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Campaign Finance Reform. FEC – Federal Election Commission BCRA – Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act Hard money = Federal money Political donations raised from federally permissible sources within the limits established by BCRA Soft money = Nonfederal money - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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FEC – Federal Election Commission BCRA – Bipartisan Campaign Reform
Act Hard money = Federal money
Political donations raised from federally permissible sources within the limits established by BCRA
Soft money = Nonfederal money Political donations made in such a way as
to avoid federal regulations.
Beginning of time—Civil War: No regulation Civil War—1910
Gilded Age Exceptionally scandalous politicians nationally
Boss Tweed 1868: 75% of money used in congressional elections
through party assessments 1867: Naval Appropriations Bill
First federal effort to regulate campaign finance Aimed at stopping the political shakedown naval yard
workers for political contributions Prohibits officers and employees of the fed. gov’t from
soliciting contributions 1883: Civil Service Reform Act (Pendleton Act) prohibits
the same solicitation of all federal workerswww.mit.edu/~17.251/finance.ppt
Corrupt Practices Acts of 1911 and 1925 Set disclosure requirements for House
and Senate Elections Spending limits ($25k for Senate; $5k for
House) Ridiculously weak and regularly violated
1971 Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA)
1976: Buckley v. Valeo (1976)www.mit.edu/~17.251/finance.ppt
Buckley v. Valeo, (1976), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States upheld a federal law which set limits on campaign contributions, but ruled that spending money to influence elections is a form of constitutionally protected free speech, and struck down portions of the law. The court also stated candidates can give unlimited amounts of money to their own campaigns.
Original ProvisionOriginal Provision Effect of Effect of Buckley v. ValeoBuckley v. Valeo
Expenditure limitsExpenditure limits
Overall spending limits (Congress and Overall spending limits (Congress and president)president)
Struck down partially Struck down partially (freedom of speech)(freedom of speech)
Limits on the use of candidates’ own resourcesLimits on the use of candidates’ own resources Struck down entirely Struck down entirely (freedom of speech)(freedom of speech)
Limits on media expendituresLimits on media expenditures Struck down entirely Struck down entirely (freedom of speech)(freedom of speech)
Independent expenditure limitsIndependent expenditure limits Struck down entirely Struck down entirely (freedom of speech)(freedom of speech)
www.mit.edu/~17.251/finance.ppt
Original ProvisionOriginal Provision Effect of Effect of Buckley v. ValeoBuckley v. Valeo
Contribution limitsContribution limits
Individual limits: $1k/candidate/electionIndividual limits: $1k/candidate/election AffirmedAffirmed
PAC limits: $5k/candidate/electionPAC limits: $5k/candidate/election AffirmedAffirmed
Party committee limits: $5k/candidate/electionParty committee limits: $5k/candidate/election AffirmedAffirmed
Cap on total contributions individual can make to Cap on total contributions individual can make to all candidates ($25k)all candidates ($25k)
Struck down (freedom of Struck down (freedom of speech)speech)
Cap on spending “on behalf of candidates” by Cap on spending “on behalf of candidates” by partiesparties
AffirmedAffirmed
www.mit.edu/~17.251/finance.ppt
Purpose In 1975, Congress created the Federal Election
Commission (FEC) to administer and enforce the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA)
the statute that governs the financing of federal elections.
The duties of the FEC, which is an independent regulatory agency, are to
disclose campaign finance information enforce the provisions of the law such as the limits and
prohibitions on contributions, oversee the public funding of Presidential elections.
Government FEC – Federal Election Commission
Campaign Committees Candidates
National Party Committees State & Local Party Committees Separate Segregated Funds
PACs connected to corporations, unions, etc. Nonconnected Committees
All other PACs 527s Individuals
Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) 1975
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) 2002 Major changes
under BCRA
The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) of 2002, also known as "McCain-Feingold," after its sponsors, is the most recent major federal law on campaign finance, which revised some of the legal limits of expenditure set in 1974, and prohibited unregulated contributions (called "soft money") to national political parties. ‘Soft money’ also refers to funds spent by independent organizations that do not specifically advocate the election or defeat of candidates, and are not contributed directly to candidate campaigns.
In General The financing of federal
elections Specifically
Disclosure of financial activity
Contributions Receiving and Giving
Expenditures Candidate support
activities Federal election
activities
Federal Funds Collected from permissible sources Subject to contribution limits
Levin Funds For state and local party committees only Collected from any entity except fed
cand. Only used for certain types of FEA
Nonfederal Funds Subject to state law only May be used to pay for expenses related
to not federal elections
Federal Money Most limitations Federal, state and local
elections Levin Money
Fewer limitations Some Federal election
activities, state and local State Money
Typically, fewest limitations
State and local elections only
Federal “Hard Money”
LevinQuasi-Fed $
State“Soft Money”
It depends! Candidate
Candidate specific activities
Contributions to other candidates, parties or causes
DNC/RNC Federal candidates Allocated nationally
State Party Committees Federal, state & local
candidates Allocated statewide
PACs Support candidates,
parties that agree on specific issues
527s Separate campaign