Congressional negotiators reached a deal last night on an omnibus spending bill to close the 113th Congress. A provision will increase the maximum legal contribution an individual can give to all three national party committees combined to more than $1.5 million per two-year election cycle. The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law issued the following statement on behalf of Lawrence Norden, deputy director of its Democracy Program, decrying radical changes to campaign finance law made without public discussion:
“Congress should act to reform campaign finance law, through a public debate with an eye toward increasing the electoral participation of ordinary citizens. Instead, they agreed on changes at the midnight hour increasing the power of a few wealthy people to exert outsize control over our elections and political parties. This raises the suspicion that politicians are trying to manipulate the campaign finance system for their own benefit, which will serve only to decrease average citizens’ participation in our electoral process.”
For more information or to schedule an interview, contact Naren Daniel at (646) 292–8381 or naren.daniel@nyu.edu.
Read more about the Brennan Center’s work on money in politics.