Time to Finish the Job of Campaign Finance Reform

WEEKLY SENATE UPDATE
By U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe

November 19, for the week of November 21 through November 27, 2004

TIME TO FINISH THE JOB OF CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM

This year's long election is over. We know who won and lost - and thankfully we did not have a repeat of the 2000 elections not knowing for weeks who ultimately would serve as our President. But a critical question remains - how did the American people perceive this year's election campaign? The results of a recent Pew Research Center for the People and the Press are startling. Nearly 72 percent of respondents believed there was more mud-slinging or negative campaigning in this election than ever before - double the percentage of four years ago. Where did this mud-slinging come from? Certainly, though not exclusively from the individual campaigns - but also from outside groups, known as 527s.

These 527 organizations (named after the section of Internal Revenue Code that governs the tax treatment of political organizations), while not officially affiliated with any particular campaign, are political groups that have infused tremendous amounts of money into this year's election with the sole purpose of influencing the results. This year they raised a total of over $289 million which was spent on independent ads - many of which were the most caustic of the election season - and get out the vote activities.

The Congress passed, the President signed into law, and the Supreme Court upheld the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) to absolutely remove the influence of money in politics. That is why I joined with Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Russ Feingold (D-WI), and Jim Jeffords (I-VT) in crafting BCRA, because the American people have to believe in the integrity of our political system.

BCRA bans the use of soft money by any organization that receives or spends $1,000 or more to influence federal candidate elections, and limits the amount of "hard money" donations that candidates and political parties and organizations can receive. Senator Jeffords and I drafted a critical provision to BCRA that prohibits the airing of electioneering ads on TV and radio within 60 days of a general election if not paid for by hard money.

But how could these groups be allowed to raise and spend this money after the passage of this historic campaign finance reform legislation? That is a good question. Unfortunately, money in politics is an insidious thing - and a loophole in our campaign finance system was taken advantage of with money going to existing or new 527 groups with the sole purpose of influencing the election.

The Federal Elections Commission (FEC), the federal agency that overseas our federal campaigns, has done nothing in response. The FEC has not enforced BCRA against the 527 groups, claiming that it does not have the authority. Those of us in Congress who have long fought to clean up our elections have implored the FEC to act, but they have refused.

We have been left with little choice other than to compel them to act. I have joined Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), Charles Schumer (D-NY), and Jim Jeffords (I-VT) in cosponsoring the "527 Reform Act of 2004," to bring these 527 groups under the intent of BCRA by closing this loophole that has allowed these groups to flourish. The "527 Reform Act" expressly grants the FEC the authority to apply BCRA to those groups that qualify for Section 527 status. It also preserves states' rights by providing for situations where a 527 group is engaged in activities affecting both federal and state elections like "get out the vote" initiatives. The bill provides that, for all expenditures that are not attributable to a specific candidate, at least 50% of such expenditures must be made with money that was raised in compliance with BCRA.

It is unfortunate that this law is even necessary, but with the Federal Elections Commission refusing to take action against these groups on their own, we are left with no choice. Under the leadership of John McCain and Russ Feingold, the Senate must act quickly before our next election cycle gets underway. The Congress must to preserve the spirit of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, so we truly can reduce once and for all the influence of money on our political process.