To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to eliminate the thresholds for reporting the identification of persons making contributions to political committees with respect to elections for Federal office.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMrs. Ramirez (for herself and Mr. Mullin) introduced the following …
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Campaign Transparency Act eliminates the current $200 threshold that allows small political donors to remain anonymous. Under existing law, campaigns only have to report the names and addresses of donors who give more than $200 total in a calendar year or election cycle. This bill requires all political committees—including candidate campaigns, PACs, and party committees—to publicly report every single donor, no matter how small the contribution.
Who Benefits and How
Transparency and good-government advocacy groups gain access to comprehensive donor information previously hidden below the reporting threshold. Media organizations and researchers obtain complete campaign finance data for analysis. Voters can see the full picture of who funds political campaigns, including previously anonymous small donors. Political opponents can identify all donor relationships to use in campaigns. Campaign compliance software companies and consultants benefit from increased demand for their services to handle the significantly larger volume of required filings.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Political committees face substantially increased administrative costs and workload from reporting every contribution, requiring more staff time and sophisticated software systems. Small donors who previously enjoyed anonymity when giving under $200 lose their privacy and may face potential harassment, unwanted solicitations, or employment retaliation based on their disclosed political affiliations. The Federal Election Commission must process, verify, and make publicly available millions of additional donor records without any specified increase in funding or staff.
Key Provisions
- Strikes the $200 aggregate threshold from three subsections of the Federal Election Campaign Act (Section 304(b)(3) subparagraphs A, F, and G)
- Requires political committees to report identification information for every person making any contribution, regardless of amount
- Applies to all reports filed with the FEC on or after the date of enactment
- Affects candidate committees, PACs, and party committees at the federal level
- No exemptions or exceptions for small donors seeking privacy
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Eliminates the $200 threshold for reporting contributor identification in federal election campaign finance reports, requiring disclosure of all contributions regardless of amount.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Increase campaign finance transparency by requiring disclosure of all donors, no matter how small their contribution, to reduce dark money and enhance public accountability"
Likely Beneficiaries
- Transparency advocates and good government groups
- Media organizations and researchers analyzing campaign finance
- Voters seeking information about campaign funding sources
- Political opponents who can identify all donor relationships
Likely Burden Bearers
- Political committees (candidates, PACs, party committees) facing increased reporting compliance costs
- Small donors who may lose anonymity and face potential harassment or retaliation
- Federal Election Commission facing increased data processing and storage requirements
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "fec"
- → Federal Election Commission (implied enforcement authority)
- "political_committees"
- → Political committees as defined in Federal Election Campaign Act
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
The primary federal law regulating campaign finance, specifically Section 304(b)(3) at 52 U.S.C. 30104(b)(3) governing contributor reporting requirements
Current law requires reporting contributor identification only for those whose aggregate contributions exceed $200 within a calendar year or election cycle; this bill eliminates that threshold entirely
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology