Politically Active? Get Guidance On Updates To Campaign Contribution Laws

Christopher DeLacy is a Partner in our Washington office.

As part of a series of post-Watergate ethics reforms during the 1970s, Congress enacted a secondary set of federal campaign contribution limits in order to prevent the circumvention of the direct contribution limits. The U.S. Supreme Court is currently considering a constitutional challenge to these limits and the Federal Election Commission (FEC) is deciding whether to proceed with an enforcement action involving these limits. Accordingly, as we head into a federal election year, politically active individuals should be aware of these limits and related legal developments.

What Are the Biennial Campaign Contribution Limits?

The federal overall biennial aggregate limit for 2013-2014 is $123,200 in campaign contributions per individual. In addition to this overall limit, there are sub-limits of $48,600 to all federal candidates and $74,600 to all federal Political Action Committees (PACs) and political parties (federal accounts), of which no more than $48,600 may be contributed to state and local political parties (federal accounts) and federal PACs. The biennial limits are in addition to the direct contributions limits, which currently limit individual contributions to $2,600 per candidate per election; $32,400 per national party per year; $10,000 per state or local party (federal accounts) per year; and $5,000 to federal PACs per year. The biennial limits do not apply to contributions to super PACs, 527 organizations, 501(c)(4) organizations, or state or local candidates (although some states have their own biennial limits). The biennial limits and most federal limits are indexed every two years to inflation.

Apparent Campaign Contribution Violations

Confused yet? You are not alone. While many people are aware of the direct contribution limits, few are aware of the obscure biennial limits and even fewer understand how they work. Evidence of this was a May 3, 2013, Huffington Post article titled "Campaign Contribution Limits Broken Repeatedly in 2012 Election with No FEC Oversight" that documented 49 individuals who may have exceeded the federal biennial limits from 2011 to 2012. The Sunlight Foundation later asserted that up to 2,000 individuals may have violated these limits. Among those accused of violating the biennial limits is noted attorney David Boies — someone who has argued cases before the Supreme Court.

FEC Complaint Focuses on Individuals Who Have Allegedly Exceeded...