By Avi D. Kellin and Julia Pudimott

Under the Elections Transparency Act, which was enacted in April 2023, contribution limits for all candidates and committees are subject to inflation adjustments in odd-numbered years. The 2027 inflation adjustment is set to go into effect on January 1, 2027.

What this means is that, starting January 1, contribution limits for essentially all New Jersey state and local candidates and committees will go up. The following chart summarizes the new limits that apply to contributions made from individuals, corporations, unions, associations, candidate committees, and political committees:

Political party committees, PACs (CPCs), and legislative leadership committees that follow the calendar year as the reporting period will simply have a higher limit on January 1, 2027, when each contributor’s limits re-set to $0 for the new calendar year. For political party committees with housekeeping accounts, those housekeeping accounts may in 2027 accept additional contributions of $42,000 per calendar year, an increase from the current level of $39,500 (by law, the limit for a housekeeping account is half of the limit for the general account).

For candidates, whose limits apply on a per-election basis, the increase will apply to the next election. For example, an Assembly candidate who is running in the 2027 primary will be able to accept an additional $300 from a contributor who had maxed out in 2026 once the increase goes into effect on January 1. (This means that candidates running in the 2027 primary election will be able to again solicit from all contributors to reach the new maximum.) Then the new $5,800 limit will be in place from the start of the 2027 general election.

In addition, ELEC is applying inflation adjustments to 24/72-hour reporting and independent-expenditure reporting for spenders using their own funds (in 2027, the threshold will increase from $300 to $400 for both categories).

The new limits that will be in place in a few months highlight the importance for each individual, business, union, and political organization to keep accurate and complete records of their political contributions. Understanding election cycles, contribution dates, and now biennial shifts in contribution limits will make the difference between a legally permissible political contribution and one that exceeds legal limits.

Compliance Tip: Even though the general campaign-finance limits are increasing in January, these adjustments do NOT apply to the contribution reporting threshold of $200 per reporting period. This means that contributors who wish to stay under the reportable threshold—which necessitates reporting of detailed contributor information on a recipient’s campaign-finance reports—must stay at $200 or less per election for a candidate and $200 or less per calendar year for a political party committee, PAC (CPC), or legislative leadership committee.

Avi D. Kelin is a partner of PEM Law LLP, and chairs the firm’s Political Law and Non-Profit Law practices. He helps businesses, organizations, individuals, and political organizations to influence policy while complying with the law.

Julia Pudimott is an associate at PEM Law LLP. She focuses her practice on commercial litigation, election law, and political law.

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.