Republican Conference on Campaign Finance Reform (CFR), April 19, 1990

Item

Other Media

lead_398_020_all_tr.txt

Transcription (Scripto)

Read Full Text Only (TXT)

Extent (Dublin Core)

8 pages

File Name (Dublin Core)

lead_398_020_all

Title (Dublin Core)

Republican Conference on Campaign Finance Reform (CFR), April 19, 1990

Date (Dublin Core)

1990-04-19

Date Created (Dublin Core)

1990-04-19

Congress (Dublin Core)

101st (1989-1991)

Policy Area (Curation)

Government Operations and Politics

Creator (Dublin Core)

Dole, Robert J., 1923-2021

Record Type (Dublin Core)

memorandums

Rights (Dublin Core)

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/

Language (Dublin Core)

eng

Collection Finding Aid (Dublin Core)

https://dolearchivecollections.ku.edu/index.php?p=collections/findingaid&id=26&q=

Physical Location (Dublin Core)

Collection 007, Box 398, Folder 20

Institution (Dublin Core)

Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS

Archival Collection (Dublin Core)

Robert J. Dole Republican Leadership Collection, 1985-1996

Full Text (Extract Text)

handwritten at top of page: 4/19/90 1:30 - Rep. Conf. - Campaign Finance

Armstrong (check mark)
Bond (check mark)
Boschwitz
Burns (check mark)
Chafee (check mark)
Coats
Cochran
Cohen (check mark)
D'Amato (check mark)
Danforth (check mark)
Dole (check mark)
Domenici (check mark)
Durenberger (check mark)
Garn
Gorton (check mark)
Gramm (check mark)
Grassley (check mark)
Hatch (check mark)
Hatfield
Heinz (check mark)
Helms
Humphrey
Jeffords (check mark)
Kassebaum (check mark)
Kasten (check mark)
Lott (check mark)
Lugar (check mark)
Mack (check mark)
McCain (check mark)
McClure (check mark)
McConnell (check mark)
Murkowski (check mark)
Nickles (check mark)
Packwood (check mark)
Pressler (check mark)
Roth
Rudman (check mark)
Simpson (check mark)
Specter
Stevens (check mark)
Symms
Thurmond
Wallop
Warner
Wilson (check mark)

(Printed by the Secretary for the Minority)
GPO: 1989 98-241 (m)


April 18, 1990
MEMORANDUM
TO: SENATOR DOLE
FROM: DENNIS SHEA
SUBJECT: REPUBLICAN CONFERENCE -- CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM

Attached is a proposed agenda for tomorrow's Conference on Campaign Finance Reform. As you know, the Conference is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. in Room S-230.

McConnell
Sen. McConnell has requested 10 minutes to discuss his campaign finance reform proposal.

SEN. MCCONNELL WANTS TO DISTRIBUTE THE ATTACHED PAPER ENTITLED "REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM INITIATIVE."

Political Action Committees
With respect to PACs, there appear to be three possible options:

Option One: Ban all "special interest" PACs (corporate, union, and trade association PACs). Ban all non-connected or ideological PACs.

Option Two: Ban all "special interest" PACs (corporate, union, and trade association PACs). Reduce contribution limits for non-connected or ideological PACs from $5,000 to either $2,500 or $1,000.

Option Three: Reduce contribution limits for "special interest" PACs and non-connected PACs from $5,000 to $1,000.

IF ACCEPTABLE TO YOU, A PAPER OUTLINING EACH OF THESE OPTIONS WILL BE DISTRIBUTED AT THE CONFERENCE.

Sen. Armstrong will probably speak up in support of corporate PACs and may oppose any attempt to restrict them. Option Two may be acceptable to him.

Sen. Nickles may claim that labor PACs will try to sidestep a ban on "special interest" PACs by reconstituting themselves as non-connected or ideological PACs.

-2-

Soft Money
There will probably be unanimous agreement that non-party soft money should be eliminated completely. The McConnell bill would eliminate non-party soft money in three ways:

1. 501(c) (3) Organizations. Would prohibit all tax-exempt, 501(c) organizations from engaging in any activity which attempts to influence a federal election on behalf of a specific candidate.

2. Elimination of Cranston-style Voter Registration Organizations. Would restrict tax-exempt organizations from engaging in voter registration or get-out-the-vote activities if a Member of Congress solicits money for the organization.

3. Codification of Beck Decision. Would codify the Supreme Court's Beck decision, which held that employees cannot be obligated to finance union political activities through union membership dues.

