Mark Kelly (D-AZ)

Ban Corporate PACs Act

S. 2515 · Senate bill Government Operations and Politics

A Democratic bill with 3 Democratic cosponsors · See all 3 cosponsors

Last activity — Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.

In committee

Introduced and handed to a committee in the chamber it started in.

The committee holds it, and most bills are never heard from again. A hearing or a committee vote would be news; silence is the usual outcome, and it kills the bill without anyone voting against it.

Its path through Congress

  1. Introduced
  2. In Committee

What this bill would do

This bill is called the Ban Corporate PACs Act. It amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to limit the authority of corporations to establish and operate separate segregated funds for political purposes. Under the text, only nonprofit corporations will have the authority to establish and operate these political funds. The bill also restricts the solicitation of contributions so that contributions can only be requested from executive and administrative personnel. Furthermore, the text applies similar nonprofit limitations to government contractors regarding political funds. Finally, existing political funds that do not belong to a nonprofit corporation are required to terminate and disburse their entire balance within one year.

Yes· 3 of 4

  • Scored +8

    Does this limit or expose the money behind campaigns?

    The legislation directly amends federal campaign finance laws to restrict political fund creation solely to nonprofits.

  • Scored +5

    Does this make elections run better?

    Supporters view limiting corporate PACs as a positive step toward reducing for-profit influence in elections.

  • Scored +3

    Does this limit the influence of paid lobbyists?

    Restricting for-profit corporate political funds curtails a major avenue of corporate influence in the political process.

The opposite· 3 of 6

  • Scored -6

    Would business owners be better off under this?

    For-profit business owners lose the authority to establish and operate corporate political action committees.

  • Scored -5

    Would billionaires be better off under this?

    Billionaires and major corporate stakeholders lose access to corporate-sponsored political funds.

  • Scored -4

    Would high-income households be better off under this?

    High-income individuals and stockholders lose their ability to be solicited for and contribute through for-profit corporate PACs.