The House Administration Committee scheduled a Nov. 11 hearing to investigate the ways in which political action committees (PACs) are using soft money after passage of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA). Chair Bob Ney (R-OH) issued a news release saying, “In recent months, many of us in the Congress have watched with increasing concern as organizations have been formed in the wake of BCRA with the apparent intent of using soft money to influence federal elections -- something which the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act purported to ban.” Ney, who opposed BCRA, seems confused over its meaning. BCRA bans soft money contributions to political parties, not nonprofit PACs. It does require PACs to report contributions and expenditures that expressly advocate election or defeat of a federal candidate (hard money) to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). However, PACs can raise and spend soft money that does not expressly advocate election or defeat, but does seek to impact the outcome of federal elections. These expenditures and donors must be reported to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which has set up a special website that makes this information publicly available, in a searchable format. The Nov. 20 hearing did not proceed because six Democratic leaning groups refused to attend, claiming the hearing was politically motivated and unprecedented. Ellen Malcolm, president of America Coming Together, said the hearing was “a blatant, taxpayer-financed-attempt -- through innuendo and false charges -- to try and discredit legitimate grass roots, political organizations who have a different agenda than the Republican majority in the House.” Steve Rosenthal of the Partnership for America’s Families called the hearing a “misuse of political power” aimed at forcing his group to reveal its political strategy. Other groups that refused to testify include American Family Voices, America Votes, the New House PAC and the Democratic Senate Majority Fund. Several Republican leaning groups, including the Leadership Forum and Americans for a Better Country, did attend the hearing, but were excused by the chair when the other groups did not show. Instead of conducting the hearing, the committee voted 4-3 along party lines to grant Ney subpoena authority for the individuals asked to testify and anyone else Ney believes has information relevant to the committee’s investigation. A Ney spokesperson said he would not issue subpoenas immediately. Rep. John Larson (D-CT), the committee’s ranking Democrat, said the open-ended authority could have a chilling effect on the groups’ activities. Meanwhile, the IRS is planning a new compliance program to ensure that soft money PACs are making required disclosures. The plan will be implemented in the spring of 2004 and include efforts to validate filed reports and identify groups that are failing to file as required by the 2000 “Stealth PAC” law.