how a political action committee works
at the federal level an organization is considered a pac when it receives or spends more than 1 000 for the purpose of influencing a federal election there are many types of restrictions that guide how pacs are able to fundraise and to donate their contributions to political campaigns or causes they can contribute 5 000 to a candidate committee per election they can also give up to 15 000 annually to any national party committee and 5 000 annually to any other pac pacs may receive up to 5 000 from any one individual pac or party committee per calendar year 1a pac must register with the u s federal election committee within 10 days of its formation and it must provide the name and address for the pac its treasurer and any affiliated organizations for the purpose of contribution limits all affiliated pacs are treated as one donor pacs are also required to disclose information about all individuals who contribute to them however sometimes these names are not disclosed until after an election meaning that their contributors may not be transparent to the public while votes are still being cast types of political action committees pacs there are many categories of pacs including separate segregated funds ssfs nonconnected committees super pacs and leadership pacs corporations labor unions membership organizations or trade associations can establish separate segregated funds ssfs once established these committees can only receive contributions from individuals that are associated with that connected or sponsoring organization unlike ssfs nonconnected committees are not sponsored by a specific entity or organization as a result they can accept contributions from the general public super pacs can receive unlimited contributions from individuals corporations labor unions and other pacs a hybid pac can act as both a pac and a super pac hybrid pacs must maintain segregated bank accounts for their unlimited super pac activities and their normal pac fundraising and contributions which are subject to the same statutory limitations as a regular pac 2 a leadership pac is a pac that is established by a candidate or an individual holding federal office it is common for members of congress and other political leaders to establish leadership pacs in order to support candidates for various elected offices leadership pacs can only contribute up to 5 000 per election to a federal candidate committee pacs vs super pacssuper pacs were created in 2010 after the u s court of appeals decision in speechnow org v federal election committee this decision allowed for a greater level of deregulation as to how political funds are raised and distributed while super pac funds cannot be donated directly to a campaign super pac managers and political candidates are permitted to collaborate and discuss strategy since the inception of super pacs they have quickly grown to be a hugely influential force in american politics in fact it is estimated that during the 2012 republican primaries super pacs spent more money than individual candidates campaigns did 3 the majority of this money was donated by individuals rather than businesses special considerationscorporations cannot contribute directly to a campaign however the 2010 supreme court decision in citizens united v federal election committee made it legal for corporations to support a pac the decision overruled the 2002 campaign reform act which prevented corporations unions and other entities from donating money to political campaigns the new laws allow these entities to contribute a limited amount of money to a pac which can in turn be donated to a campaign in the case of super pacs a corporation can contribute an unlimited amount of money even though this money can t be directly given to a campaign it can be spent to indirectly influence an election 