Broadcast Discount
Senator Danforth will want to discuss his broadcast discount proposal. In its current form, the Danforth proposal has two key components:

1. Longer Time Slots. Would require television stations to provide 5 minutes per day for the 45 days prior to the general election for five-minute broadcasts by Senate candidates. Broadcasters would be reimbursed through a special coordinated expenditure fund.

2. Enhanced Disclaimers. Would require all political television broadcasts to include a full-screen picture of the sponsoring candidate stating that he has approved of the broadcast advertisement.

McConnell is willing to incorporate these ideas into his campaign finance reform bill.

"Flexible" Spending Limits
Sen. McConnell believes that a flexible spending limit should only be the final ingredient of a bipartisan campaign finance reform package.

At Sheperdstown, Sen. Gramm was outspoken against accepting any spending limit proposal.

Senators Stevens is more inclined to support the flexible spending limit proposal as part of the initial Republican bargaining position.

-3-

If the Democrats refuse to negotiate, or if negotiations break-down, I suggest that the flexible spending limit be added to the McConnell bill, perhaps as the price for your co-sponsorship. I suspect that the media would view any Republican bill that 1) eliminated "special interest" PACs, 2) banned non-party soft money, and 3) contained some kind of flexible spending limit, as a high-ground proposal.

In addition, if the Republican Conference adopted a broad-based ban on PACs, the flexible spending limit would then only apply to out-of-state individual contributions and contributions from personal funds.

REPUBLICAN CONFERENCE
CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM
APRIL 19, 1990
1:30 P.M.

I. OPENING REMARKS -- SEN. CHAFEE
II. COMMENTS -- SEN. DOLE
III. OUTLINE OF OPTIONS ON PACS -- SEN. DOLE
IV. DISCUSSION OF FLEXIBLE SPENDING LIMITS -- SEN. STEVENS (?)
V. DISCUSSION OF BROADCASTING PROPOSAL -- SEN. DANFORTH
VI. DISCUSSION OF MCCONNELL BILL -- SEN. MCCONNELL

4/19/90
REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM INITIATIVE

o Cosponsors as of 4/18: Bond, Boschwitz, Chafee, Cochran, Gorton, Gramm, Grassley, Hatch, Hatfield, Heinz, Jeffords, Lott, Mack, McCain, Murkowski, Packwood, Symms, Wilson

SUMMARY
o For three years, the Democratic Party has tried to sell the Byrd-Boren "spending limits" concept as reform by limiting Republican fundraising advantages and advancing Democratic political advantages.

o The Byrd-Boren bill: (1) ignores the role of PACs, tax- exempt organizations, and other "special interests" in politics; (2) limits the ability of Republican challengers to mount effective campaigns; and (3) refuses to deal with the problem of campaign costs.

o The advocates of the Byrd-Boren bill use the spending limits concept to address every campaign finance problem or abuse. Instead of taking one proposed solution and applying it to every problem, the time has come to establish a different framework where the goals precede the legislative solutions.

o The Republican alternative drafted by Mitch McConnell addresses the three most important problem areas in campaign finance.

1. The primary goal of reform legislation must be to correct the widespread perception that organized, special interests exert too much influence over Members of Congress.

o The proposed Republican alternative:
(1) eliminates "soft money" activities in federal races by unions, corporations, tax-exempt organizations, and parties;
(2) eliminates PACs formed by unions, corporations, and trade associations in favor of independent, nonconnected PACs;
(3) strengthens the role of political parties; and
(4) limits "bundling" by special interest groups.

2. A second objective must address the problem of why so many Congressional races are not competitive contests.

o The proposed Republican alternative:
(1) creates a "seed money" mechanism for qualified challengers;
(2) closes the millionaire's loophole;
(3) limits the use of franked "mass mailings" during an election year; and
(4) restricts gerrymandering and election fraud.

3. A third objective must be to provide a meaningful reduction in the cost of campaigning and communicating with voters.

o The proposed Republican alternative will provide for a meaningful broadcast media discount to reduce the escalating cost of television for candidates.

4/19/90

PAC RECOMMENDATIONS
OPTION #1: Ban all corporate, trade association, union, and "non- connected" PACs.

OPTION #2: Ban all "special interest" PACs: corporate, trade association, and union PACs. Reduce contribution limits for "non-connected" PACs from $5000 to $2500 per candidate per election. [Bush Administration]
Alternative: Same as above, except reduce contribution limits for 'non-connected" PACs to $1000.

OPTION #3: Reduce PAC contribution limits from $5000 to $1000 per candidate per election. [House Republican Task Force].
Alternative: Reduce PAC contribution limits to $1000 and prohibit corporations, trade associations, and unions from using treasury money to pay for PAC administrative costs or other political activities.