The super PAC and its lesser-known sidekick.

• Author: Finegan, Cole
• Position: GUEST column - Political action committees

YOU CAN'T AVOID THE ARTICLES, TWEETS, blogs and posts this election season about the omnipotent - Super PAC" the unscrupulous spawn of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision and how an unprecedented amount elf money is pouring into these PACs to deluge voters with negative ads that will unquestionably influence the outcome of the presidential race and federal elections nationwide.

But little is said about the rise or Super PACs at the state level. In the wake of Citizens United.. many states, including Colorado. passed legislation creating state-based Super PACs with the same unlettered fundraising abilities to give major donors even greater leverage. Whether state or federal, the Super PAC: is the choice du jour for big-money campaigning this election, and it warrants a quick tutorial.

A Super PAL is literally a PAC with super powers. Stripped of its powers, it is just a "PAC" or non-connected political action committee, which is an organization regulated by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) that receives contributions and makes expenditures for the purpose of influencing a federal election. In Colorado, PACs formed to influence state elections are regulated by the secretary of state.

Although the rules vary somewhat between federal and state, in general PACs are free to engage ill any type of campaign activity, Im11 and this is a critical point they must raise funds (miler a strict contribution cap of just $5,000 (federal) and $550 (state respectively. Additionally. traditional federal PACs are prohibited from accepting contributions from corporations and unions. engage in political activities, a corporation or union had to establish a PAC "connected" to the entity and could only raise funds From a "restricted class" of stockholders and executive or administrative personnel. A Super PAC, is tree From these restrictions. and has the "super power" to raise awl spend unlimited funds from unlimited sources so long as it does riot coordinate with candidates.

So when. did these super powers conic from? In 2010, the Supreme Court concluded in the now-infamous Citizens United case that federal laws barring corporations and unions from spending their own funds to influence elections violated the First Amendment. In so concluding, the Gourt reasoned that pendent spending (titan is, speeding not coordinated with candidates) could not corrupt the political pro cess and, therefore, there was no legitimate government interest in regulating...