Long Act (1968)

     There was a substantial lull in the campaign finance reform movement after World War II, and most legislation on the books remained unenforced. The world and the economy at this time were far more stable than they had been in the previous decades. Eventually a scandal occurred in 1966, and a new wave of campaign finance reform began. Senator Tom Dodd (D, CT) was censured by the Senate for using campaign funds for personal use.
     Louisiana Democrat, Senator Russell Long, was able to push through a public funding law for presidential elections on the coattails of the Dodd scandal. The major provision of the Long Act was to set up a voluntary contribution check-off box on the Federal income tax form. The money raised in this manner would be allocated to all "major party" candidates in the presidential primary and general elections.

Federal Election Campaign Act, FECA (1971)

     The war in Vietnam began to escalate, and the public was becoming increasingly angry and frustrated. Their sons, brothers, fathers and friends were being sent to fight in a part of the globe no one had ever heard of. A world political crisis was hitting home.
     Socially, the U.S. was in a state of transition with the New Left, Hippie, student and other movements. A feeling of change was in the air. The anti-war movement, civil rights movement, women's movement and the environmental and consumer rights movements were getting stronger daily. Activists, such as Ralph Nader, tapped into this energy and gained strength. Common Cause was founded and became a watchdog and leader in the area of campaign finance reform.
     There were many corruption rumors about Richard Nixon's 1988 presidential campaign against Hubert Humphrey and George Wallace. Nixon won the presidency. However, a new reform minded and very vocal group of representatives was elected as well. One of the primary goals of these reformers was to fix what they perceived as a broken electoral system.
     Common Cause filed a class action suit against both the Democratic and Republican National Committees for violating the Federal Corrupt Practices Act of 1925. "Common Cause lost the suit, but it revealed the law's holes." (Common Cause, 1) It then spearheaded a campaign to improve campaign finance legislation with the help of the many of the new representatives in Congress. As a result, the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA) was passed. The legislation was comprehensive and its major provisions are as follows:

1. It repealed the Federal Corrupt Practices Act of 1925.
2. It broadly defined elections to include primaries, caucuses and
3. conventions, as well as general and special elections.
4. The Act broadly defined expenditures and contributions.
5. It prohibited promises of patronage.
6. It prohibited contracts between a candidate and any Federal department or agency.
7. The Act exempted from regulation contributions and expenditures for non-partisan or non-candidate based get out the vote and voter registration drives by unions and corporations.
8. It exempted from regulation contributions and expenditures for voluntary fundraising and its administration by unions and corporations.
9. It established caps on the amount individuals could contribute to their own campaign: Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates, $50,000 each; Senatorial candidates, $35,000 each; and House candidates, $25,000 each.
10. The Act stablished caps on television advertising at 10 cents per voter in the last election or $50,000, whichever was higher.
11. It established disclosure guidelines for contributions of $100 or higher.
12. Expenditure and contribution reports were made due by March 10 of each year.

Pipefitters Union v. U.S. (1972)

     The Supreme Court issued a decision in the Pipefitters Local Union No. 562 et al v. United States case (407 US 385) in 1972. A jury had convicted the union for violating the Smith-Connelly Act and the Federal Corrupt Practices Act by having union officials administer their Political Action Committee. The Supreme Court decided that: ". . . Section 205 [of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971] plainly permits union officials to establish, administer and solicit contributions for a political fund." (Pipefitters, 421) This decision was then codified by the 1974 Amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act.

The Watergate Scandal (1973)

