Lawmakers continue to debate major changes to political money regulations as part of a year-end spending package, despite opposition from numerous congressional Democrats and campaign finance watchdog groups.
Even with congressional primaries already underway, the proposals could play out in the November midterm elections if enacted, campaign finance experts on both sides of the debate say.
The two most contentious matters deal with loosening the spending limits on coordination between political parties and their candidates as well as a possible rollback of the longstanding Johnson Amendment, which prohibits churches and charities from endorsing political candidates.
Both could have dramatic implications for American politics, though it is unclear whether congressional negotiators will include the provisions in the forthcoming omnibus spending measure. Current government funding runs out after midnight Friday, and there are a host of unresolved policy issues.
Lawmakers are also debating whether to keep existing policy riders that prohibit the Securities and Exchange Commission and the IRS from working on new disclosure rules for corporate expenditures to trade associations and other groups that engage in politics. Congressional Democrats want to eliminate these bans, while many Republicans want even stronger language in place to block the rule-making process.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has long sought to relax the limits on party-candidate coordination as a way for political parties to compete with super PACs and other independent political organizations. House Democrats, led by Rep. John Sarbanes of Maryland, last week organized a push against the provisions.
“It essentially would just totally gut any rules about party and candidate coordination spending,” said Tyler Cole, legislative director and policy counsel for Issue One, a group that favors campaign finance regulations.
That could potentially give big political donors yet another avenue of influence, say opponents of the change.
Read the full story at Roll Call
