Legislation & Politics

Letter to Senators supporting the McCain-Feingold amendment to strip Section 719 from H.R. 3058

September 14, 2005

Dear Senator:

On behalf of the 1.4 million members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), I am writing with respect to the appropriations bill for Transportation, Treasury, the Judiciary, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (H.R. 3058) which the Senate may take up as soon as this evening. Specifically, we are writing to urge you to vote for an amendment to be offered by Senators John McCain and Russell Feingold to strip a campaign finance provision from the bill.

Section 719 of H.R. 3058 would create a new loophole in campaign finance law by allowing leadership political action committees (PACs) to make unlimited transfers of funds to national party committees. Currently, leadership PACs, like other multicandidate PACs, are limited to making contributions of no more than $15,000 per year.

Under Section 719, contributors could make a contribution to a leadership PAC which could then be transferred to a party committee to be used in support of the lawmaker's own campaign. The result of this provision is to allow wealthy contributors to play an even greater role in elections and to further dominate the policy making process at the expense of the needs and concerns of ordinary Americans.

Section 719 circumvents current contribution limits and is a significant erosion of longstanding campaign finance reforms. We urge you to support the McCain-Feingold amendment to strip Section 719 from H.R. 3058.


Sincerely,

Charles M. Loveless
Director of Legislation

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