BCRA: Contribution Limitations and Prohibitions RulesFEC Final Rules on Multicandidate Political Committees and Biennial Contribution Limits On November 6, 2003 , the FEC adopted final rules on multicandidate political committees and biennial contribution limits. The rules confirm that federal political committees automatically become multicandidate committees once they meet the statutory criteria defining a "multicandidate political committee." Thus, political committees that meet those criteria may not "opt out" of being treated as a multicandidate committee.
The rules separately indicate that a contribution by an individual to a federal candidate made prior to January 1, 2004 will tally against the individual's biennial aggregate contribution limit for the two-year election period encompassing that candidate's election year ( e.g. , a contribution made in 2003 by an individual to a candidate in a 2006 Senate race would be attributed to the individual's biennial limit for 2005-2006). However, starting January 1, 2004, an individual's contribution to a federal candidate will tally against his or her biennial aggregate limit for the two-year election period in which the contribution is actually made ( e.g. , a contribution made in 2004 by an individual to a candidate in a 2006 Senate race would be attributed to the individual's biennial limit for 2003-2004).
Click here to view the FEC's final rules on multicandidate political committees and biennial contribution limits.
Comments of the Campaign Legal Center on FEC Draft Rules on Multicandidate Political Committees and Biennial Contribution Limits On September 19, the Campaign Legal Center filed comments with the FEC concerning its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Multicandidate Political Committees and Biennial Contribution Limits. This rulemaking addresses whether federal political committees which meet the statutory criteria for multicandidate status may "opt out" of the limits specifically applicable to contributions made by multicandidate political committees (i.e., $5,000 per candidate per election and $15,000 per national party committee per year) and instead be subject to the contribution limits applicable to individuals (i.e., $2,000 per candidate per election and $25,000 per national party committee per year, indexed for inflation). Preliminarily, the Commission has proposed indicating that political committees which meet the statutory criteria for multicandidate status may not "opt out" of such status. Moreover, the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking would clarify in the FEC's regulations that contributions made by an individual to federal candidates count against his or her two-year aggregate hard money contribution limit (i.e., limiting the total amount of hard money donations an individual may make to candidates, PACs, and parties over a two-year period) for the period in which the contributions are actually made. A previous approach - based on statutory language deleted by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 - indicated that an individual's contributions to candidates counted against his or her aggregate hard money giving limit for the years in which the candidates stood for election. The Campaign Legal Center filed comments supporting these proposals. Click here view the Legal Center’s comments in their entirety.
FEC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Multicandidate Political Committees and Biennial Contribution Limits On August 14, the FEC unanimously adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment on certain issues involving the operation of the new "hard money" limits set by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. Among these issues is whether an individual's contribution in 2003-04 to a Senate or presidential candidate actually standing for election in a subsequent two-year cycle ( e.g. , 2007-08) would count against that individual's two-year aggregate contribution limit for 2003-04 or instead for the subsequent two-year cycle.
Click here to view a copy of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.
FEC's Final Contribution Limitations and Prohibitions Rules On November 19, 2002, the FEC's Final Contribution Limitations and Prohibitions Rules were published in the Federal Register.
Click here to view the rules in their entirety.
Comments of The Campaign and Media Legal Center on the FEC's Draft "Contribution Limitations and Prohibitions" Rules The Campaign and Media Legal Center filed comments on the FEC's draft "contribution limitations and prohibitions" rules on September 13, 2002. Click here to view the comments in their entirety.
Comments of BCRA Congressional Sponsors on the FEC's Draft "Contribution Limitations and Prohibitions" Rules
The congressional sponsors of the new campaign finance law filed comments on the FEC's draft "contribution limitations and prohibitions" rules on September 13, 2002.
Click here to view the comments in their entirety.
Comments of Common Cause and Democracy 21 on the FEC's Draft "Contribution Limitations and Prohibitions" Rules Common Cause and Democracy 21 submitted joint comments on the FEC's draft "contribution limitations and prohibitions" rules.
Click here to view the comments in their entirety.
Comments of FEC Watch on the FEC's Draft "Contribution Limitations and Prohibitions" Rules
FEC Watch submitted comments on the FEC's draft "contribution limitations and prohibitions" rules on September 13, 2002. Click here to view the comments in their entirety.
Other Comments on the FEC's Draft "Contribution Limits and Prohibitions" Rules Click here to view the list of comments in their entirety.
FEC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on "Contribution Limitations and Prohibitions" The Federal Election Commission has released its draft of the new rules on contribution limits and prohibitions in accordance with the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act ("BCRA").
Click here to view the draft rules in their entirety.
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