| Subject: more on 527s |
| From: Rick Hasen |
| Date: 4/14/2004, 9:35 AM |
| To: election-law |
As the FEC undertakes its very important rulemaking on 527s, let's not forget the specific issue that is at stake: a proposed draft rule on when 527s (and perhaps other non-profits) are to be treated as "political committees" under the FECA and therefore subject to certain limits (including a $5,000 contribution limit from individuals as I've written about in commentaries you can access here and see here.)
Because these 527s are helping Democrats and hurting President Bush, one might expect a 3-3 split along party lines at the FEC (three commissioners are Democrats and three are Republicans). But it does not appear to be shaping up to be a party-line split. First, FEC Republican Chair Brad Smith seems to be quite wary of regulating 527s as political committees. In this Washington Post report he says "that if the commission adopts the proposed rules, 'it will be the most significant expansion of federal regulations since 1974,' when Congress adopted major post-Watergate campaign reforms. Smith is no fan of regulation.
Second, outgoing Democratic commissioner Scott Thomas sounds from Bob Bauer's early report to be favoring regulation. Much speculation has swirled around how Thomas would vote, especially given how he's been treated by Democrats. (See my earlier post here, linking to this Roll Call article.)
If the four other commissioners vote along party lines, that still leaves a 3-3 split, with the real possibility of no rule emerging. What happens if the FEC fails to craft a rule? I expect that those in the (split) reform community who favor regulation, or the RNC and/or Bush campaign committee, will go to Court challenging the inaction. Of course, if the FEC issues a rule that limits the 527s, I expect a court challenge from those 527s.
It should make for an interesting summer. The FEC's final action is
expected in mid-May.
-- Rick Hasen Professor of Law and William M. Rains Fellow Loyola Law School 919 South Albany Street Los Angeles, CA 90015-1211 (213)736-1466 (213)380-3769 - fax rick.hasen@lls.edu http://www.lls.edu/academics/faculty/hasen.html http://electionlawblog.org