There are a number of corporate and union political activities
that are not prohibited under FECA. After Citizens United,
corporations and labor organizations are no longer prohibited from
spending treasury funds to expressly advocate the election or defeat of
a clearly identified federal candidate or to engage in electioneering
communications,55 as long as they do so independently of any
candidates or organizations that contribute to candidates. See also Fed.
Election Comm’n v. Wis. Right to Life, 551 U.S. 449 (2007)
(invalidating limits on corporate and union electioneering
communications).
Even before Citizens United, corporations and unions were not
barred from using treasury funds to establish and operate “separate
segregated funds” – commonly known as “affiliated political action
committees,” or PACs – provided the PACs confined their solicitation
activities to raising voluntary contributions from corporate
employees or union members, respectively. Pipefitters Local Union
No. 562 v. United States, 407 U.S. 385, 409 (1972). They also always
have been allowed to use corporate or union funds to finance
communications, on any subject, between labor unions and their
membership or between corporations and their stockholders, see
United States v. Auto. Workers, 352 U.S. 567 (1957), as well as to
support non-partisan expenditures, or to co ver the costs of
publishing statements of editorial opinion in newspapers of general
public distribution that are owned by corporations or unions, see
United States v. C.I.O., 335 U.S. 106 (1948).
The statute also does not restrict contributions or expenditures
55
“Electioneering communication” includes any broadcast or satellite
communication which “refers to” a clearly identified federal candidate; is made 30
days before a primary or 60 days before a general or runoff election; and, in the case
of a candidate for the United States Senate or United States House of Representatives,
is targeted to the relevant electorate. 52 U.S.C. § 30104(f)(3)(A)(i).
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