“The House Administration Committee heard testimony today on The 527 Fairness Act, HR 1316, introduced by Representatives Pence and Wynn. This bill, dressed up as reform, represents a wholesale attack on the progress made by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA).
Real 527 reform, as reflected in HR.513 introduced by Representatives Shays and Meehan and its Senate companion bill, S. 271 introduced by Senators McCain, Feingold, Lott and Schumer, calls for these independent political committees to operate under the same rules as PACs and political parties. Political committees operating as 527 organizations raised and spent more than $400 million to influence the 2004 federal elections, $140 million of which came from just 25 individuals. These mega-contributions distort the political process and were one of the leading concerns behind the soft money ban in BCRA.
These organizations are playing in the same arena but using different rules. It is time to bring fairness and equality to the system.
Using Orwellian turn of phrase, Representative Pence said, when introducing the 527 Fairness Act, H.R. 1316, ‘What we seek is not the reform of 527s’ and then voiced concern over a perceived weakening of political parties due to contribution limits imposed by BCRA. In today’s hearing, Representative Pence again spoke about his concern for weakening political parties -- political parties that raised a record 1.2 billion dollars for the 2004 elections. The parties did it, in part, by increasing the number of small contributions raised from a wider group of Americans.
Moving political campaigns away from reliance on large contributors toward broader participation and a small donor democracy is a value we should promote in America, not ridicule. Political participation and the ‘freedom’ that Representative Pence espouses are stifled when campaigns are dominated by special interest money and the wealthy few.
We commend Representative Shays for his defense of contribution limits in his testimony and for articulating the difference between money and speech, a point that had been lost in the discussion. Representative Shays also noted that contribution limits encourage participation from a wider spectrum of Americans and enhance the ideals we seek in advancing our democracy.
The Pence-Wynn 527 Fairness Act takes us in the wrong direction by eliminating the aggregate limits on contributions to parties and PACs and inviting large special interest cash to flow freely once again into political committee coffers.
Bringing fairness to the system by dismantling the current campaign finance rules is like leveling the playing field by blowing up the stadium.
We urge members of Congress to oppose the Pence-Wynn bill, H.R.1316, and support the Shays-Meehan 527 Reform Act, H.R. 513, and bring real reform and fairness to campaign finance system.”
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U.S. PIRG is the national advocacy office for the state Public Interest Research Groups. State PIRGs are non-profit, non-partisan public interest advocacy organizations.
