House Rejects Bi-Partisan Effort to Shield Internet from Campaign Finance Laws

In a surprising vote, the House rejected a bipartisan effort to shield online communications from the strictures of campaign finance reform laws.

H.R. 1606, the Online Freedom of Speech Act, sponsored by Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), would have codified the current Federal Election Commission (FEC) regulation that exempts the Internet from campaign finance regulations, including the soft money provisions of the Bi-Partisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA). The current exemption was struck down by a federal court, and the FEC is now considering a new rule. On November 2, the bill failed (225-182) to get the 2/3 vote it needed to pass the House on the suspension calendar. (Under suspension rules, debate is limited to 40 minutes and no amendments are allowed. The process is generally used for non-controversial bills.)

Increased Regulation Coming if Congress Does Not Act
The Hensarling bill would have modified the definition of "public communications" in the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) to exempt communications over the Internet. BCRA amended FECA to prohibit political parties, federal candidate campaign committees, and other regulated political committees from using soft money to finance "public communications." Instead, these communications must be paid for with funds raised under the restrictions of campaign finance rules, which prohibit corporate contributions and limit individual contributions.

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