Candidates and political committees in Massachusetts are subject to strict reporting requirements, which are spelled out in Chapter 55 of the Massachusetts General Laws. Candidates can receive no more than $500.00 from any given individual per year. This annual limit of $500.00 also applies to contributions from an individual to a political action committee (PAC).
An individual can give up to $5,000.00 annually to a state party (e.g. Democratic State Committee/Republican State Committee/Green Rainbow State Committee) but each year an individual can contribute no more than $12,500.00 in aggregate to all state, county, and municipal candidates, and political committees.
There is no limit on the amount an individual may contribute to a ballot question committee, nor is there a limit on how much of her own money an individual can spend on her own campaign for office.
A candidate committee can give no more than $100.00 to another candidate committee per calendar year, and the annual limit on committee-to-committee contributions of this sort is $1,500.00.
Public employees cannot solicit contributions and no one can ask for contributions in public facilities, e.g. town halls, public libraries, and state colleges.
A registered lobbyist can contribute no more than $200.00 per year to a candidate, and corporations (both for-profit and non-profit) can make no contributions at all, including in-kind contributions such as goods, equipment, personnel, and facilities. Unincorporated labor unions are not subject to any such ban.
In 1973, Massachusetts created the Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF). This independent agency administers the Commonwealth’s campaign contribution and spending laws, receives and maintains disclosure reports, and oversees the limited public campaign financing system.
Contributions must go into designated depository banks, which report the data directly to OCPF. In addition, candidates and committees must disclose the contributions they receive and the expenditures they make. Section 18C mandates the electronic filing of this information for certain candidates and committees.
The purpose of a candidate committee’s expenditures must be the “enhancement of the political future of the candidate… so long as such expenditure is not primarily for the candidate’s or any other person’s personal use.” The applicable regulation is 970 CMR 2.05 which details the permissible and impermissible use of funds.
Online Contributions : Candidates and committees that accept online contributions need to comply with the revised memorandum the OCPF issued on October 19, 2006 (M-04-01). The memorandum explains the relevant regulations regarding contributions via credit and debit card, 970 CMR 1.09. It describes special rules relating to Paypal, an online company that allows people to make contributions via the Internet.
Paypal does not ask contributors for certain kinds of personal information that candidates and committees have to report under Massachusetts law. For example, if an individual contributes more than $200.00 to a candidate, the candidate must report the name and address of that individual’s employer. So OCPF requires that “political committees that use Paypal must also use their own website to screen contributions and obtain the required information before allowing a contributor to proceed to the Paypal page to actually make a contribution.”
Matching funds : Chapter 55C provides limited matching funds for candidates running for statewide office. Revenue for the State Election Campaign Fund comes from a voluntary check-off on the Massachusetts resident income tax return. In dispensing the public funds, OCPF has to give the gubernatorial candidates priority (Chapter 10, Section 42A).
A candidate may qualify for 1:1 matching funds (one dollar of public money for each dollar of private money) if she gathers a certain number of contributions and agrees to spending limits. Only the first $250.00 of a contribution is matchable.
The spending limit and the number and amount of contributions depend on the office. For example, the dollar amount of qualifying contributions has to reach $75,000.00 for a gubernatorial candidate and $15,000.00 for a candidate running for secretary of the commonwealth. In the state primary the spending limit for governor is $1,500,00.00; for secretary of the commonwealth the limit is $375,00.00. There is a ceiling on the amount of public money a candidate may receive, e.g. in the primary $750,000.00 for a gubernatorial candidate and $187,500.00 for a candidate for secretary of the commonwealth.
If there is not enough money in the Fund to distribute to all the candidates, the disappointed candidates have no legal recourse. A candidate cannot sue the Commonwealth to compel it to pay if the Fund is empty.