February 23, 2010
ISSUE: Campaign Contribution Limits
Please call your State Senator and State Representative and ask them to sign on as cosponsors to legislation that will extend Campaign Contribution Limits to General Elections for contributions from the Legislative Leader Campaign PACs and Political Parties to Candidate Campaign Committees. Ask State Senators to sign onto SB 2532 and State Representatives to sign onto HB 6200. Contact information for legislators can be found at www.ilga.gov.
BACKGROUND:
Last fall the State Legislature passed and the Governor signed SB 1466 (PA 96-0832). This legislation placed limits on contributions that individuals, corporations, unions and associations, and PACs could make to candidates and political parties in primary and general elections. There were also limits for contributions to candidates placed on political party and legislative caucus committees during primary elections but not in general elections. Now is the time to ask legislators to sign onto these bills to put limits on contributions from political parties and caucuses to candidates. SB 2532 could be heard in the Senate Executive Subcommittee on Campaign Finance this week.
SB 2532 and HB 6200 have Democratic sponsors, Senator Steans and Representative May respectively. Republicans have also introduced contribution limits bills for the political parties and caucuses: SB 3580 (Sponsor Senator Radogno) and HB 5008 (Sponsor Representative Cross). The limits in the bills introduced by Republicans match the primary elections limits and are lower than those proposed by the Democrats. (See chart below.) The League supports all four limits bills. However, it is more likely that the bills sponsored by the Democrats could move.
Parties and Legislative Leaders Aggregate Limits to following candidate committees: |
Primary Limit in
SB 1466 effective Jan. 1, 2011 |
General Election Limit proposed in HB 5008 & SB 3580 |
General Election
Limit proposed in HB 6200 & SB 2532 |
Statewide office
|
$200,000 |
$200,000 |
$300,000 |
Illinois Senate, Supreme Court or Appellate Court in 1st Judicial District, and anyone running county wide in a county of at least 1 million residents
|
$125,000 |
$125,000 |
$175,000 |
Illinois House, Supreme Court or Appellate Court outside the 1st Judicial District, all countywide offices in counties of less than 1 million residents, municipal and county wide offices in Cook county other than those elected countywide in Cook.
|
$75,000 |
$75,000 |
$125,000 |
All other offices |
$50,000 |
$50,000 |
$85,000 |
Please note: As specified in PA 96-0832, if there is self-funding of candidate campaigns in any amount greater than $250,000 for statewide offices or greater than $100,000 for all other elective offices, then the contributions limits are lifted and candidates may accept larger donations from all classifications of contributions. |
