Topeka ? Legislation aimed at improving public disclosure of contributions to so-called independent political campaign committees received a rough welcome Wednesday from several lawmakers.

“Until this is fixed, we can’t move forward on this legislation,” said Sen. Kay O’Connor, R-Olathe, and vice chairwoman of the Senate Elections and Local Government Committee.

Senate Bill 64 would require groups that conduct so-called issue advocacy campaigns and don’t expressly campaign for or against a candidate, to report who is giving them money. The measure was recommended by the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission.

O’Connor and several other committee members said they were worried that if independent groups had to reveal their finances, the contributors would be subject to “political retribution.”

But Robert Stern, director of the Los Angeles-based Center for Governmental Studies, said the measure could be amended to exempt groups from having to reveal the source of their contributions, if it would cause violence to their members.