Stop Super PAC-Candidate Coordination Act: Triples Fines, Holds Directors Personally Liable for Campaign Finance Violations

This bill, officially titled the Stop Super PAC-Candidate Coordination Act, is essentially a major overhaul of how campaign finance law views the relationship between candidates and the massive independent spending groups known as Super PACs. Its core purpose is to tighten the rules so that spending by these outside groups is more likely to be classified as a direct contribution to the candidate if any coordination occurs. If passed, it immediately treats any payment made for a coordinated expenditure as a contribution to the candidate, closing a significant loophole.

The New Definition of “Coordinated”

Right now, there's a gray area where Super PACs can spend huge amounts of money supporting a candidate, claiming it’s “independent” even if they share consultants or strategy. This bill significantly shrinks that gray area. It creates a detailed, multi-point test to determine coordination, focusing on who is running the show. For instance, if a group is managed by someone who was a paid advisor to the candidate within the last four years, or if they hire consultants who worked for the candidate in the last two years, that group’s spending is automatically flagged as highly suspicious and likely coordinated. This means if you’re a high-demand campaign consultant, you’ll have a much harder time jumping ship to work for a Super PAC supporting your former client without triggering a violation. The bill is trying to make sure that the people who helped craft the candidate’s strategy aren’t immediately turning around and running the “independent” spending effort.

The Cost of Getting Caught: Personal Liability

If you think campaign finance fines are just a slap on the wrist for big organizations, think again. This bill introduces massive penalties for knowingly and willfully violating the coordination rules. The fine is calculated as the greater of 300% of the amount that exceeded the legal contribution limit, or 300% of the total coordinated payment if the group wasn't allowed to contribute anything in the first place. But here’s the real kicker: the bill explicitly states that any director, manager, or officer of the violating entity will be held jointly and individually responsible for paying any unpaid portion of that penalty one year after the fine is imposed. This means the people running the organization could personally lose their houses and savings if the organization can’t pay the triple fine. It turns what was often a corporate penalty into a serious personal risk.

Where Candidates Can’t Tread

Beyond the coordination rules, the bill also clarifies the boundaries for federal candidates and officeholders when it comes to fundraising. Effective for all elections after January 1, 2026, federal officials are explicitly banned from asking for, taking, or transferring money to any political committee or organization that accepts donations that violate federal campaign finance rules. This is aimed squarely at preventing candidates from using their influence to fundraise for Super PACs that operate outside of standard federal contribution limits, reinforcing the separation between the candidate’s official campaign and the outside spending groups.

The Trade-Off: Clarity vs. Chilling Effect

While the goal of limiting the influence of dark money and coordinated spending is clear, the bill’s broad language could create headaches for legitimate advocacy groups. The coordination rules state that while discussing your position on a policy issue with a candidate isn't coordination, if those discussions touch on the candidate’s messaging, polling, or resource allocation, coordination can be found. For non-profits or issue advocacy groups that regularly talk to politicians about legislative strategy, this could create a serious chilling effect. They might pull back from communicating with candidates altogether near an election to avoid the risk of accidentally triggering a finding of coordination and that terrifying 300% fine. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has a tight 90-day deadline to write new rules reflecting these changes, but the new coordination standards kick in after just 120 days, potentially creating a brief period of regulatory uncertainty.