STATUTORY SCOPE
1. Types of Statutes
There are four main types of federal campaign financing laws:
• Laws that limit the amount of contributions;
• Laws that prohibit contributions by persons and entities
whose participation in the federal election process has
been deemed by Congress to present a sufficient potential
for corruption as to warrant outright prohibition;
• Transparency laws that place before the voting public
pertinent facts concerning the raising and spending of
campaign funds; and
• Public funding laws, which, at the time of this edition,
apply federally only to the campaigns of candidates
seeking election to the Presidency.
The federal statute that regulates the financing of federal
campaigns and ensures campaign transparency is the Federal Election
Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (FECA or the Act). 52 U.S.C.
§§ 30101, et seq. 49 The Act was amended significantly in 1974, 1976,
1979, and most recently in 2002. The 2002 amendments were
contained in the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA). More
recently, decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court and some U.S. Courts
of Appeals have significantly limited what is prohibited under the
statute.
FECA’s provisions were housed in Title 2 of the United States Code until September
1, 2014, when it was transferred to Title 52.
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