Jan Baran and Michael Toner Discuss Spending Bill’s Campaign Finance Proposal

Wiley Rein partners Jan Witold Baran and Michael E. Toner, who co-chair the firm’s Election Law & Government Ethics Practice, spoke with The Wall Street Journal for yesterday’s article about a congressional proposal to raise the caps on contributions individuals can make to national political parties.

The provision, part of a spending package negotiated by U.S. lawmakers, calls for a tenfold increase in the maximum individual contribution to national party committees during an election cycle.

Mr. Toner, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, estimated that the measure, if passed, would add tens of millions of new dollars to election spending.  Mr. Baran said it would also be a boon for transparency, because political parties are required to disclose their donors—unlike nonprofit outside groups that spend money on elections.

“Getting the party committees more money allows them to be more effective in politics and to do so in a very open, disclosed manner,” Mr. Baran said.

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