Pat Meehan: “It is clear under Federal election law that only hard money can be used to pay off a loan that was used for hard money…”

“It is clear under Federal election law that only hard money can be used to pay off a loan that was used for hard money expenditures. There is nothing in the Shays-Meehan Substitute that would supersede the current Federal law. Under this section, soft money funds on hand after the election could only be used to pay off debts or obligations used for soft money expenditures. That is the law. One of the great things I have really enjoyed is working with my colleague, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ney), on campaign finance reform. I was just so disappointed, after debating the Ney bill with him over the last year, that when it came time to put in a substitute, we did not get the Ney bill. I was looking forward to that.”