Federal Election Campaign Act

As early as 1905, Theodore Roosevelt argued in favor of campaign finance reform and called for a ban of corporate contributions for political purposes. In response, the United States Congress passed the Tillman Act of 1907, which banned the corporate contributions. Further regulation followed in the Federal Corrupt Practices Act enacted in 1910, and subsequent amendments in 1910 and 1925, the Hatch Act, the Smith–Connally Act of 1943, and the Taft–Hartley Act in 1947. These acts sought to regulate corporate and union spending in campaigns for federal office, and mandated public disclosure of campaign donors.

In 1970, President Nixon vetoed the Political Broadcast Act of 1970, a bill that aimed to establish laws regulating campaign spending on television and radio.^[3] President Nixon claimed that the Political Broadcast Act did not sufficiently limit campaign expenditures, noting that it "plugged only one hole in a sieve."^[4] This bill was an attempt to regulate election spending, but despite having the necessary membership to override the veto, Senate Democrats did not pass the law without the President's signature.^[5] Subsequently, Senator Mike Mansfield introduced S. 382, later to be known as FECA, to the Senate on January 26, 1971 in the 92nd Congress.

The Act was first introduced to the Senate Subcommittee on Communications of the Committee on Commerce on March 2, 1971 by Senator John Pastore.^[6] After passing the Senate Committee on Commerce by a vote of 18–0,^[7] the Act passed the Senate floor on August 5, 1971 by a vote of 88-2.^[8]

In the House, the Act passed on November 30, 1971 by a vote of 372–23.^[9] Because the House version was not identical to the Senate version, a conference committee was called. On December 14, 1971, the Senate agreed to the conference report,^[10] and on January 19, 1972, the House agreed to the conference report,^[11] sending the bill to President Nixon.

The Act limited campaign expenditures for broadcast media, newspaper advertisement, and telephone calls to $0.10 per voter in the district they're running in when adjusted for inflation using the consumer price index.^[10] The Act also limited the amount campaigns could spend on broadcast media to 60% of their total campaign spending limitation. Additionally, the Act required broadcast and non-broadcast media to charge the lowest unit rate for advertisements for all candidates within the 45 days leading up to a primary election and the 60 days leading up to a general election.^[12] Despite several debates on the issue, the Act did not repeal Section 315 of the Communications Act of 1934, a requirement that media companies offer equal broadcast time to candidates for federal office.^[13]

Promises of rewards or gifts were prohibited under FECA, meaning that a candidate for office could not offer employment or other benefits in exchange for donations or other forms of political aid. The Act also placed a cap on the amount a candidate could spend of their own money on their campaign at $50,000 for Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates, $35,000 for Senate candidates, and $25,000 for candidates for the House of Representatives.^[12]

Violations of the policies outlined in the Act carried fines of up to $1,000 and up to one year of imprisonment, or both.^[14]

The Act required candidates for federal office to disclose the expenditures they made and contributions they received if those amounts totaled more than $100. Candidates were also required to disclose the structure and membership of their political committees if they intended to receive and spend more than $1,000 during a calendar year.^[12] Political committees were required to keep track of the name, occupation, address, and amount that any person contributes if that amount exceeded $10.^[14] Additionally, the Act outlawed making contributions in the name of another person or knowingly accepting contributions that are being made in the name of another person.^[14]

Reports were to be sent to the Comptroller General of the Government Accountability Office for Presidential elections, the Secretary of the Senate for Senatorial elections, and the Clerk of the House for House of Representatives elections.^[11] Candidates were also required to report finances to the Secretary of State's office in the state they are running for elected office in.^[10]

Following the 1972 Presidential election, Congress amended the FECA in 1974 to set limits on contributions by individuals, political parties and PACs. The 1974 amendments also established an independent agency, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to enforce the law, facilitate disclosure and administer the public funding program. The FEC commenced in 1975 and administered the first publicly funded presidential election in 1976.

In 1976, the Supreme Court in Buckley v. Valeo struck down several key provisions of the 1974 amendments, including limits on spending by candidate campaigns, limits on the ability of citizens to spend money independently of a campaign, and limits on the amount of money a candidate could donate to his or her own campaign. The case also substantially narrowed the category of independent political expenditures subject to mandatory donor disclosure.

Further amendments to the FECA were made in 1976 to conform the law with the ruling in Buckley v. Valeo. Major amendments were also made in 1979 to streamline the disclosure process and expand the role of political parties.

In 2002, major revisions to the FECA were made by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, more commonly referred to as "McCain–Feingold." However, major portions of McCain-Feingold were struck down by the Supreme Court on constitutional grounds in Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. (2007), Davis v. Federal Election Commission (2008) and Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010). The Citizens United ruling also struck down FECA's complete ban on corporate and union independent spending, originally passed as part of the Taft–Hartley Act in 1947.^[15]

• Campaign finance in the United States
• Buckley v. Valeo
• McConnell v. Federal Election Commission
• Attorney Michael Cohen conviction on Trump 2016 POTUS campaign finance charge

• As codified in 52 U.S.C. chapter 301 of the United States Code from the LII
• As codified in 52 U.S.C. chapter 301 of the United States Code from the US House of Representatives
• Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 as amended (PDF/details) in the GPO Statute Compilations collection
• Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 as enacted (details) in the US Statutes at Large
• Title 11 Chapter I Subchapter A (Federal Election Commission general regulations) of the Code of Federal Regulations
• Federal Election Commission
• RealCampaignReform.org - archived site links to various related court briefs and judicial opinions
• CQ MoneyLine - Congressional Quarterly campaign funding news site
• OpenSecrets.org - OpenSecrets site for tracking campaign contributions and expenditures
• National Institute on Money in State Politics - information on money in state politics
• Campaign Legal Center - analysis and reviews on campaign finance, communication and ethics
• Public Campaign^[usurped] - organization advocating public funding of campaigns
• Common Cause - organization advocating campaign finance regulations
• Public Citizen - organization advocating campaign finance regulations
• Center for Competitive Politics Archived March 28, 2014, at the Wayback Machine - organization opposed to campaign finance regulations
• MapLight - organization that exposes money's influence on politics to promote political reform
• Curry, Rebecca (March 22, 2013). "Making law with lawsuits: understanding judicial review in campaign finance policy" (PDF). Suffolk University Law Review. 46 (2): 416–450. SSRN 2109364. Gale A346009236.