The Congressional Research Service has published a report examining campaign finance issues Congress may consider in the future, Rick Hasen notes at the Election Law Blog.
The overview, entitled “The State of Campaign Finance Policy: Recent Developments and Issues for Congress,” takes a relatively broad view of campaign finance legislative options but doesn’t offer any recommendations (per CRS’ mandate).
After a summary of campaign finance law developments, the author, R. Sam Garrett, delves into a range of options that Congress may or may not act on.
“Given the developments since BCRA, especially the major events of Citizens United and SpeechNow, federal campaign finance policy is potentially at a crossroads,” according to the report.
CCP would take issue with some of the characterizations in the report, while others seem balanced or even favorable to those with a strong First Amendment perspective.
For example, the report describes political spending increases in a negative context, implying that increases are a “concern” to be dealt with. Of course, many people, including those of us at CCP, view an increase in political spending as ultimately healthy for the republic.
Another problematic conclusion of the report is that political party funding remains robust after BCRA, therefore minimizing the need for campaign finance reform affecting political parties.
The CRS report notes that in cycles after BCRA, party receipts increased sharply as parties have adapted their fundraising strategies.
Parties indeed remain major players in elections, but most political observers recognize that their role has been severely diminished—especially in the wake of Citizens United.
Additionally, it’s impossible to know what the fundraising environment would have been like for political parties in a world without BCRA. Perhaps the receipts would have been even higher, allowing the parties to expand the field on contested races. In fairness to CRS, which ultimately offers a balanced report, they note that “those favoring deregulation might argue that parties have flourished in spite of BCRA.” The report also mention repealing the caps on party coordinated expenditures as a policy option, a major plank of CCP’s agenda.
The report notes other potential issues facing Congress, such as disclosure regulation, revisiting contribution limits, tax financing and FEC nominations.
What’s also interesting is CRS’ treatment of some issues. For example, there’s a perception by some that the Supreme Court eviscerated disclosure regulations in Citizens United, but as CRS plainly noted, “[d]isclosure requirements enacted in FECA and BCRA remain intact.”
Another pithy truth: “it is important to note that all new spending in 2010 did not necessarily result from Citizens United or SpeechNow. High levels of spending would be expected any time a large number of congressional seats were in play, as was the case in 2010.
