FEC announces 2019–2020 campaign cycle contribution limits

WASHINGTON – The Federal Election Commission announced updated contribution limits that have been indexed for inflation and are effective for federal elections in 2019-2020.

The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA) included provisions that indexed some contribution limits for inflation. The limit on individuals’ contributions to candidates, for example, was set at $2,000 per election in BCRA; it 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.

During the current two-year election cycle the limit for contributions by individuals to federal candidates for President, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives has increased to $2,800 per election.

Campaign finance provisions of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 permitted national party committees to establish three additional accounts to defray certain expenses incurred with respect to presidential nominating conventions, election recounts and contests and other legal proceedings, and national party headquarters buildings. The contribution limits applicable to these accounts are 300 percent of the limits on contributions to national party committees.

The limit for contributions by individuals and nonmulticandidate PACs to national party committees has risen to $35,500, while the limit for individual and nonmulticandidate PAC contributions to each of the additional national party committee accounts has increased to $106,500 per year.

The limit on combined contributions by a national party committee and its Senatorial campaign committee to a U.S. Senate candidate over the six-year Senate cycle has increased to $49,600.

The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 (HLOGA) requires 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 $18,700 for calendar year 2019.

Under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended, 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 2019 can be found in this chart on the FEC website.

The new per-election limit for candidates is effective retroactively to November 7, 2018. The remaining limits are retroactive to January 1, 2019.