By Martha Lackritz
The Center for Competitive Politics submitted thorough comments that address multiple constitutional concerns, and include their very own proposed rules for consideration by the IRS. CCP’s rules outline clear-cut expenditure limits for 501(c)(4)s, providing that non-social welfare activities (including candidate, social club, or business activities) must not “equal or exceed 50% of total program service expenses.”
CCP’s guiding standard in these comments is Buckley v. Valeo, the 1976 Supreme Court case that interpreted the validity of campaign expenditure limits under the Federal Election Campaign Act, among other things. The Court in Buckley narrowly defined political expenditures as funds spent to disseminate a viewpoint by “expressly calling for a candidate’s election or defeat” using specific word combinations — what is now commonly referred to as “express advocacy.” CCP’s proposed rules similarly define political activity as expenditures for communications using express advocacy.