     The Presidential campaign of Richard Nixon versus George McGovern had brought with it further allegations of corruption. Washington Post reporters Woodward and Bernstein had uncovered the Committee to Re-Elect the President's (CREEP) break-in at the Democratic headquarters in the Watergate Hotel. During the election, however, the public was led to believe that low level campaign workers acted independently in the break-in. There were also rumors that CREEP had a campaign contribution quota of 1 percent of net profits from major corporations. Due to many factors--including incumbency, an enormous campaign budget, and McGovern's inability to shed his ultra-left image--Nixon won the 1972 election by a landslide.
     After the election, the Watergate scandal continued to unfold. Vice President Spirow Agnew resigned amidst charges of past extortion and bribery as Governor of Maryland, and most of the truth of Nixon's knowledge and approval of the Watergate break-in was uncovered.
     "The Watergate investigation laid bare a host of under-the-table abuses in 1971 and 1972. The International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation had pledged $400,000 to the Republican National Committee and had received a favorable anti-trust ruling from the Justice Department. . . . Illegal contributions from Gulf Oil, American Airlines and other corporations, some laundered through foreign countries, found their way, in cash, into the Nixon campaign." (Stern, 162) Richard Nixon was ordered by the Supreme Court to turn over his Oval Office tapes to Congress, and finally resigned the Presidency on August 8, 1974.

Amendments to the FECA (1974)

     In light of the Watergate scandal, distrust of public officials was at a peak. Even more so than in 1971, the new--and now more numerous--reformers in Congress pushed for campaign finance reform. The 1974 Amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act passed quickly and were signed by President Ford. The law legitimated Political Action Committees, changed contribution limits, and established the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Details of the Amendments are as follows:

1. The Federal Election Commission
1. It created a six-member, full-time, bi-partisan commission to administer election laws and the presidential election public financing program.
2. The President, Speaker of the House, and President Pro Tempore of the Senate each appointed two commissioners, subject to approval by Congress.
3. The commissioners were appointed for a six-year term, with annual rotations in the chair.
2. Contribution Limits
1. $1,000 limit per individual for each primary, run-off or general election, and an aggregate contribution limit of $25,000 to all federal candidates annually.
2. $5,000 limit per union or corporate election committee, or political party for each election with no aggregate limit. (This is the section that legitimated PACs.)
3. $50,000 limit for Presidential or Vice Presidential candidates, $35,000 for Senatorial candidates, and $25,000 for House candidates for contributions by themselves and their families to their own campaign.
4. $1,000 limit for independent expenditures on behalf of a specific candidate.
5. No cash contributions over $100.
3. Spending Limits
1. Total spending limits for Presidential candidates: $10,000,000 for primaries; $20,000,000 for the general election; and $2,000,000 for nominating conventions.
2. Total spending limits for Senatorial candidate: $100,000 or $.08 per eligible voter, whichever is higher, for primaries; $150,000 or $.12 per eligible voter, whichever is higher, for general elections.
3. Total spending limits for House candidates: $70,000 each for primaries and general elections.
4. Public Funding for Presidential Races
1. It defined a "major party" as one which received at least 25% of the vote in the last federal election.
2. It set up a system by which private gifts to a presidential candidate would be matched by funds raised through the Long Act.
5. Disclosure and Enforcement
1. It treated loans as contributions.
2. Fines for not reporting could be as high as $50,000.
3. Violators could be prevented from running for federal office for the length of the term of the office sought, plus one year.
4. The Act gave the FEC the power of advisory opinions.
5. It required full reports of contributions and expenditures to be filed 10 days before and 30 days after each election.
6. It required candidates to set up one campaign banking headquarters for easy research and accountability.

(Adapted from Malbin, pp. 237-52)

Sun Oil Case (1975)

     In view of the 1974 Amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act, which legitimated the creation of Political Action Committees, corporations had many questions as to whom they could solicit for voluntary contributions, and in what manner these people could be solicited. Corporations and unions had been under the assumption that they could solicit only stockholders and members, respectively. However, Sun Oil Corporation wanted to begin soliciting employees--both union and non-union--for PAC contributions.
     The FEC handed down an advisory opinion (AO 1975-23) which stated: "It is the opinion of the Commission that Sun Oil may spend general treasury funds for solicitation of contributions to SUN PAC from stockholders and employees of the corporation." (FEC, 351) The reasoning was three-fold: the money was to be segregated according to the Supreme Court's Pipefitters' decision; historically, businesses have solicited employees for both political and non-political causes; and "Section 610 [of the Federal Election Campaign Act] provides that contributions to a separate segregated fund may not be secured by 'job discrimination' or 'financial reprisals.'" (FEC, 352)
     This opinion was not well received by Congress or the unions. "Had corporations been restricted to soliciting only their stockholders, they could have solicited only twice as many individuals as labor unions. Under the majority's ruling, however, corporations now have the potential of soliciting almost the entire workforce of the nation." (Mutch, 169) After this decision, the number and bankrolls of corporate PACs grew exponentially. Congress was highly critical of the fact that the FEC--an unelected body--had overturned the intent of the legislation passed by elected representatives.

