527 group

A 527 group, named after a section of the United States tax code, is a tax-exempt organization that is created primarily to influence the nomination, election, appointment or defeat of candidates for public office. Although candidate committees and political action committees are also created under Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code, the term is generally used to refer to political organizations which are not regulated by the Federal Election Commission or a state elections commission and not subject to the same contribution limits as PACs.

Related Topics:
United States - Tax code - Tax - Nomination - Election - Political action committee - Federal Election Commission

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A 527 group is permitted to be exempt from federal expenditures. Anyhow, these unregulated contributions are frequently abused. Because 527 organizations are not regulated by the Federal Elections Commission, they may not make expenditures to directly advocate the election or defeat of any candidate for federal elective office.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Many 527s are run by special interest groups and used to raise unlimited amounts of money to spend on issue advocacy and voter mobilization. The line between issue advocacy and candidate advocacy is the source of heated debate and litigation.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Examples of 527s include Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, Texans for Truth, The Media Fund, America Coming Together, the Moveon.org Voter Fund, the Progress for America Voter Fund, and the November Fund.

Related Topics:
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth - Texans for Truth - The Media Fund - America Coming Together - Moveon.org - Progress for America Voter Fund - November Fund

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

During April of 2004, the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) held hearings to determine whether or not 527s should be regulated under campaign finance rules; see campaign finance reform for additional details. In May, they decided to delay any ruling for an additional 90 days, almost certainly pushing it to past the 2004 presidential election.

Related Topics:
2004 - Federal Elections Commission - Campaign finance - Campaign finance reform - 2004 presidential election

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

See also: Political action committee, 501(c)(4)

Related Topics:
Political action committee - 501(c)(4)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~