A PAC is a powerful and necessary tool of any
professional government affairs effort. The Trammell Group can
assist you and your organization to design a PAC or improve your
existing PAC.
How did PACs evolve?
In 1943 Congress acted to ban direct contributions from labor unions
to Federal candidates; however, organized labor was quick to
react. That same year, the first modern "Political Action
Committee" was formed by the Congress of Industrial Organizations
(which later merged with the American Federation of Labor to form the
AFL-CIO). While such an arrangement was not explicitly sanctioned
by federal law, neither was it prohibited.
Today’s Federal campaign finance law evolved during the
1970s. The Revenue Act of 1971 inaugurated public funding of
Presidential general elections, later extended to primaries and
nominating conventions by the Federal Election Campaign Act Amendments
of 1974. The Amendments also specially sanctioned the formation of
a "political committee" to enable the employees of
corporations, members of labor unions or members of professional groups,
trade associations or any other political group to pool their dollars
and give to the candidates of their choice. At the same time, it
gave PACs higher contributions limits than individual contributors and
established the Federal Elections Commission as a central administrative
and enforcement agency that collects and monitors campaign finance
reports filed by PACs and candidates.
Today, the funds that are distributed from PACs cannot come from the
organization but from voluntary contributions from individual members.
These funds cannot contain prohibited funds (e.g., corporate treasury
funds or union dues), but only correctly "solicited" money
voluntarily given by members of their "solicitable" community.
The financial clout of PACs is not something that has been forced
upon members of Congress, state or local elected officials over their
objections. Modern campaign techniques, centered around 30-second
TV spots and highly targeted direct mail appeals, have prompted many
incumbents to hire campaign consultants, pollsters, media advisors,
fund-raisers and a hosts of specialists who are behind-the-scenes
operatives of today’s high-tech campaigns. The pressures of
raising the money it takes to pay for them all have forced nearly every
incumbent and challenger to spend an increasing amount of time appealing
to PACs and other large contributors for funds. Because of their
higher contribution limits ($5,000 per election, versus $1,000 per
election for individuals), PACs offer the most convenient means of
raising large sums of campaign cash quickly.
There are three types of PACs:
- Connected PACs are made up of people who already have an
affiliation with an established organization, business or
association. This group has an advantage in raising and disbursing
money because of an established membership base.
- Non-connected PACs are composed of people who are not connected to
a common organization but share public policy interests. Examples:
MADD and Emily’s List.
- Leadership PACs are created by an individual to raise money in
order to enhance his or her political clout. This allows a
"leader" to spend more than he or she could as an
individual.
