Coalition to File Challenge to Hard Money Increases in McCain-Feingold Campaign Reform Law; Press Conference May 7

5/6/2002

From: Ann Brown, 301-951-8018 or Amy Bunch, 301-593-2870

WASHINGTON, May 6 -- A coalition of non-wealthy voters, candidates, and public interest groups will file on Tuesday a constitutional challenge in federal court in Washington to the hard money limit increases in the recently-passed McCain-Feingold campaign reform law. The lawsuit will allege that the increases in the hard money contribution limits discriminate against non-wealthy voters and candidates based on their economic status in violation of the Equal Protection Clause in the United States Constitution.

The plaintiffs include: non-wealthy voters and candidates from across the country; the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, the organization which led the opposition to the hard money limit increases during the congressional debate on the law; the Fannie Lou Hamer Project, a grassroots organization redefining campaign finance as a civil rights issue; and ACORN, an advocacy organization on behalf of the poor, representing low and moderate-income voters throughout the nation. The Boston-based National Voting Rights Institute, which specializes in campaign finance litigation, serves as the lead counsel for the plaintiffs.

U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and others have already filed challenges to the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, alleging violations of the First Amendment. Sen. McConnell and others argue that corporations and wealthy donors should be permitted to make unlimited donations to political parties. In contrast, the plaintiffs in this new lawsuit support the ban on soft money but challenge, for the first time, the increases in the hard money contribution limits on equal protection grounds.

A special three-judge federal court has been assigned to hear all of these challenges, with direct review by the United States Supreme Court. These consolidated cases will mark the first time in 27 years that the Supreme Court will review the constitutionality of a campaign reform law passed by the U.S. Congress. Tomorrow's filing will ensure that the nation's highest court will hear arguments made on behalf of non-wealthy voters and candidates focusing on political equality principles grounded in the Equal Protection Clause.

For nearly three decades, federal campaign finance law has prohibited individuals from contributing more that $1,000 to a congressional or presidential candidate in any primary or general election. A provision of the McCain-Feingold law, known formally as the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, raises individual limits to $2,000 per donor in federal races, thereby doubling the amount of hard money in the political system. Hard money accounts for more than 80 percent of the funds raised by federal candidates and parties and comes predominantly from the wealthiest one percent of the nation's population. A separate provision, the Millionaire Amendment, raises individual limits to the range of $6,000 to $12,000 per donor in races involving self-funded candidates.

------ NOTE TO PRESS: The plaintiffs and their attorneys will hold a press conference to announce this filing, and make the complaint available to reporters on Tuesday, May 7, at 10 a.m. in the West Room of the National Press Club in Washington.