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APRIL 2, 2001

Two weeks of debate will come to a head today as the Senate votes on a bill that will change how money is raised and spent on political campaigns.

Since Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) introduced the campaign finance reform bill he co-authored with Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), it has seen numerous changes. Friends and foes of reform have attempted to modify the bill but for the most part, McCain has succeeded in keeping its primary focus: to ban "soft money" donations from corporations, labor unions, and wealthy individuals and prohibit federal candidates from raising such funds.

Currently unregulated, soft money donations are contributions made to national political parties or political action committees (PACs). Financially and politically savvy tribes have regularly made these types of contributions to the Democratic National Committee, the Republican National Committee, or other national party interests.

Under the bill's current provisions, contributions like the $350,548 the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation made to mostly Democratic interests, the $110,000 the Mississippi Band of Choctaw gave to Republican interests, or the $15,000 the Pueblo of Santa Ana gave to Republicans would be prohibited outright.

The bill also regulates "issue advertising" and prevents corporations and unions from directly paying for ads that identify candidates by name within 60 days of a general election or 30 days of a primary. Instead, the ads could be funded through PACs, which can accept maximum donations of $5,000.

Labor unions who have fought to increase their presence at casinos or at tribal economic enterprises would be among those affected by this provision.

The bill does apply some limits to advertising by independent political advocacy groups, so organizations like the First Americans Education Project (FAEP) of Washington would be regulated. Any group who spends more than $10,000 during the same time period would be subject to full disclosure before an election.

The bill offsets bans to soft money by increasing "hard money" donations. Individual donations are capped as follows: $2,000 to a candidate, $5,000 to a PAC, $10,000 to state and local parties, and $25,000 to national parties. In total, individual donations would be capped at $75,00 per election cycle.

During the last election cycle, a number of tribes in New Mexico contributed the hard money limit to candidates like John Kelly (D), who lost his bid for New Mexico's 1st Congressional district, and Jeff Bingaman (D), who was re-elected to the Senate last fall. Essentially, tribes would be able to double their spending.

McCain on NBC's "Meet the Press" yesterday said he was confident the bill would pass an evenly split Senate "by a large number." He said his count of supporters was in the high 50s, possibly 60.

Republican leaders in the House of Representatives, where the GOP is the majority, have indicated the bill is in for a fight.

Get the Bill:
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to provide bipartisan Campaign reform (S.27)

Relevant Links:
Guide to Campaign Finance Reform, the Brookings Institution - http://www.brookings.org/gs/cf/debate/debate_hp.htm
Open Secrets, the Center for Responsible Politics - http://www.opensecrets.org

Related Stories:
Campaign finance near final vote (3/30)
Hard money donations boosted (3/29)
Senate defeats campaign spending changes (3/28)
Independent political ads would be limited (3/27)
Campaign finance bill amended again (3/22)
'Anti-Cantwell' amendment approved (3/21)
Campaign finance debate begins (3/20)
Senate gears up for historic debate (3/19)