A Vermont lawmaker says a major conservative advocacy group appears to be violating campaign finance and lobbying disclosure laws. Rep. Laura Sibilia (I-Dover) has asked the Vermont Attorney General to investigate political advertisements paid for by Americans for Prosperity that criticize the “V ermont Democrat majority.” The conservative political advocacy group was founded by billionaire industrialists Charles Koch and the late David Koch, and it is one of the most influential and well financed political groups in the country. The Vermont arm of the group lobbied in 2024 for the repeal of a controversial energy policy called the Clean Heat Standard, but it failed to disclose those activities to the Secretary of State as required. It paid a $3,000 fine and agreed to abide by lobbying and campaign finance laws in the future. It also advertised heavily during the 2024 election cycle, claiming lawmakers had raised the cost of living on Vermonters. Since its spending was not in favor of individual candidates, however, it did not file campaign finance disclosures. Lawmakers responded by tightening election finance and lobbying laws earlier this year. Sibilia said a rash of new ads by Americans for Prosperity violates these new rules. “During campaigns you get to say whatever you want about the candidates, but you have to disclose when you are paying to do so, and they have not,” Sibilia told Seven Days. Sibilia cited three Facebook ads that Americans for Prosperity Vermont ran in August that she says are problematic. One is entitled “Your Land. Your Rights. Their Red Tape.” It accuses the “Democratic majority” of favoring “extreme land use laws” and exhorts people to “Hold the majority accountable.” Another claims “The Vermont Democrat majority’s energy policies cost you more.” A third states “Because of Vermont’s Democrat majority, taxpayers are paying more with no return on the investment.” The ads do not name individual lawmakers or urge people to vote for or against any candidate. “All of these ads would, in my reading of the law, fall under the lobbying loophole that we closed, which would require disclosure,” Sibilia said. The group is perfectly entitled to its opinion, Sibilia said. But when it urges people during an election cycle to hold specific parties, in this case Democrats, accountable, that is an effort to influence an election and Vermonters have a right to know who is behind it through public disclosures. Similarly, if a group is urging people to push lawmakers to change a policy, that is a form a lobbying that also requires disclosure, she said. “I think they are skirting the law,” Sibilia said. ““When we have these types of deep pockets coming in specifically to influence our elections,  I think that Vermonters should be able to know when these groups are engaging.” Lachlan Francis, chair of the Vermont Democratic Party, applauded Sibilia. “She and I agree that it’s to Vermonters’ detriment for out-of-state, dark money organizations like the Koch-brothers-funded Americans for Prospertity to be using their untraceable dollars to influence votes in Vermont,” Francis said. A spokesperson for Attorney General Charity Clark, a Democrat, said the complaint was under review. Penalties for violating campaign finance laws can reach $10,000 per instance. Sibilia is a strong advocate for climate action. She supported the 2020 Global Warming Solutions Act, which sought to hold the state accountable for reducing climate pollution, and the 2023 Clean Heat Standard, which was meant to reduce fossil fuel emissions from the heating sector but foundered in 2025. All groups, regardless of political affiliation, are required to follow the law, she said. But the amount of money flowing from Koch-aligned entities is “staggering,”  making disclosure all the more important. “The amount of outside and dark money money in American politics is obscene, and Vermont is clearly not immune from that spending,” Sibilia said in a press release. The post Rep. Sibilia Files Disclosure Complaint Against Koch Group appeared first on Seven Days. ...read more read less