15 February 2023
TOPEKA (KSNT) – Members of the Kansas Legislature met Tuesday in the statehouse to discuss a bill that would make changes to the use of campaign funds and cryptocurrency.
Kansas representatives met in the House Elections Committee to discuss House Bill 2167. If passed into law, this bill would prohibit a candidate from using political funds that are subject to the Campaign Finance Act from being used for a federal elective office. It would also prohibit a person from making or accepting any cryptocurrency contribution for any candidate that exceeds $100 in a year.
The bill would require cryptocurrency contributions to be immediately converted to U.S. currency and deposited into the campaign account, according to the Kansas Division of Budget. Campaigns would be prohibited from making expenditures in the form of cryptocurrency and holding cryptocurrency as an asset.
Only one proponent was in attendance for the committee meeting: Mark Skoglund, executive director of the Governmental Ethics Commission. Among the questions he answered for representatives, he pointed out some issues related to the use of cryptocurrency.
“I would say there’s two primary concerns,” Skoglund said. “One is the lack of auditability right, the transparency issued you’re talking about. The other is the volatility of the currency.”
To play back Tuesday’s committee meeting on the bill, click here. To read the full bill online, click here.