RL34630
Federal Funding of Presidential Nominating Conventions: Overview and Policy Options
August 22, 2008
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Summary
This report provides an overview and analysis of two recurring questions surrounding the federal government's role in financing presidential nominating conventions. First, how much public funding supports presidential nominating conventions? Second, what options exist for changing that amount if Congress chooses to do so? Both issues have generated controversy in the past and continue to be the subject of legislative debate. Four bills introduced in the 110th Congress propose changes to the structure or amounts of federal funds for presidential nominating conventions. Those bills (H.R. 72, H.R. 484, S. 436, and S. 2412) would affect Presidential Election Campaign Fund (PECF) convention grants. (Two other bills, H.R. 776 and H.R. 4294, would affect nonfederal convention funds.) Congress enacted one law (P.L. 110-161) in FY2008 that affected convention security funding with the appropriation of $100 million for the Democratic and Republican nominating conventions (each were allocated $50 million). This security funding is not provided to party convention committees but to the state and local law enforcement entities assisting in securing the convention sites. A total of approximately $133.6 million in federal funds has supported, or will support, the 2008 Democratic and Republican conventions. Such funding is provided through separate federal programs that support public financing of presidential campaigns and convention security. Some Members of Congress and others have objected to federal convention funding and have argued that the events should be entirely self-supporting. Others, however, contend that public funding is necessary to avoid real or apparent corruption in this aspect of the presidential nominating process. If Congress decides to revisit convention financing, a variety of policy options discussed in this report might present alternatives to current funding arrangements. Additional discussion of public financing of presidential campaigns appears in CRS Report RL34534, Public Financing of Presidential Campaigns, by R. Sam Garrett. For additional information on National Special Security Events, which include presidential nominating conventions, see CRS Report RS22754, National Special Security Events, by Shawn Reese. This report will be updated in the event of additional legislative activity concerning convention financing.
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Related Legislation:
- H.R.72
- H.R.484
- S.436
- S.2412
- H.R.776
- H.R.4294
- S.2275
