Reply #9: Feingold Statement on Closing the 527 Loopholes

[flpoljunkie]

Closing the 527 Loopholes

http://www.feingold.senate.gov/issues_campaign_reform.html

The McCain-Feingold did not solve all the problems with the campaign finance system, as we saw with the 2004 presidential election. Some groups that were heavily involved in trying to influence that election took the position that they did not have to register as federal political committees and therefore did not have to comply with the contribution limits applicable to such committees. Prohibited by the McCain-Feingold bill from giving large contributions to the political parties, many wealthy donors began to give money to those groups. Even though there is a strong arguement that these so-called 527 groups were violating the federal election laws that pre-existed the McCain-Feingold bill, the FEC took no action to enforce those laws.

This is why in Febuary of 2005 I joined Sen. McCain in introducing S.271, the 527 Reform Act. Our legislation will require all 527s to register as political committees unless they fall into a few narrow exceptions. This bill would also require 527s that engage in activities that affect both federal and state elections pay for those activities with at least 50 percent federal ("hard") money. Finally, contributions to the non-federal accounts of federal political committees would be limited to $25,000 per year. Read a fact sheet on the 527 bill.

The growth of 527s does not represent a failure of the McCain-Feingold bill, but it does illustrate that more needs to be done to protect our political system and legislative process from the undue influence of big money.

(The 2005 527 Reform Act was apparently reintroduced on 1/31/07. It went nowhere with a Republican controlled Congress.