Omnibus Bill Allows Wealthy Donors To Give Even More to Political Parties

WASHINGTON -- Congressional budget negotiators from both parties have included a provision in the bill to continue funding the government into next year that dramatically changes campaign finance law to allow lawmakers to solicit even bigger contributions from the wealthiest donors.

The omnibus bill includes a provision (on page 1,599) to create three separate funds within the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee. Each fund would be allowed to accept $97,200 from just one donor per year. If this change becomes law, it would mean that a single donor could give up to $324,000 per year, or $648,000 for a two-year election cycle, to finance the party’s operations.

The change would effectively obliterate campaign contribution limits to the parties, while eviscerating the limits placed by the 2002 McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform law on how much a political candidate can seek from a donor. The current maximum a donor can give to a national party committee is $32,400 per year, plus an additional $32,400 per year to a separate fund to be used only in case of an election recount.


“It just wipes out McCain-Feingold,” said Fred Wertheimer, executive director of the reform group Democracy 21 and key architect of the McCain-Feingold law."The last thing the American people want is for Congress to give big donors even more influence in politics, but that's exactly what this provision will do,” Nick Nyhart, president of the reform group Public Campaign, said in a statement. “The biggest donors will be able to buy more access and influence and everyone else back home will continue wondering who their elected officials are working for."

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