FEC Raises Contribution Limits for 2021-2022 Elections
On February 2, 2021, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) announced that it is raising several important monetary thresholds to keep up with inflation. Most notably, the FEC now permits individuals and non-multicandidate PACs to contribute up to $2,900 per candidate, per election for the 2021-2022 election cycle. (This represents a $100 increase over the limit in place for the 2020 elections.) Individuals and non-multicandidate PACs may also contribute up to $36,500 per year to a national party committee's traditional campaign account. The thresholds applicable to multicandidate PACs – e.g., the $5,000 per election limit on candidate contributions – remain unchanged, as Congress did not index these limits for inflation.
The FEC's announcement also raises both the coordinated party expenditure limits as well as the bundling reporting threshold for lobbyist contributions. As to the latter, federal campaign committees, federal leadership PACs, and federal political party committees are required to file FEC Form 3L if they receive two or more contributions bundled by federally registered lobbyists, registrants under the federal lobbying laws, or PACs controlled by either in excess of the indexed disclosure threshold within a reporting period. The indexed disclosure threshold for 2021 will now be $19,300.
The FEC's updated contribution limits chart is available here. The Federal Register notice is available here.
