Why It Matters
Missouri lawmakers are moving to close a campaign finance loophole that allowed political candidates to collect ongoing donations from supporters who may not have knowingly agreed to give more than once. The legislation, which has passed the Missouri House and is now advancing through the Senate, would establish new consent and disclosure requirements for recurring political contributions, directly affecting how campaigns and political action committees solicit and process donations across the state.
What Happened
A Missouri Senate committee gave a favorable reception Monday to a House-passed bill targeting automatically recurring political donations. State Rep. Jim Murphy, a St. Louis County Republican, presented the legislation to the Senate Local Government, Elections and Pensions Committee on March 30, 2026, describing the fundraising practice it aims to curtail as “appalling.”
The bill has three core provisions. First, it would require that any campaign donation be treated as a one-time contribution unless the donor explicitly agrees to make it a recurring gift. Second, it would require all recurring contributions to be terminated once an election concludes. Third, it would mandate that all fundraising solicitations clearly identify the candidate or PAC receiving the funds and disclose whether a donation processing service is taking a percentage of the contribution.
Murphy said the bill is a direct legislative response to a November report by the Missouri Independent that examined the fundraising practices of former state Sen. Bill Eigel, a Republican who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2024 and is currently seeking the St. Charles County executive position.
What Prompted the Bill
The Independent’s reporting revealed that Eigel’s campaigns were collecting money from out-of-state donors who had originally contributed to his 2024 gubernatorial run and were subsequently billed repeatedly for his county executive campaign — in many cases without their apparent awareness.
Eigel’s solicitations used a fundraising format in which donors would be enrolled in automatic recurring donations unless they manually unchecked a small box at the bottom of the email or text message. Critics argue the design made it easy for donors to overlook the recurring authorization.
One documented case involved Russell Wood, a Korean War veteran from Nebraska, who told the Independent last year that he had not intentionally made any political contributions in 2025 and was actively trying to stop ongoing charges to his credit card. Wood made his first donation to Eigel in October 2023.
By the Numbers
- Russell Wood made 35 donations to Eigel’s county executive campaign beginning in December 2024, totaling $1,050.
- Wood had previously contributed $1,380 to Eigel’s gubernatorial campaign before that committee was terminated in early October 2024.
- 141 donors nationally who gave to Eigel’s 2024 gubernatorial campaign were later recorded as contributors to his St. Charles County executive race.
- Of those repeat donors, six were from Missouri; the remainder were from other states.
- Eigel’s gubernatorial campaign committee was dissolved in early October 2024, shortly before repeat donations to the county campaign began appearing.
Zoom Out
Missouri is not alone in examining recurring digital fundraising practices. Nationally, the use of pre-checked recurring donation boxes became widespread during recent federal election cycles, drawing scrutiny from both parties and prompting credit card companies and payment processors to issue refunds to donors who contested the charges. Congress has discussed similar disclosure requirements at the federal level, and several states have examined tightening consent standards for political fundraising solicitations. Missouri’s legislation, if enacted, would place the state among a small group that have passed specific statutory requirements around recurring contribution consent and post-election termination of donation programs.
What’s Next
The Senate Local Government, Elections and Pensions Committee is expected to vote on the bill in the coming days following Monday’s public hearing. A committee vote would send the measure to the full Missouri Senate floor for debate. The bill has already cleared the Missouri House, meaning a Senate passage would send it to Gov. Mike Kehoe for his signature. No timeline for a final Senate vote has been publicly announced, but the warm reception from committee members during Monday’s hearing signals the measure has a reasonable path to approval before the legislative session concludes.