From Ballotpedia
Political action committees (PACs) are political committees established and administered by corporations, labor unions, membership organizations or trade associations. The general definition is a group that spends money on elections, but is not run by a party or individual candidate. However, PACs can donate money to parties or candidates they support.
There are two types of political action committees, separate segregated funds and nonconnected PACs. Separate segregated funds are either established or administered by corporations, labor unions, member organizations, or trade associations. They can only raise funds from individuals associated with the connected groups. Conversely, nonconnected PACs are not connected to any of those groups and may solicit funds from the public.[1] Nonconnected PACs are financially independent and pay for themselves via the contributions they raise. Separate segregated funds are funded by the organization they are associated with.[2]
In addition, PACs can be broken down into multi-candidate and non multi-candidate categories.
See also: PACs and Super PACS and Satellite spendingMulti-candidate PACs
Multi-candidate PACs are those that have:[3]
- over 50 contributors
- been registered with the FEC for at least 6 months
- (excluding state party committees) donated to at least 5 federal office candidates.
Multi-candidate PACs can contribute:[3]
- $5,000 to each candidate or candidate committee per election
- $15,000 to the national party committee per calendar year
- $5,000 (combined limit) to state, district and local party committee per calendar year
- $5,000 to any other political committee per calendar year
Non multi-candidate PACs
Non multi-candidate PACs can contribute:[3]
- $2,600 to each candidate or candidate committee per election (indexed for inflation)
- $32,400 to national party committee per calendar year (indexed for inflation)
- $10,000 (combined limit) to state, district and local party committee per calendar year
- $5,000 to any other political committee per calendar year
Top PACs in 2013-2014
Open Secrets lists the PACs with the most contributions to candidates in the 2013-2014 election cycle. The top five were:[4]
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for "Political+ Action+ Committee"
All stories may not be relevant to this organization due to the nature of the search engine.See also
External links
- Internal Revenue Service Information for Political Organizations
A political action committee (PAC) in the United States is an organization which collects funds from members and then directs them towards political campaigns. These funds may be directed to campaigns for or against candidates in elections. The vast majority of political action committees are set up to represent businesses, labor or specific interests such as environmentalism and abortion rights.
Connected vs Non-connected PACs
Broadly speaking, there are two types of political action committees in the US: connected and non-connected PACs. The main characteristics of connected PACs (also known as separate segregated funds - SSFs) are as follows:
- Connected Organizations - connected PACs are associated with a “connected organization” which actively sets up, administers and raises money. These “connected organizations” are generally corporations or labor organizations.
- Unlimited sponsorship - connected PACs are usually able to benefit from unlimited administrative support from their connected organizations, which is generally not subject to federal disclosure rules.
- Restricted solicitations - connected PACs may only solicit campaign finance funds from a particular group of individuals who have a certain relationship with the connected organization. For example, stockholders if the connected organization is a corporation, or members and their families if it is a labor union.
In contrast, non-connected PACs have the following characteristics:
- No connected organization - unlike connected PACs, non-connected PACs do not have a “connected organization”. However, they may receive limited financial or administrative support from a “sponsoring organization” that isn’t a corporation or labor organization - for example, unincorporated associations and partnerships.
- Limited sponsorship - all forms of support from sponsoring organizations are, however, deemed as being contributions which a subject to prohibitions, annual limits and federal disclosure under the Federal Election Campaign Act.
- Unrestricted solicitations - non-connected PACs are able to solicit contributions from the general public at large.
Leadership PACs
Non-connected PACs are generally set up and sponsored by single-issue groups, political leaders or members of Congress. In the case of the latter, they are called “leadership PACs”. Since there are strict federal limits restricting the amount of campaign finance that elected officials and political parties may give directly to candidates, leadership PACs are set up by members of Congress to provide unlimited “independent expenditures” to other candidates within their own party. This is perfectly legal as long as expenditures aren’t coordinated with the recipient candidate. Congressmen and women who set up leadership PACs may not direct these funds towards their own campaign.
Super PACs
Super PACs are a relatively recent form of political action committee which arose out of the Supreme Court judgment in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission 2010. In this case, the court held that the First Amendment of the US Constitution prevented the government from restricting political campaign spending by unions, corporations or any other group. Subsequently, super PACs may support political candidates through unlimited contributions from corporations, unions, and individuals. Such contributions are often given anonymously and can be used to run ads supporting or attacking certain candidates, as long as no contributions are given directly to candidates.
See also: Federal Election Campaign Act, Federal Election Commission, Election Campaign
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PACs include separate segregated funds (SSFs), nonconnected committees and Super PACs.
SSFs and nonconnected committees
SSFs are political committees established and administered by corporations, labor unions, membership organizations or trade associations. These committees can solicit contributions only from individuals associated with a connected or sponsoring organization.
