Decision Postponed on Election Spending

The Federal Election Commission on Thursday postponed for a week its discussion of a controversial advisory opinion that could affect independent groups that are raising money to use in the upcoming elections.

Many of the groups were formed last year after new campaign finance laws banned large donations to political parties.

The groups are known as 527s for the section of the tax code that applies to them. They are taking advantage of tax laws that allow them to solicit unlimited contributions from individuals. Such money is known as soft money.

The advisory opinion, written by FEC officials in response to a request from a group tied to Republicans, says in part that such 527 groups should come under the same rules as political committees if their main purpose was to promote or defeat a federal candidate. Democrats say such a move would hurt their efforts to defeat President Bush because it would impose contribution limits on their donors. They have already raised millions from wealthy donors across the country.

Commissioners took the item off the agenda after being inundated with letters about the issue.

One letter, signed by representatives of 324 nonprofit organizations, complained that the advisory opinion was an “unprecedented threat” to their advocacy and educational activities.

The Republican National Committee, however, wrote that outside groups “should not be able to circumvent the law by using the very same soft money that the parties now cannot raise to conduct the very same activities for which the political parties must now use only federal dollars.”