The State of Campaign Finance Policy: Recent Developments and Issues for Congress

"Major changes have occurred in campaign finance policy since 2002, when Congress substantially amended campaign finance law via the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA). The Supreme Court’s 2010 ruling in Citizens United and a related lower-court decision, SpeechNow.org v. FEC, arguably represent the most fundamental changes to campaign finance law in decades. Citizens United lifted a previous ban on corporate (and union) independent expenditures advocating election or defeat of candidates. SpeechNow permitted unlimited contributions supporting such expenditures and facilitated the advent of super PACs. Although campaign finance policy remains the subject of intense debate and public interest, there have been few recent major legislative or regulatory changes. During the 114th Congress, two bills substantially devoted to campaign finance policy have advanced beyond introduction. The Committee on House Administration reported H.R. 412, which would terminate the presidential public financing program. In addition, the committee ordered reported H.R. 4734, which would permit candidates to name someone other than the treasurer to disburse funds if the candidate dies. In activity somewhat related to campaign finance policy, provisions in the FY2016 consolidated appropriations law (P.L. 114-113; H.R. 2029) prohibited some additional reporting requirements surrounding contributions and expenditures. (See also related bills H.R. 2995, S. 1910, and S. 2132.) FY2017 bills (H.R. 5485; S. 3067) also contain provisions related to campaign finance..."
Campaign finance

The State of Campaign Finance Policy: Recent Developments and Issues for Congress
"Campaign finance policy is arguably at a crossroads. For decades, Congress, regulatory agencies, and courts have emphasized the need to reduce potential corruption by providing public disclosure of information about campaign contributions and expenditures. Preventing corruption and enhancing transparency remain prominent themes in campaign finance policy, but what those goals mean and how they should be accomplished appears to be in flux. Both minor and major changes have occurred in campaign finance policy since 2002, when Congress last substantially amended campaign finance law via the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA). More recently, the Supreme Court's 2010 ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and a related lower-court decision, SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Commission, arguably represent the most fundamental changes to campaign finance law in decades. During the 111th Congress, the House responded by enacting the DISCLOSE Act (H.R. 5175; S. 3295; S. 3628). The Senate declined to do so. Campaign finance issues continue developing in Congress, at regulatory agencies, and in the courts..."

PARTY FINANCIAL ACTIVITY SUMMARIZED FOR THE 2008 ELECTION CYCLE: PARTY SUPPORT FOR CANDIDATES INCREASES
"The Democratic and Republican parties raised nearly $1.6 billion and spent more than $1.5 billion between January 1, 2007, and December 31, 2008, according to a Federal Election Commission (FEC) compilation of information from reports submitted by federally registered party committees at the national, state and local levels.

Republican national, state and local party committees that report to the FEC raised $792.9 million during 2007-2008 in federally permissible funds, or “hard money.” Democratic party committees raised $763.3 million during the same period.Democratic party receipts for the 2008 election cycle represent a 58% increase over the 2006 cycle and a 10.8% increase over the 2004 presidential election cycle. Republican party receipts grew 32.4% from 2006, and 1.3% from 2004.The limits on contributions from individuals to national party committees are indexed for inflation. For the 2008 cycle, individuals could contribute as much as $28,500 to a national party committee, while political action committees (PACs) could contribute up to $15,000. No direct contributions from corporations or labor organizations are permitted..."

FEC Summarizes Party Financial Activity
"The Federal Election Commission (FEC) announced today that Republican party committees raised $409 million from January 2007 through June 30, 2008. This represents about a one-percent increase over a similar period in 2006, but reflects a 12-percent decline in funds raised during the first six months of the 2004 Presidential campaign.

Democratic party committees continued to raise more money than in previous years, with total receipts of $351.1 million from January 2007 through June 30, 2008. This is an increase of 21 percent over a similar period in 2006 and 26 percent higher than in 2004."

FEC Summarizes Party Financial Activity
"The Federal Election Commission (FEC) announced today that receipts of the national committees of the Democratic party increased significantly during the period January 1, 2007 through April 30, 2008, while receipts of Republican national committees declined over the same period, when compared with earlier election cycles. Republican committees were still able to raise more overall than their Democratic counterparts, though the gap is smaller now than in previous years. National committees of the major parties are required to submit financial reports on a monthly basis..."

Administering and Enforcing Federal Campaign Finance Laws
New maps showing graphic presentations of campaign finance for the Presidential, House, and Senate races in 2008.