By contrast, nonconnected committees — as their name suggests — are not sponsored by or connected to any of the aforementioned entities and are free to solicit contributions from the general public.
Super PACs (independent expenditure only political committees) and Hybrid PACs (political committees with non-contribution accounts)
Super PACs (independent expenditure only political committees) are committees that may receive unlimited contributions from individuals, corporations, labor unions and other PACs for the purpose of financing independent expenditures and other independent political activity.
Hybrid PACs (political committees with non-contribution accounts) solicit and accept unlimited contributions from individuals, corporations, labor organizations and other political committees to a segregated bank account for the purpose of financing independent expenditures, other ads that refer to a federal candidate, and generic voter drives in federal elections, while maintaining a separate bank account, subject to all the statutory amount limitations and source prohibitions, that is permitted to make contributions to federal candidates.
Leadership PACs
A Leadership PAC is a political committee that is directly or indirectly established, financed, maintained or controlled by a candidate or an individual holding federal office, but is not an authorized committee of the candidate or officeholder and is not affiliated with an authorized committee of a candidate or officeholder. Members of Congress and other political leaders often establish Leadership PACs in order to support candidates for various federal and nonfederal offices.
Like other multicandidate PACs, a Leadership PAC may contribute up to $5,000 per election to a federal candidate committee.
In the U.S., a political action committee (PAC) is a political committee that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. PACs are typically formed to represent business, labor, or ideological interests by individuals who wish to privately raise money to donate to a political campaign.
The first PAC was formed in 1944 in order to raise money for the re-election of then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
- In the U.S., a political action committee (PAC) is a political committee that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation.
- Political Action Committees (PACs) are typically formed to represent business, labor, or ideological interests.
- The first PAC was formed in 1944 in order to raise money for the re-election of then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
At the federal level, an organization is considered a PAC when it receives or spends more than $1,000 for the purpose of influencing a federal election.
There are many types of restrictions that guide how PACs are able to fundraise for and donate their contributions to political campaigns and/or causes. They can contribute $5,000 to a candidate committee per election (primary, general, or special). They can also give up to $15,000 annually to any national party committee, and $5,000 annually to any other PAC. PACs may receive up to $5,000 from any one individual, PAC, or party committee per calendar year.
A PAC must register with the U.S. Federal Election Committee within 10 days of its formation, and it must provide the name and address for the PAC, its treasurer, and any affiliated organizations. For the purpose of contribution limits, all affiliated PACs are treated as one donor.
PACs are also required to disclose information about all individuals who contribute to them. However, sometimes these names are not disclosed until after the election (when votes have already been cast).
There are many categories of PACs, including separate segregated funds (SSFs), nonconnected committees, Super PACs, and Leadership PACs.
Corporations, labor unions, membership organizations, or trade associations can establish separate segregated funds (SSFs). Once established, these committees can only receive contributions from individuals that are associated with that connected or sponsoring organization.
Unlike SSFs, nonconnected committees are not sponsored by a specific entity or organization. As a result, they can accept contributions from the general public.
Super PACs can receive unlimited contributions from individuals, corporations, labor unions, and other PACs.
A hybid PAC can act as both a PAC and a Super PAC. Hybrid PACs must maintain segregated bank accounts for their unlimited Super PAC activities and their normal PAC fundraising and contributions, which are subject to the same statutory limitations as a regular PAC.
A leadership PAC is a PAC that is established by a candidate or an individual holding federal office. It is common for members of Congress and other political leaders to establish leadership PACs in order to support candidates for various elected offices. Leadership PACs can only contribute up to $5,000 per election to a federal candidate committee.
Super PACs were created in 2010 after the U.S. Court of Appeals' decision in SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Committee. This decision allowed for a greater level of deregulation as to how political funds are raised and distributed. While Super PAC funds cannot be donated directly to a campaign, Super PAC managers and political candidates are permitted to collaborate and discuss strategy.
Since the inception of Super PACs, they have quickly grown to be a hugely influential force in American politics. In fact, it is estimated that during the 2012 Republican primaries, Super PACs spent more money during the election cycle than the individual candidates' campaigns did. The majority of this money was donated by individuals rather than businesses.
Corporations cannot contribute directly to a campaign; however, a 2010 Supreme Court decision–Citizens United v. Federal Election Committee–made it legal for corporations to support a PAC. The decision overruled the 2002 Campaign Reform Act, which prevented corporations, unions, and other entities from donating money to political campaigns.
The new laws allow these entities to contribute a limited amount of money to a PAC, which can, in turn, be donated to a campaign. In the case of Super PACs, a corporation can contribute an unlimited amount of money. Even though this money can't be directly given to a campaign, it can be spent to indirectly influence an election.