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This bill would come down heavy on coordination between political candidates and Super PACs (Super Political Action Committees).

Super PACs are political fundraising organizations that can accept donations of unlimited size from individuals and groups. They may not contribute directly to (or coordinate officially with) candidates’ campaigns, but can run shadow campaigns by independently advocating for or against candidates.

This legislation would alter language in the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to more strictly define what constitutes “coordination” between Super PACs and candidates. This would help ensure that a Super PAC dedicated to a single candidate does not simply function as an (unlimited, less regulated) arm of that candidate’s campaign. Specifically, under this legislation, a Super PAC would be illegal if:

It was created at the suggestion or encouragement of the candidate it supports;

The candidate (or the candidate’s agents) fundraise for (or share fundraising lists with) the Super PAC;
The Super PAC is established or directed by former advisers or consultants to the candidate, or by members of the candidate’s immediate family
The Super PAC has retained the professional services of anyone who provided professional campaign services to the candidate in the past two years

This sort of collaboration between candidates and Super PACs is common, but usually overlooked by regulators. Super PACs are often run by friends of the candidate they support, are endorsed by the candidate's committee, or schedule the candidate as a \"special guest\" at fundraisers in his/her name. Those connections shouldn't be surprising though, these are groups of people who are willing to raise and put down a lot of money for a candidate — it makes sense that they would be close connections.

The legislation would also prohibit Super PACs from using an “internal firewall” loophole to skirt coordination bans by setting up a separate “independent” division for expenditures. It would also eliminate a ban on political contributions from minors that the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional in 2003.

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Federal Election Commission ruled an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment.)\n\nSets forth rules governing payments for coordinated expenditures, including special rule for payments by coordinated spenders for covered communications.\n\nDefines \"covered communication\" as a public communication which: (1) expressly advocates the election of the candidate or the defeat of an opponent of the candidate (or contains the functional equivalent of express advocacy); (2) promotes or supports the candi...","summarized":true,"cost":null,"cost_commentary":"A CBO cost estimate is unavailable. ","impact":"Super PACs, political candidates, the Federal Election Committee, and anyone living in the U.S. ","argument_for":"Democracy suffers and the needs of ordinary citizens are overlooked when Super PACS — which can receive unlimited contributions — act as an arm of a candidate's campaign.","argument_against":"Political contributions are a form of free speech. 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Get rid of them all together if you ask me.","argument_against":null,"show_argument_for":true,"show_argument_against":false,"upvote_count":1,"upvotes_for_count":1,"upvotes_against_count":null,"has_upvoted":false,"endorsement_count":1,"links":{"self":"https://www.causes.com/positions/99a1c328-d3e1-4af1-8ef3-c86522937ea3"},"body":"Super PACs destroy American democracy at its roots. Get rid of them all together if you ask me.","stance":"yea","created_at":"2016-07-08T03:56:21.333Z","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/positions/99a1c328-d3e1-4af1-8ef3-c86522937ea3.png","note_color":null,"note_text":null,"bill_id":"s1838-114","user_id":"AmpLXlEm","endorser_ids":["yWjEybY9"]}}

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Keeping Super PACs and Candidates From Getting Too Chummy