Louisiana bill proposes study on crypto campaign donations
A Louisiana house bill calling for the study of crypto campaign contributions was introduced earlier this week.
The bill (HR 180) would task the Supervisory Committee on Campaign Finance Disclosure with looking into "issues surrounding the acceptance of campaign contributions in the form of crypto," according to the text.
The current draft cites an opinion from the Federal Election Commission, which states that a committee may accept bitcoin as a campaign donation but should report it as an in-kind contribution.
"There has been an increased interest throughout the state in donating to campaigns using cryptocurrency," the bill says.
The Committee on House and Governmental Affairs is scheduled to discuss the legislation on Tuesday.
HR 180 follows another house bill from the same sponsor, Rep. Mark Wright. That one would allow a candidate to receive campaign contributions in the form of cryptocurrency. That bill is making its way through the state legislature, and was referred to the Committee on House and Governmental Affairs back in March.
Several other states have enacted policies aimed at studying or regulating cryptocurrencies. Virginia recently passed a law allowing state-chartered banks to offer crypto custody services, and a New Jersey bill would prevent public officials from receiving NFTs as gifts. Meanwhile, a Colorado bill proposing the study of security tokens for raising state capital is now awaiting a signature from Gov. Jared Polis.
