the federal election campaign act placed limits on hard money but not on soft money in 1979.
the federal election campaign act placed limits on hard money but not on soft money in 1979.
when did the federal election campaign act place limits on hard money but not on soft money?
1979
the act was amended again in 1976, in response to the provisions ruled unconstitutional by "buckley v. valeo," including the structure of the fec and the limits on campaign expenditures, and again in 1979 to allow parties to spend unlimited amounts of hard money on activities like increasing voter turnout and registration. in 1979, the fec ruled that political parties could spend unregulated or "soft" money for non-federal administrative and party building activities. later, this money was used for candidate-related issue ads, which led to a substantial increase in soft money contributions and expenditures in elections. this in turn led to passage of the bipartisan campaign reform act of 2002 ("bcra"), effective on january 1, 2003, banning soft money expenditure by parties. some of the legal limits on giving of "hard money" were also changed by bcra.
federal election campaign act
subsequently, political parties and "watchdog" organizations have filed complaints with the fec concerning the raising and spending of soft money by so-called "527 organizations"—organizations claiming tax-exemption as "political organizations" under section 527 of the internal revenue code (), but not registering as "political committees" under the federal election campaign act, which uses a different legal definition. these organizations have been established on both sides of the political aisle, and have included high-profile organizations such as the media fund and the swift boat veterans for truth. 527s are financed in large part by wealthy individuals, labor unions, and businesses. 527s pre-dated mccain–feingold but grew in popularity after the law took effect. in may 2004, the fec voted to not write new rules on the application of federal campaign finance laws to 527 organizations. although the fec did promulgate a new rule in the fall of 2004 requiring some 527s participating in federal campaigns to use at least 50% "hard money" (contributions regulated by the federal election campaign act) to pay their expenses, the fec did not change its regulations on when a 527 organization must register as a federal "political committee"-prompting representatives shays and meehan to file a federal court lawsuit against the fec for the commission's failure to adopt a 527 rule. in september, 2007, a federal district court ruled in favor of the fec, against congressmen shays and meehan.
bipartisan campaign reform act