…I’ve tried looking it up, but all I get is gobbledygook.
Background: I am an employee of a federal contractor, working on a contract with a government agency. However, I am utterly uninvolved, and in fact firewalled from any contract dealings whatsoever. I am a cube-dwelling rank and file employee, period.
I know that “federal contractors” aren’t allowed to make political contributions, and I think that’s a good thing, for obvious reasons. However, can individual employees of federal contractors with no dealmaking authority or even possiblity of having the type of access to make deals make political contributions? (assuming it’s under $200)
In fact, federal contractors (as well as all kinds of companies and industries) usually establish Political Action Committees (PAC) so that employees can contribute to the PAC and the PAC can lobby and contribute to campaigns. Individual contributions to the PAC are limited to $5000.
I used to work for CSC and they operate a PAC. They gently prod employees to contribute but there are pretty strict rules against requiring employees to contribute and prohibiting retribution for non-contributors. But they do their best to make you feel like it’s your duty to contribute, especially if you’re a manager.
I am not a lawyer, not your lawyer, and will probably misspell lawyer at least once in this post. But I had exactly the same question when I went to buy tickets for a campaign rally. The ticket price was technically a campaign donation. I asked my boss if I could buy the tickets, since I work for a government contractor. She said it was OK. She has done the same thing, and she owns the company. I bought the tickets, and have yet to hear from the Campaign Finance Police.
That may not be a good clue as to the real legality of this. I hear the Campaign Finance Police are just getting around to auditing the Kennedy-Nixon election …
The restrictions on federal, and some state and local public sector employees are covered by the Hatch Act. If most federal employees can make personal political contributions, it stands to reason federal contractors would probably be held to the same, or a less restrictive standard.