Massachusetts campaign finance regulators have reduced the amount of money unions can contribute to political candidates, ending the controversial “union loophole.”
As of May 31, a union or nonprofit will no longer be able to donate up to $15,000 to a single candidate, party or PAC.
Instead, unions will only be allowed to donate up to $1,000 per candidate, $5,000 to a party and $500 to a PAC — the same limits that apply to individual donors.
For years, the Office of Campaign and Political Finance allowed the higher limits for unions based on an interpretive bulletin. But after business owners tied to the conservative Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance sued over the regulation, the Supreme Judicial Court urged the state to reconsider that limit through the traditional rulemaking process.
