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Small children, big political donations
March 1, 1999 WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, March 1) -- In a new campaign finance trend, some youngsters who are not old enough to vote or drive are donating generously to candidates, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times. Children and high school and college students gave a total of $7.5 million in political donations between 1991 and 1998, according to a Times study of federal election records. In many cases, the children's donations came on the same day or about the same time their parents contributed the maximum amount allowed under federal law. That has led some campaign-finance experts to dub the practice "family bundling" and say that student giving has become another way affluent donors can circumvent federal limits. "This is an area of great abuse where you have the absurd situation of small children supposedly contributing their own money to a candidate of their own choice," Donald J. Simon, executive vice president of the watchdog group Common Cause, told the Times. "Obviously, in many cases, what's going on is simply a way for the parents to beat the contribution limits." There is no minimum age for donors in federal law, but the law does require that the funds be "owned or controlled exclusively" by contributors and that they give "knowingly and voluntarily." Parents are specifically barred from giving money to their children to make political donations. The Times located youngsters as young as 7, 9 and 10 who made hefty contributions. One 7-year-old gave $1,000 to a candidate, and one 9-old-made three, $1,000 contributions to candidates. The Times reported that the Federal Election Commission has only closed four cases related to contributions by minors, and imposed one fine against a former Maryland state senator whose son made his first contribution at the age of 18 months. The Times analysis, conducted for the newspaper by the independent Campaign Study Group of Springfield, Virginia, shows that young contributors are giving increasingly large amounts to federal candidates and campaign committees. Student contributors gave nearly $2.6 million for the 1996 presidential elections, a 45 percent hike over 1992. |
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