Institute on Money in State Politics to Release Report Tracking Use of State Parties to Circumvent Federal Regulations

9/23/2003

From: Karen Saverino Donnelly, 202-380-3119, or ksdonnelly@metgroup.com; or Sue O'Connell, 406-449-2480, or sueo@followthemoney.org

News Advisory:

What:

Edwin Bender, executive director of the Institute on Money in State Politics, highlights the key findings in a new research report "Passing the Bucks: Money Games that Political Parties Play," which examines how state-level party committees raise and spend money. The report provides a baseline against which to measure how the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) -- and its ban on soft money contributions -- will impact state level politics if all or some of the law is upheld by the Supreme Court. Given the findings, this report raises this question: Will BCRA, or some version of it, reduce the money in politics or simply re-channel it? A question and answer period will follow the briefing.

When:

Tuesday, Sept. 30, at 11 a.m. EDT/ 10 a.m. CDT/ 9 a.m. MDT/ 8 a.m. PDT

Media Briefing Teleconference:

Media should call 1-888-747-3526 (toll free in United States) three minutes prior to the start of the call, and will be placed directly into the teleconference when it begins.

To receive a copy of the report in advance of the briefing, please e-mail Sue O'Connell at sueo@followthemoney.org. Report is EMBARGOED until Sept. 30 at 11 a.m. EDT.

Research Methodology:

The Institute on Money in State Politics studied the $917.5 million in soft money raised by state-level party committees in the 1998, 2000 and 2002 election cycles in 13 states: California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin. These states represent a diverse cross-section of the country, both geographically and in campaign- finance laws. The findings are detailed in the report, "Passing the Bucks: Money Games Political Parties Play."

What's the Institute on Money in State Politics?

The Institute on Money in State Politics is a national nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that compiles campaign-contribution information on every state-level candidate and the party committees in all 50 states. The Institute is dedicated to providing accurate, comprehensive and unbiased documentation and research on campaign finance at the state level. It serves as the only complete source of this data and makes the information available online, at http://www.followthemoney.org.

Since 1999, the Institute has conducted campaign-finance research in states where disclosure programs didn't exist, upgraded and standardized research where they did, and brought the results together on its Web site in an accessible and searchable format now covering all 50 states.