• $5,000 in a calendar year to any other political committee. The limits on contributions by “persons” to federal candidates and national party committees are adjusted for inflation every two years, with the increases announced in odd-numbered years and effective for the two-year election cycle beginning with the day after the last general election. 52 U.S.C. § 30116(c). For the current limits, visit the FEC’s website. The above limits do not apply to transfers between the national, state, district, and local committees of the same political party. 52 U.S.C. § 30116(a)(4). However, contributions to a candidate from political committees that are subject to common control (e.g., committees affiliated with several locals of the same union, or committees affiliated with subsidiaries of the same corporation) are treated as though they were from a single political committee. 52 U.S.C. § 30116(a)(5). The above limits also do not apply to contributions to political committees that engage in independent expenditures only (commonly known as “Super PACs”), meaning the committee does not coordinate any of its expenditures with a candidate or committee that makes contributions to a candidate or party. See SpeechNow.org v. Fed. Election Comm’n, 599 F.3d 686, 696 (D.C. Cir. 2010) (finding Section 30116’s limits on contributions to independent expenditure-only political committees did not further the government’s interest in preventing corruption or the appearance of corruption and thus were invalid under the First Amendment). Limitations on expenditures are far fewer than those on contributions. A candidate’s expenditures can constitutionally be limited only if the candidate elects to participate in a public funding program. Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 54-59 (1976). At present, only presidential candidates have the option of receiving federal funds for 132