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.
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
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 generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Eliminates the $200 threshold for reporting contributor identification in federal election campaign finance reports, requiring disclosure of all contributions regardless of amount.
Who Benefits
- Transparency advocates and good government groups
- Media organizations and researchers analyzing campaign finance
- Voters seeking information about campaign funding sources
Who Bears Costs
- 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
Key Policy Areas
Campaign Finance, Political Transparency, Elections
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"
Identified Gains
- 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
Identified Costs
- 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
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMrs. Ramirez (for herself and Mr. Mullin) introduced the following …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Political committees (candidate committees, PACs, party committees)
Campaign finance compliance software and consulting services
Small political donors (contributing under $200)
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