Wyoming Advisory Opinions August 29, 1978: AGO 1978-033 (August 29, 1978)

AGO 1978-033.

The question concerns "total" contributions made by an individual, and not the amount which an individual may contribute to a candidate. It will be assumed that the question does not consider a candidate or the candidate's immediate family as the individual about which inquiry is made.

W.S. 22-25-102(b) reflects the potential for a candidate to solicit or receive funds from "a natural person, political party, or a political action committee or a candidates campaign committee."

W.S. 22-25-102(c) provides:

(c) Except as provided by W.S.22.1-389.2(d) [subsection (d) of this section], no natural person other than the candidate, or the candidate's immediate family shall contribute directly or indirectly, more than onethousand dollars ($1,000.00) during the two (2) year period consisting of ageneral election year and the preceding calendar year to any candidate forpolitical office, or to any candidate's campaign committee, nor make more than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000.00) total political contributions during the same two (2) year period. No candidate for politicaloffice shall accept, directly or indirectly, contributions which violate this subsection. Contributions to a candidate's campaign committee shall be considered to be contributions to the candidate. This subsection does notlimit political contributions by political parties, nor expenditures by acandidate from his or her own funds nor from his or her candidate's campaign committee funds. (emphasis supplied).

This section is plain in limiting political contributions by an individual to a candidate or a candidate's campaign committee in a 2 year period to $25,000. Obviously, the entire $25,000 may be contributed in a single year, if nothing is contributed in the other year. No distinction is made with reference to the "total" contributions between the candidate andpolitical parties or committees.

The next question then is whether or not the federal contribution law correlates with the state law, supersedes the state law, is subordinate to the state law, or is cumulative to the state law.

The total contribution figure in federal law could be different from that in state law. It happens that it is not -but either law can be changed to make them differ.

2 U.S.C. 441(a)(3) provides:

No individual shall make contributions aggregating more than $25,000 in any calendar year. For purposes of this paragraph, any contribution made to a candidate in a year other than the calendar year in which the election is held with respect to which such contribution is made, is considered to be made during the calendar year in which such election is held.

11 CFR 110.5(b)(2) of the Rules of the Federal Election Commission promulgated pursuant to the election laws provides:

An individual's contribution to a political committee in a non-election year shall not be attributable to the calendar year in which an election is held, as long as the political committee is not the principal campaign committee, or other authorized committee of a candidate, or a single candidate committee supporting the candidate and as long as the contribution is not otherwise designated for a particular election.

The committees referred to in this rule are the national political parties and the Senate and House campaign committees (each of which may receive up to $20,000 in a calendar year) and any other non-candidate committee (each of which may receive up to $5,000 in a calendar year). See 2 U.S.C. 441(a), (b) and (c), and 11 CFR 110.1(b) and (c).

The federal law specifically states that the candidates to which it applies are those who seek "nomination for election, or election, to federal office." 2 U.S.C. 431(b). It therefore does not apply to those seeking state office.

Article I, Section 4 of the United States Constitution provides that the times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives shall be prescribed in each state, but that Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations, except as to places of choosing Senators. The courts have held that pursuant thereto Congress has the paramount, and where it sees fit to exercise it, the exclusive power to regulate the conduct of congressional elections. United States v. Classic, 313 U.S. 299, 85 L. Ed. 1368, 61 S. Ct. 1031; Ex Parte Siebold, 100 U.S. 371, 25 L. Ed. 717.

The Wyoming Campaign Practices Act, W.S. 22-25-101 et seq., does not indicate a restriction in application to state candidates or committees, but it was enacted in 1977 subsequent to enactment of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 and the Wyoming legislature is presumed to have known that Congress had exercised its prerogative to exclusively legislate in this respect.

Accordingly, exclusive of possible contributions to political committees under federal law, an individual may make a total of $50,000 in political contributions during an election year ($25,000 to state candidates and $25,000 to federal candidates).

Note again that an individual is otherwise restricted in the amount which he can contribute to each candidate.