Nonprofit groups raising money in New York are required by new rules to report nationwide spending on communications that support or oppose candidates and ballot initiatives, or that simply refer to candidates within certain periods before an election. When a group spends more than $10,000 on such communications in regard to New York state or
independent expenditures
Update: Maryland Passes Campaign Finance Reform—Expands Independent Expenditure Disclosures
By Janice M. Ryan on
In the closing hours of its session last week, the Maryland General Assembly passed the Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2013 and Governor O’Malley is expected to sign it soon. Even so, the changes do not take effect until after the 2014 state elections.
The final version of the bill is largely unchanged from the …
Maryland Bill Overhauling Campaign Finance Rules Moves Toward Adoption
Significant campaign finance reform legislation cleared the Maryland House of Delegates Thursday, and is now under consideration by a committee of the Maryland Senate. The Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2013 (HB 1499 and SB 1039) responds to recommendations of the recently convened Maryland Commission to Study Campaign Finance Law. The bill addresses…
States Ramp Up Disclosure Rules for Political Spending; Federal Efforts Stall
By Lawrence H. Norton on
Outside groups have become a potent political force in the 2012 election campaign. Unleashed by the Supreme Court ruling in the Citizens United case and subsequent lower court rulings, such groups can raise unlimited sums from individuals and corporations for ads and other spending that is not “coordinated” with a candidate. The most dramatic example:…
IRS Says Training Candidates Not (c)(4) Activity: Are There Broader Implications Here?
By Lawrence H. Norton & Ronald M. Jacobs on
The IRS recently revoked the 501(c)(4) status of an organization that identifies and trains potential candidates for one of the political parties. In doing so, the IRS borrowed a restriction from the law governing 501(c)(3)s, which requires such groups to serve a public rather than a private interest. There are reasons to doubt whether this…
If it walks like a duck…
By Ronald M. Jacobs on
When does an organization—such as a 527 committee or a 501(c)(4) organization— have to register with the FEC as a political committee and disclose its donors? The Fourth Circuit recently upheld the FEC’s rules that answer that very question.
In the past the answer was very important because a political committee could only accept individual…