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Law's sponsors claim FEC opened 'loopholes' in soft-money ban

By The Associated Press

10.09.02

WASHINGTON — Congressional sponsors of the new campaign-finance law went to court yesterday to challenge regulations they say open loopholes in the law's restrictions on large political contributions known as "soft money."

Reps. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., and Marty Meehan, D-Mass., say the law was clearly meant to prohibit national party committees, federal candidates and federal officeholders from soliciting or spending the unlimited contributions from companies, labor unions and others.

They contend that rather than enforcing that ban, the Federal Election Commission's interpretation of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 opens loopholes that will allow soft money to continue flowing in federal elections.

Shays and Meehan filed a lawsuit in federal court in Washington seeking to overturn the FEC's soft-money rules. They said they also would introduce a House resolution expressing Congress' disapproval of the commission's rules. The new law takes effect Nov. 6.

"Make no mistake, in the long run we will prevail, because the people want to take back their government from the special interests," Meehan said. The lawsuit says that if the court upholds the FEC rules and soft money remains a part of federal elections, the law's sponsors will be among those harmed.

The law's lead Senate sponsors, John McCain, R-Ariz., and Russ Feingold, D-Wis., said they would try to overturn the FEC rules in the Senate and would file a court brief supporting the lawsuit. They said Senate ethics rules made it difficult for them to join the lawsuit.

The FEC decisions drawing the sponsors' criticism were approved by the commission's three Republicans and one of its three Democrats.

Those four commissioners have said the law leaves the FEC with considerable latitude for interpretation and their goal was to establish clear standards for candidates, donors and political parties.

Republican Commissioner Michael Toner says he stands by the FEC's rules. He said the law's sponsors seemed to be trying to win more expansive regulation of campaign finance through the commission than the law included.

"We welcome the legal challenge," Toner said. "We're very confident that the regulations are consistent with the statute and in some instances are required by the statutory language."

McCain, noting that some commissioners have criticized the law, said they are entitled to their own views "but they are not entitled to substitute their opinions for the judgment of Congress."

Shays and Meehan said the FEC regulations their lawsuit challenges include ones that would:

• Let federal officeholders and candidates continue raising soft money for state and local party committees by speaking at their fund-raisers. The new law lets state and local party committees continue raising soft money for certain purposes if state law allows it.
• Impose too narrow a test to determine whether a lawmaker is violating the soft-money solicitation ban. Under the FEC rules, the only way a federal candidate or officeholder could violate the solicitation ban would be by explicitly asking for soft money.
• Give the national parties until Nov. 6 to establish new entities that could continue raising and spending soft money after the law takes effect.
• Let federal officeholders continue operating political action committees known as "leadership PACs" financed with soft money. Officeholders use such PACs to assist their political parties and candidates.
• Too narrowly define the federal election activities that state and local party committees would be barred from spending soft money on.

The law, which also imposes new restrictions on election-time political advertising, is the target of several lawsuits arguing it should be struck down on constitutional grounds.