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| US Election - Resources |
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| FAQ - Campaign finance By Richard Cowper Published: October 2 2000 09:21GMT | Last Updated: October 2 2000 09:27GMT |
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 When was campaign finance regulation introduced?Outsiders might be forgiven for believing that a very great deal is possible in the heady realm of US election financing despite a complex raft of legislation. In the 1971 Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) Congress attempted to consolidate previous efforts to "limit the disproportionate influence of wealthy individuals and interest groups, to regulate election spending and deter abuses by mandating public disclosure of campaign finances". This proved very difficult and the Federal Election Commission (FEC), an independent agency, was set up in 1974 to try to enforce the law, while limits were set on the financial contributions of individuals, political parties and political action committees (PACs). What happened to these rules? Striking amendments were enacted in 1976 after the supreme court case Buckley v Valeo. The court struck down expenditure limits for House and Senate candidates, for presidential candidates who do not accept public funds, for any candidate spending his or her own money and for "independent" expenditures by private individuals or groups. Essentially the court held that there was an indissoluble link between election spending and political free speech as defined under the first amendment. In simplified form the current election rules related to the presidential election are: What are the main rules currently governing campaign financing? 1) The ceiling on individual contributions to a presidential candidate is $1,000. 2) Individual contributions to a national party committee are limited to $20,000 per year. 3) Corporations and labour organisations are theoretically prohibited from making contributions or expenditures to influence federal elections. But this rule is effectively undermined by: 4) There is no limit on so-called soft money contributions, supposed to be for general party building purposes. 5) There is no limit on so called issue advertising which promotes an argument which favours a particular candidate or party, but which does not openly support a named candidate or party. 6) There is no limit on so-called independent expenditures by individuals or PACS (a corporation is entitled to set up a PAC) supporting a candidate or party in a federal election which expressly advocates the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate provided it is made independently of the candidate's campaign. PAC contributions must be willingly contributed by individual members to a maximum of $5,000 per member. 7) Under current rules foreigners who are legal US residents can donate money to American candidates. 8) Foreign companies and their subsidiaries can make soft money donations if the money was earned in the US. What about the rules for public funds? 9) In the first part of the campaign candidates who live within strict spending limits can get federal matching funds of up to $250 per person. If a person gives $250, the candidate can claim matching funds of $250. If the donor gives the maximum of $1,000, matching funds remain at $250. 10) After the primaries are over Republican and Democratic party candidates who win their parties' nominations for president are each eligible to receive a grant to cover all the expenses of their subsequent general election campaign. In 1996 the grant was $62m. Adjusted for inflation it is expected to be about $66m for the November 2000 presidential election. Nominees who accept the funds must agree not to raise private contributions and to limit their campaign expenditures to the amount of public funds they receive. What about the rules for disclosure? 11) FECA requires candidate committees, party committees, party action committees and candidates to disclose the money they raise and spend. Source: Federal Election Commission and the Federal Campaign Finance Law more from FT.com Campaign Finance Reform party Primaries, caucuses, & conventions |
