The Federal Election Commission just announced the contribution limits for the 2017-2018 election cycle, and the big news is: they look a lot like the 2016 cycle limits. Under the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA), certain contribution limits are indexed for inflation. For the first time since the BCRA was enacted, the limit on individual and non-multicandidate PAC contributions did not increase, except with respect to contributions to the national party committees. Multicandidate PAC limits are not indexed for inflation and have remained the same for decades. The limits for the 2018 election cycle are as follows:
|
|
Candidate Committee |
PAC (SSF and Non-Connected) |
State/District/
Local Party Committees |
National Party Committee Main Account |
Additional National Party Committee Accounts |
|
Individual |
$2,700 per election |
$5,000 per year |
$10,000 per year |
$33,900 per year |
$101,700 per account, per year |
|
Non-Multicandidate PAC |
$2,700 per election |
$5,000 per year |
$10,000 per year |
$33,900 per year |
$101,700 per account, per year |
|
Multicandidate PAC |
$5,000 per election |
$5,000 per year |
$10,000 per year |
$15,000 per year |
$45,000 per |
The Federal Election Campaign Act requires certain political committees to disclose contributions bundled by lobbyists, registrants and lobbyist/registrant PACs once the contributions exceed a specific threshold. The FEC increased the lobbyist bundling threshold for 2017 from $17,600 to $17,900.
In addition to the inflation-adjusted contribution and bundling limits, coordinated party expenditure limits were also updated. The FEC allows state parties and national party committees to make special expenditures in connection with the general election of federal candidates. These coordinated party expenditures do not count against the contribution limits but are subject to the following limits:
-
For Senate nominees, the limits range from $97,400 to $2,935,900 depending on the state’s voting population;
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$97,400 for House nominees in states with only one representative; and
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$48,700 for House nominees in all other states.
