic or Republican organizations.

A subsequent report by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s Inspector General disclosed that 53 public-broadcasting stations had hired brokers who worked on direct-mail appeals and who had, in many instances, sold the names of donors to, or exchanged them with, political organizations — primarily Democratic groups.