Hill Committee Financial Transfers of Money to State Parties

Members of Congress have long used leadership PACs as a means of increasing their clout on Capitol Hill. Having a political action committee in addition to their individual campaign committees allows lawmakers to increase their prominence by raising additional money from corporations, individuals and interest groups and then doling it out as they choose to assist their party's candidates.

For example, House Majority Leader Tom Delay, R-Texas, raises money for his own reelection through the Tom Delay Congressional Committee. He also maintains the Americans for a Republican Majority leadership committee, or ARMPAC.

Delay raised $1.35 million and spent $1.27 million on his race during the 2001-2002 election cycle, through the Tom Delay Congressional Committee, and also raised $3.3 million and spent $3.4 million in additional federal money through his leadership committee, ARMPAC. That money was used to influence elections across the country— ARMPAC's FEC filings disclose transfers to the campaign accounts of a panoply of Republican candidates—and all of it at his discretion. For the dozens of federal lawmakers with their own leadership committees, the rules are the same: every one must report details of his leadership PAC to the Federal Election Commission, which oversees a single set of campaign finance laws. In December 2003, the FEC formally recognized and approved the practice allowing one officeholder to maintain two fundraising committees.