Buckley v. Valeo (1976)

     Senator James Buckley (R, NY) and former Senator Eugene McCarthy (D, MN) sued the Secretary of the U.S. Senate, Francis Valeo, claiming the spending limits in the 1974 Amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act violated the Constitutional protection of freedom of speech. The result was the Buckley v. Valeo decision. (424 U.S. 1). The court held that spending limits on a candidate's own campaign, providing the candidate receives no public funding, is an unconstitutional infringement on the candidate's freedom of speech. The court also held that independent expenditures could not be regulated, opening doors for individuals, unions and businesses to spend enormous amounts of money on a campaign so long as it was separate from the candidate's campaign funding. "So long as persons or groups eschew expenditures that in express terms advocate the election or defeat of a clearly defined candidate, they are free to spend as much as they want to promote the candidate and his views." (Ducat, 1031) The court did uphold the direct campaign contribution limits and the other major provisions of the legislation and its amendments.

Amendments to FECA (1976)

     Congress did not appreciate the Court's interpretation, and attempted to circumvent it and to make further reforms. However, constitutionally, Congress' hands were tied. The amendments Congress did pass in 1976 were largely insignificant. The major provision of the 1976 Amendments are as follows:

1. The Federal Election Commission will be appointed by the President, and approved by the Senate.
2. Members of the Federal Election Commission are barred from doing outside business during their term.
3. Individuals can give no more than $5,000 to a PAC and $20,000 to a National Committee.
4. A multi-candidate committee can give no more than $15,000 a year to a National Committee or party.
5. The maximum allowable contributions by the Democratic and Republican Senate Election Committees were raised from $5,000 to $17,000.
6. Unions and corporations were limited to one PAC per organization.
7. Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates were capped at $50,000 contributions to their own campaign if they receive public funding.
8. Candidates must give back their leftover matching funds if they withdraw from the race.
9. Federal subsidies are cut off if the candidate receives less than 10 percent of the primary vote.
10. The Federal Election Commission may enforce criminal violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act.
11. Unions, corporations and trade associations have to report campaign finance spending of $2,000 or higher to their stockholders or Boards of Directors.
12. Contributions of $50 and higher must be reported.
13. Independent expenditures of $1,000 or more made within fifteen days of an election must be reported within 24 hours of the expenditure.

Amendments to the FECA (1979)

     With Jimmy Carter in the White House and continued public distrust of the political process in the post-Watergate era, there was a feeling that further reforms were needed. The 1979 Amendments, however, did not accomplish Congress' goals. In fact, some saw them as weakening the already existing laws. The provisions of the Amendments are as follows:

1. They restrict federal employees' ability to contribute to or work on political campaigns.
2. They set up a new process for selecting FEC members. Members would be nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate, with a provision that no more than three members of the six-member commission could be of the same political party.
3. They established guidelines by which contributions to political parties for the purposes of party building would be unlimited. For example, one could give a million dollars for a voter registration campaign, but would be restricted to giving $1,000 for a specific candidate's campaign. (This allowed for what is called "soft money.")

(Adapted from Malbin, 271-74)

     In combination with its interpretation by the FEC in AO 1978-10, these 1979 amendments created large "loopholes through which money prohibited by the 1974 amendments once again flowed into political campaigns." (Mutch, 113)
     For the purposes of party building, contributions could be unlimited. "If the purpose of the drive advocates the election of a candidate or candidates for Federal office, then the cost must be attributed to that candidate or candidates for limitation and reporting purposes. However, the Party may use printed material in a voter registration drive [or a get out the vote drive] which identifies candidates for Federal office without allocating any costs to particular candidates, if those materials are within the slate card or sample ballot exemption." (AO 1978-10, Part A)