Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act

The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, often called the McCain-Feingold Act after its lead Senate sponsors John McCain and Russ Feingold, was passed by the 107th United States Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush on March 26, 2002. It amended the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to restrict the large, unregulated soft money contributions that political parties had been raising, and it limited corporate and union funded advertisements that mentioned a federal candidate close to an election. The Stand by Your Ad provision of the act required candidates to personally approve their own political advertisements, which produced the now familiar spoken disclaimer that a candidate approves the message. New contribution limits under the act took effect on January 1, 2003.