This interesting article in the Salt Lake Tribune is by Bethany Rodgers:

This legislative session, supporters of a bill tightening the rules for ballot initiatives stressed that the measure would protect Utah from the influence of outside interests, which have previously dumped money into signature-gathering campaigns on medical cannabis and Medicaid expansion.

What some state lawmakers might not have realized was that this very piece of legislation was itself promoted by a shadowy, out-of-state group called the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA). And while ballot initiative campaigns at least have to disclose their donors, the public has no idea which wealthy benefactors might have helped the FGA advance its political agenda in Utah, said Spencer Stokes, a state lobbyist and the co-owner of a signature-gathering firm.

“If you’re wanting to know the darkest of dark money,” Stokes said in an interview, “this piece of legislation was just that.

Read the full story here.