Prior Authorization

Per Federal Election Commission (FEC) regulations, a corporate member company of ABC must first provide ABC PAC with prior authorization before any individual in its restricted class can contribute or be solicited.

Political action committees (PACs) of corporate trade associations like ABC (which has corporate members, not individual members) must first receive permission from a member company's ABC primary contact prior to accepting or soliciting a PAC contribution. Only an individual (or immediate family members) in the "restricted class" of an ABC member company whose company has given prior authorization is eligible to contribute to ABC PAC.

The "restricted class" of a member company is defined as "the company's executive and administrative personnel or their families." Executive and administrative personnel are paid on a salary and have policy-making, managerial, professional, or supervisory responsibilities.

ABC PAC Prior Authorization Form

Before an individual in the "restricted class" can be asked to contribute to ABC PAC, his or her company's ABC primary contact must have completed an ABC PAC Prior Authorization Form.

The primary contact is defined as the representatives of the corporation with whom the trade association normally conducts the association's activities. At times, this may be the Vice President or Director of Business Relations not a company’s President or Owner.

Please note there are multiple years listed at the bottom of the form. ABC PAC allows member companies to grant up to six years of prior authorization by signing next to the respective year(s). This alleviates the primary contact from having to sign the form each year should they choose to sign all six years.

In the middle of the form, you will notice the statement: “The company may not approve a solicitation by any other trade association for these years.” Federal election law states that a corporate member company of a trade association can only give prior authorization to one trade association PAC per year. By including this on the form, ABC PAC is doing its best effort and due diligence to keep its contributors in compliance. This statement is required by law. If a member company does give prior authorization to more than one trade association PAC in a year, it is doing so at its own risk.