FEC Certifies Public Funds for Bush-Cheney Ticket

WASHINGTON –The Federal Election Commission today unanimously approved payment of $74.620 million in federal funds for the general election campaign of President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

  Following certification of the request for funds, the FEC immediately notified the U.S. Treasury Department, which will make the wire transfer to the Bush-Cheney campaign.

  The Bush-Cheney campaign requested the funding in a letter to the Commission dated September 2, in which the candidates agreed to abide by the overall spending limit (there are no state-by-state limits) and to other legal requirements, including a post-campaign audit. Under Commission regulations, the FEC has 10 days to act on a request from the time the campaign satisfies all legal conditions.

  By law, the presidential nominees of both major parties are each entitled to $20 million, plus a cost-of-living adjustment (over 1974.) The following are the amounts given to major party nominees for each of the six previous federally funded presidential elections:

The grant has been requested and approved for every major party general election nominee since 1976, the first election to be publicly funded.

  Presidential candidates accepting the federal grant are subject to a spending limit of $74.620 million, the amount of the subsidy, plus a combined personal spending limit of $50,000 from their personal funds. (All expenditures made by or on behalf of a vice-presidential candidate are considered to be made on behalf of the presidential candidate.) Additional funds may be raised, subject to the limits and prohibitions of the Federal Election Campaign Act, for legal and accounting expenses [referred to as GELAC accounts.]

  The RNC has an additional coordinated spending limit of $16,249,699, which it may spend in conjunction with the Bush-Cheney campaign. The monies must be raised from private sources, subject to the limits and prohibitions of the statute, and must be reported by the party.

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