Activists Brace for Fight Over Campaign Finance Law

Source: Roll Call | December 13, 2016 | Alex Roarty

Some GOP lawmakers have already introduced legislation that would remove the candidate-contribution caps

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The issue has received little attention since last month’s election. But activists on both sides say they are preparing for big fights over how candidates and parties are allowed to collect and spend money, legislative battles they see as almost inevitable given the GOP’s control of the White House, Senate, and House.

Key Republicans, in fact, have already begun laying the groundwork to dramatically reshape campaign finance laws: Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina said last month that they will introduce legislation next year that would let a single donor contribute as much as he or she wanted to the candidate of their choice.

The bill would erase caps — which currently limit donors from giving more than $2,700 to individual general election candidates — that have existed since 1974.

Even its supporters acknowledge that such a sweeping overhaul faces long odds of congressional approval. But major changes, experts and advocates say, are now more likely to come through the legislative process than at any time since 2002, when Congress approved the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (known as “McCain-Feingold”).

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Super PACs have since become a staple of modern campaigns, with many of the most important ones raising hundreds of millions of dollars while playing a key role in House, Senate, and presidential races.

But their rise has upset Republican and Democratic leaders alike, who say they have reduced the power of candidates, and even the major parties, in favor of unaccountable third parties who control these groups. And activists who want to lessen the influence of big checks in politics say they’ve effectively rendered the contribution caps meaningless if donors can simply write a million-dollar check to someone else.

The bipartisan dissatisfaction has some conservatives arguing that changes that once seemed unthinkable — like eliminating caps on contribution limits for candidates — is now the only logical choice.

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