About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 1 (February 19, 2008)

handle is hein.crs/crsajni0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Order Code RS22644 Updated February 19, 2008 Coordinated Party Expenditures in Federal Elections: An Overview R. Sam Garrett Analyst in American National Government Government and Finance Division L. Paige Whitaker Legislative Attorney American Law Division Summary A provision of federal campaign finance law, codified at 2 U.S.C. § 441a(d), allows political party committees to make expenditures on behalf of their general election candidates for federal office and specifies limits on such spending. These coordinated party expenditures are important not only because they provide financial support to campaigns, but also because parties and campaigns may explicitly discuss how the money is spent. Although they have long been the major source of direct party financial support for campaigns, coordinated expenditures have recently been overshadowed by independent expenditures. S. 1091 (Corker) and H.R. 3792 (Wamp), introduced in the 1 10th Congress, would eliminate existing limits on coordinated party expenditures. Those who support limits on coordinated party expenditures argue that the caps reduce potential corruption and the amount of money in politics. Opponents maintain that they and are antiquated, particularly because political parties may make unlimited independent expenditures supporting their candidates. The Senate Rules and Administration Committee held a hearing on coordinated party expenditures in April 2007, but the topic has not received additional legislative attention during the 1 10th Congress. This report will be updated as events warrant. What Are Coordinated Party Expenditures? Federal campaign finance law provides political parties with three major options for providing financial support to House, Senate, and presidential candidates: (1) direct contributions, (2) coordinated expenditures, and (3) independent expenditures. With direct contributions, parties give money (or in the case of in-kind contributions, financially valuable services) to individual campaigns, but such contributions are subject to strict limits; most party committees are limited to direct contributions of $5,000 per

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most