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Congress Looks at New Campaign Finance Reform Bills That Would Increase PAC Limits
Last week, the Senate Rules & Administration Committee marked up, S.271, a campaign finance reform bill, introduced by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI). The legislation is intended to rein in the Section 527 groups that proved so instrumental during the 2004 election cycle. The Committee added amendments, which weaken the bill's restrictions on Section 527 groups and make other changes to the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA). Most important to BUILD-PAC is an amendment to the bill which proposes to increase PAC contributions, both to PACs and to campaign committees, by 50%.
The House now also appears to be moving away from the original proposal to rein in 527s. Next week, Chairman Bob Ney (R-OH) and the Committee on House Administration are scheduled to markup H.R. 1316 introduced by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) and Albert Wynn (D-MD). It is the first piece of legislation ever introduced that reflects indexation for inflation of contributions into and out of a PAC. The proposed increased limits are as follows:
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Individual contributions to PACs increase from $5,000 to $7,500 per calendar year
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PAC contributions to candidates increase from $5,000 to $7,500 per election
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PAC to PAC calendar-year limits Increase from $5,000 to $7,500
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PAC to National Party Committees Increase from $15,000 to $25,000
BUILD-PAC considers these changes integral to the role of PACs in the campaign finance system. BCRA increased contribution limits for individual donors, indexing those for inflation, recognizing that the limits established in 1974 were antiquated. Under BCRA, every hard dollar contribution was indexed except for those to or from a PAC.
Since the sweeping campaign law of 1974, the value of a $5,000 PAC contribution has decreased by nearly 80% while the costs of campaigns have skyrocketed. If current law stands, within just a few years, a married couple will be able to contribute more to a candidate's campaign than a PAC will be able to.
"It would be an outrage if a married couple were able to contribute more to a candidate than a PAC that represents hundreds of thousands of members. I encourage my fellow NAHB members to call their members of Congress. Urge your representative to support or co-sponsor H.R. 1316, the Pence-Wynn Campaign Finance Bill," commented 2005 BUILD-PAC Chair, Earl Sharp.
Stay tuned to BUILD-PAConnection for updates on H.R. 1316. If you have any questions, please contact Denise Mills, ASVP, BUILD-PAC at 800-368-5242 x 8459 or by e-mail at dmills@nahb.com.
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