On December 9, the text of the congressional bill that would fund the federal government was released. It contains a surprise provision that would make it possible for individuals to give substantially more money to national committees of political parties than the current law allows. Currently individuals cannot give more than $32,400 per year to the national committee of a political party.
The budget rider would allow much larger contributions, but only if the money were donated for one of three purposes: (1) to defray expenses of national conventions; (2) to defray expenses incurred with respect to the construction, purchase, renovation, operation, and furnishing of one or more headquarters buildings of the party or to repay loans the proceeds of which were used to defray such expenses, or otherwise to restore funds used to defray such expenses (including expenses for obligations incurred during the 2-year period which ends on the date of the enactment of this paragraph); (3) to defray expenses incurred with respect to the preparation for and the conduct of election recounts and contests and other legal proceedings.
Although many news stories about this bill imply that the bill only applies to the Democratic and Republican National Committees, the bill actually applies to all political parties recognized by the Federal Election Commission as “national committees.” They include the Libertarian, Green, Constitution, Socialist, Natural Law, and Reform Parties.
The bill is expected to pass Congress this week. Thanks to Dan Tokaji for the link.
