2006 coordinated party expenditure limits

The 2006 coordinated party expenditure limits are now available. They are:

• $39,600 for House nominees;¹ and
• between $79,200 to $2,093,800 for Senate nominees, depending on each state’s voting age population.

Party committees may make these special expenditures on behalf of their 2006 general election nominees. National party committees have a separate limit for each nominee, but they share their limits with their national senatorial and congressional committees. Each state party committee has a separate limit for each House and Senate nominee in its state. Local party committees do not have their own separate limit. One party committee may authorize another party committee to make an expenditure against its limit. Local committees may only make coordinated party expenditures with advance authorization from another committee.

Coordinated party expenditure limits are separate from the contribution limits; they also differ from contributions in that the party committee must spend the funds on behalf of the candidate rather than give the money directly to the campaign. Although these expenditures may be made in consultation with the candidate, only the party committee making the expenditure — not the candidate committee — must report them. Coordinated party expenditures are reported on FEC Form 3X, line 25, and are always itemized on Schedule F, regardless of amount.

The accompanying tables include:

• Information on which party committees have the authority to make coordinated party expenditures;
• The formula used to calculate the coordinated party expenditure limits; and
• A listing of the state-by-state coordinated party expenditure limits.

¹ In states that have only one U.S. House Representative, the coordinated party expenditure limit for the House nominee is $79,200, the same amount as the lowest Senate limit. In other states, the limit for each House nominee is $39,600.

Correction: This chart mistakenly identifies Rhode Island and Hawaii as states that have only one representative in the U.S. House. Both states actually have two House members. As such, the coordinated party expenditure limit for House nominees in those states is $39,600, rather than the $79,200 limit that applies to states with only one representative. The $79,200 limit listed for Senate nominees is correct.