The Supreme Court this week struck down the limit on the total amount an individual may contribute to federal candidates, PACs, and political parties in a two-year election cycle. The 5-4 ruling is unlikely to have a major impact on political giving this year, but casts serious doubt on the constitutionality of similar state contribution schemes and paves the way for further challenges to federal campaign finance laws.
The case has sparked heated comment, not least by the four dissenting justices who charge that yesterday's ruling "eviscerates our Nation's campaign finance laws." We do expect the ruling to prompt more donors to give the maximum contributions to the national committees of the Democratic and Republican parties (DNC, RNC, and their House and Senate committees), which the aggregate limits precluded donors from doing. Beyond that, the impact on federal elections will probably not be great. Few individuals come close to maxing out under the two-year election cycle limit, which in the current cycle allows individuals to give up to $123,200, of which $48,600 could be given to federal candidates. On top of that, the Federal Election Commission has never bothered to monitor or enforce this limit.
Click here to read the complete article on Venable's Political Law Blog, www.politicallawbriefing.com.
Upcoming Event
Venable Hosts Event on Nonprofit Organizations and Political Involvement
April 29, 2014
Please join us for a networking lunch and program (also available as a webinar) on April 29, 2014, at 12:00 p.m. ET in our Washington, D.C. office, which will provide a timely roadmap for nonprofit organizations that engage or are thinking about engaging in the political process. We will cover topics that you should be thinking about for the mid-term
Click here to learn more and register.
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