Just in the last few weeks, I have had multiple clients approach me about starting New Jersey Super PACs. In two cases, the client asked if there was a place I could point them to for further background reading. I was forced to tell those clients that there isn’t a good public overview of a New Jersey Super PAC. For next time, those clients will have this column to review.

A Super PAC is the common name for an Independent Expenditure Only Committee. As we have discussed in this column previously, an independent expenditure is an expenditure made by an individual, corporation, trade association, or political entity that:

· Advocates for the election or defeat or a candidate; and

· Is made without the cooperation or prior consent of, or in consultation with or at the request or suggestion of, a candidate or any person or committee acting on behalf of a candidate.

In other words, an independent expenditure must not be coordinated with a candidate or his or her agents.

While an individual or business entity can make their own independent expenditures with their own funds, it is also possible for a group of people to work together to raise money and use those funds only for the making of independent expenditures. This entity is called an Independent Expenditure Only Committee, or Super PAC.

Under US Supreme Court guidance, so long as the Super PAC makes only independent expenditures—and makes no contributions to candidates, either through direct monetary contributions or through coordinated activity—the Super PAC is able to raise unlimited amounts of money from permitted contributors and may spend unlimited amounts of money on making independent expenditures to support or oppose candidates.

A Super PAC that is active to support or oppose New Jersey candidates must register with the Election Law Enforcement Commission, and must file quarterly reports that show the money coming in and out. (Similar registration and reporting requirements apply for Super PACs in other states, with their respective election authorities.) In particular, for any contribution received by the Super PAC that exceeds $300 per calendar year, the ELEC filing must report in detail the name and address of the contributor and, if the contributor is an individual, the contributor’s employer and occupation. Similarly, any expenditure made by the Super PAC—including for political communications, operating expenses, and compliance costs—must be reported in detail on the ELEC reports.

The benefit of a Super PAC for political practitioners is that, provided that an expenditure is truly independent and not coordinated with the candidates or their agents, New Jersey’s contribution limits and pay-to-play eligibility restrictions do not apply.

But, as described above, a Super PAC is not the wild west of campaign-finance. Every political expenditure still needs to contain a Paid-For Line so that the public understands who is responsible for the communication. The money raised and spent by the Super PAC must all be disclosed in the public ELEC reports. Most important, a Super PAC may not coordinate its activities with any candidate or agent of a candidate. Should this type of prohibited coordination occur, the Super PAC’s permissible activity will be transformed into in-kind contributions that are subject to contribution limits—and in most cases, campaign-finance violations will result.

Avi D. Kelin is Counsel in Genova Burns LLC’s Corporate Political Activity Law Practice Group and Chair of the firm’s Autonomous Vehicle Law Practice.

This column is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended and should not be construed as legal advice. It is recommended that readers not rely on this column, but that professional advice be sought for individual matters.