Brief History of Federal Campaign Finance Law

The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA) is the most recently enacted federal law regulating money in the political sphere. McConnell v. FEC

The following section of this report provides an overview of the lower court litigation and an analysis of the Supreme Court's major holdings in McConnell v. FEC. A. 107-155 . B. U.S. Supreme Court Opinion

The Supreme Court's decision in McConnell v. FEC, issued on December 10, 2003, is its most comprehensive campaign finance ruling since Buckley v. Valeo in 1976. 4. 5. Prohibition on Campaign Contributions by Minors Age 17 and Under Invalidated

By a unanimous vote, the Court invalidated section 318 of BCRA, which prohibited individuals age 17 or younger from making contributions to candidates and political parties. Most notably, the Supreme Court upheld restrictions on the raising and spending of previously unregulated political party soft money and a prohibition on corporations and labor unions using treasury funds to finance "electioneering communications," requiring that such ads may only be paid for with corporate and labor union political action committee (PAC) funds. A.
In its most comprehensive campaign finance ruling since Buckley v. Valeo in 1976, on December 10, 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld against facial constitutional challenges key portions of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA), P.L. 107-155, also known as the McCain-Feingold or Shays-Meehan campaign finance reform law. In McConnell v. FEC, a 5 to 4 majority of the Court upheld restrictions on the raising and spending of previously unregulated political party soft money and a prohibition on corporations and labor unions using treasury funds to finance "electioneering communications," requiring that such ads may only be paid for with corporate and labor union political action committee (PAC) funds. The Court invalidated BCRA's requirement that parties choose between making independent expenditures or coordinated expenditures on behalf of a candidate and its prohibition on minors age 17 and under making campaign contributions. This report provides an analysis of the Supreme Court's major holdings in McConnell v. FEC, including a discussion of the developments leading to the enactment of BCRA, the 1976 seminal campaign finance decision, Buckley v. Valeo, and implications for future cases.