Business Leaders and University Presidents Urge Members to Oppose "527 Fairness Act".

On June 27, the Committee for Economic Development (CED) sent a letter to all Members of the House of Representatives urging opposition to legislation proposed by Rep. Pence (R-IN) and Rep. Wynn (D-MD). The CED is a non-profit, non-partisan organization of more than 200 business leaders and university presidents. The letter states that the "527 Fairness Act" puts "political parties back in the position of shaking-down American business leaders for large campaign contributions."

- NOTE TO THE MEDIA -

Enclosed for your information is a letter sent yesterday by the Committee for Economic Development (CED) to all Members of the House of Representatives urging opposition to the new campaign finance bill introduced by Representatives Pence (R-IN) and Wynn (D-MD) and entitled the "527 Fairness Act of 2005."

"The Committee for Economic Development (CED) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization of more than 200 business leaders and university presidents," according to the letter.

The letter from CED states, "The Pence-Wynn bill would have a disastrous and corrupting effect on our campaign finance system and put federal officeholders, candidates, and political parties back in the position of shaking-down American business leaders for large campaign contributions."

The letter continues:

If this law is passed, a member of Congress--maybe a Committee Chair or Ranking member--could place a call to a CEO of a company with business before Congress and ask for a check for over $1 million to her party, where she could direct the spending towards her race. Or, just as dangerous, an influence-seeking lobbyist or corporate executive could make a seven-figure donation to a party earmarked to help a wavering Congressman, hoping to sway his vote on a bill important to their business.

The CED letter points out that:

The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) appropriately reined in soft-money contributions and prevents officeholders from soliciting unlimited political contributions on any group's behalf. These limitations do a tremendous amount to take the pressure off businesses to write six- or seven-figure checks under threat of decreased access or legislative retribution. The system isn't perfect, but what Congress needs to do is consolidate and improve upon those gains, not abandon the current system and allow a contributions arms race to start all over again.

In conclusion, the letter states, "CED urges you to reject any attempt to roll back the recent reforms and applauds Congressmen Shays and Meehan for working to address the 527 loophole."

Click here to read the full text of the CED letter.