FEC Announces 2013-2014 Campaign Cycle Contribution Limits

Individual may give	To each candidate or candidate committee per election	To national party committee per calendar year	To state, district & local party committee per calendar year	To any other political committee per calendar year(1)	Special Limits
	$2,600*	$32,400*	$10,000 (combined limit)	$5,000	$123,200* overall biennial limit: $48,600* to all candidates $74,600* to all PACs & parties(2)
National Party Committee may give	$5,000	No Limit	No Limit	$5,000	$45,400* to Senate Candidates per campaign(3)
State, District & Local Party Committee may give	$5,000 (combined limit)	No Limit	No Limit	$5,000 (combined limit)	No Limit
PAC (multicandidate)(4) may give	$5,000	$15,000	$5,000 (combined limit)	$5,000	No Limit
PAC (not multicandidate) may give	$2,600*	$32,400*	$10,000 (combined limit)	$5,000	No Limit
Authorized Campaign Committee may give	$2,000(5)	No Limit	No Limit	$5,000	No Limit

The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA) included provisions that indexed some contribution limits for inflation.The limit for individuals’ contributions to candidates, for example, was set at $2,000 per election in BCRA and is adjusted at the start of each new election cycle. Adjustments are announced after the Department of Labor determines the inflation rate for the previous election year (in this case 2012). The new limit on contributions from individuals to candidates is effective retroactively to the day after the last general election (i.e., Nov. 7, 2012).The other new limits are effective retroactively to Jan. 1, 2013.

The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 (HLOGA) added the requirement that certain political committees disclose contributions bundled by lobbyists/registrants and lobbyist/registrant political action committees once the contributions exceed a specified threshold amount. This amount, adjusted annually for inflation, is $17,100 for calendar year 2013.

Under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act), the Commission must adjust coordinated party expenditure limits annually to account for inflation. This applies to coordinated expenditures by national party committees and state party committees or their subordinate committees in connection with the general election campaign of candidates for federal office. The coordinated party expenditure limits that apply to any general elections held in 2013 can be found in this chart on the FEC website.

 

* These contribution limits are increased for inflation in odd-numbered years.

(1) A contribution earmarked for a candidate through a political committee counts against the original contributor’s limit for that candidate. In certain circumstances, the contribution may also count against the contributor’s limit to the PAC. 11 CFR 110.6. See also 11 CFR 110.1(h).

(2) No more than $48,600 of this amount may be contributed to state and local party committees and PACs.

(3) This limit is shared by the national committee and the national Senate campaign committee.

(4) A multicandidate committee is a political committee with more than 50 contributors which has been registered for at least 6 months and, with the exception of state party committees, has made contributions to 5 or more candidates for federal office. 11 CFR 100.5(e)(3).

(5) A federal candidate's authorized committee(s) may contribute no more than $2,000 per election to another federal candidate''''s authorized committee(s). 11 CFR 102.12(c)(2).

 

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent regulatory agency that administers and enforces federal campaign finance laws. The FEC has jurisdiction over the financing of campaigns for the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate, the Presidency and the Vice Presidency. Established in 1975, the FEC is composed of six Commissioners who are nominated by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

# # #