A newly enacted New Jersey law intended to shed light on “dark money” campaign contributions has been challenged in a First Amendment suit by a group funded by conservative activists David and Charles Koch.

The suit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey by Americans for Prosperity of Arlington, Virginia, seeks a declaration that the measure known as S-150 violates the First Amendment on its face and as applied.

Signed into law by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on June 17, it imposes disclosure requirements on independent expenditure committees, which are defined as 501(c)(4) or 527 organizations that raise or spend an aggregate of at least $3,000 annually on influencing elections, or legislation or providing what the bill calls “political information,” defined in the law as including any statement made through any medium that reflects the organization's opinions, or that contains facts on any candidate or public question, legislation or regulation.

Americans for Prosperity has waged a similar battle against a donor disclosure law in California, where the organization challenged a requirement to identify its top donors to the state's attorney general. In 2016, a federal judge in Pasadena issued a permanent injunction blocking the state from demanding that information. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated the trial court's injunction in September 2018, finding that the attorney general had a state interest in collecting the information to prevent charitable fraud, and would not make the information public, with few exceptions.

Americans for Prosperity has indicated it intends to petition the U.S. Supreme Court for certiorari in the California case.

While California pledged to keep its donor information largely under wraps, New Jersey plans to post the information online.

The New Jersey suit was filed by Kevin Marino and John Boyle of Marino, Tortorella & Boyle in Chatham, New Jersey, along with lawyers from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan in Washington, D.C. Named as defendants are New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal and the commissioners of the Election Law Enforcement Commission: Eric Jaso, Stephen Holden and Marguerite Simon.

The Americans for Prosperity suit claims New Jersey's new law improperly applies the same regulatory standard to issue advocacy as is reserved for election of candidates.

According to Americans for Prosperity, S-150's regulation of communications that influence elections is overly broad and has no provisions to ensure that the speech it regulates has a sufficient nexus to a New Jersey election.

“A group risks compelled disclosure of its donors if it makes a mere factual statement over a year before an election via a newsletter sent to members outside New Jersey concerning an issue that somehow relates, even tangentially, to a New Jersey officeholder or issue,” the complaint said.

Americans for Prosperity also objects to the state's focus on 501(c)(4) and 527 organizations while excluding other types of entities that seek to influence elections or legislation.

Americans for Prosperity also claims the act is unconstitutional as applied to its own supporters, who it says have faced threats, harassment and reprisals if their names are publicly disclosed.

“Public disclosure will make individuals less likely to donate and will chill their exercise of their First Amendment rights to associate freely and advocate for issues that matter to them,” the suit claims.

The bill received unanimous approval in both the New Jersey Senate and Assembly before it was signed by Murphy. But the governor approved the bill only after first issuing a veto of it on May 13, expressing concerns about its constitutionality. He ultimately signed the legislation on June 17, but said in a statement that he was concerned that the act extends its disclosure requirements to cover advocacy that is not connected to an issue before the electorate, which “may infringe upon constitutionally protected speech and association rights.” Murphy said he signed the act based on a commitment from legislators to pass an additional measure “removing advocacy in connection with legislation and regulations” from its parameters, “thereby ensuring that the bill's disclosure requirements apply to election-related advocacy.”

New Jersey Sen. Troy Singleton, D-Burlington, a prime sponsor of the measure, said in a statement on its approval in the Legislature, “This bill will make significant progress in delivering reforms that lift the veil of secrecy that surrounds the activities of groups working to influence the political process. These dark money groups with benign sounding names have been operating in the shadows, spending large sums of money from undisclosed sources to influence the legislative, regulatory and election processes.”

The governor's office declined to comment on the Americans for Prosperity suit, as did the attorney general's office.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs also declined to comment on the suit.

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey has previously raised objections to the bill and has indicated that it may resort to litigation, while also seeking to address its concerns through legislation.

“The First Amendment just does not allow this kind of intrusion into political speech and organizing. It's no surprise that American for Prosperity filed this suit, and they likely won't be the only plaintiff seeking judicial review of the law. Certainly, the ACLU-NJ's legal team is taking a close look at the law and its impact and are considering all of our options, including litigation,” said the group's executive director, Amol Sinha.