Public Finance Law

Focuses on financing activities of state and local governments. All forms of public borrowing, including bonds and notes, taxation of interest paid on state and local government obligations, and all forms of state and local taxation, including special assessments.

In 1975, Congress created the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to administer and enforce the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) - the statute that governs the financing of federal elections. The duties of the FEC, which is an independent regulatory agency, are to disclose campaign finance information, to enforce the provisions of the law such as the limits and prohibitions on contributions, and to oversee the public funding of Presidential elections.

Public Finance and Public Policy are interrelated studies and policy matters constructed by the government of a country. Public Policy is a set of interrelated decisions taken by a public authority, backed up by the common conscience of the citizens, for addressing a problem expressed through contemporary laws, regulations and consequent government actions and inactions.

Public finance law refers to legislation and regulations relating to the financial activities of government or public sector organizations. Public finance laws govern the funding and adminstatration of specific governmental activities including the sale and purchase of various types of bonds.

This industry classification includes government establishments primarily engaged in financial administration and taxation, including monetary policy; tax administration; collection, custody, and disbursement of funds; debt and investment administration; government employee retirement and other trust funds; and the like.

One strategy for analyzing government public policy is to trace the legislative history of a public law or program. Reading the primary documents created during the legislative process will help you determine the problem or issue Congress was addressing and the intent of Congress when it passed the bill or created the program. The process of studying legislative materials is sometimes referred to as tracing or compiling a legislative history. This guide provides a step-by-step procedure for finding primary legislative documents. It takes the legislative history one step further and includes information on finding regulations and secondary source material.

The Campaign Legal Center is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization which works in the areas of campaign finance and elections, political communication and government ethics. The Legal Center offers nonpartisan analyses of issues and represents the public interest in administrative, legislative and legal proceedings. The Legal Center also participates in generating and shaping our nation's policy debate about money in politics, disclosure, political advertising, and enforcement issues before the Congress, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Federal Election Commission (FEC) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Celebrating our 25th anniversary in 2008, the Center for Responsive Politics is the nation's premier research group tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy. Nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit, the organization aims to create a more educated voter, an involved citizenry and a more responsive government. In short, CRP's mission is to: * Inform citizens about how money in politics affects their lives * Empower voters and activists by providing unbiased information * Advocate for a transparent and responsive government

The purpose of the Government Finance Officers Association is to enhance and promote the professional management of governments for the public benefit by identifying and developing financial policies and practices and promoting them through education, training and leadership.

The National Institute on Money in State Politics is the only nonpartisan, nonprofit organization revealing the influence of campaign money on state-level elections and public policy in all 50 states. Our comprehensive and verifiable campaign-finance database and relevant issue analyses are available for free through our Web site FollowTheMoney.org. We encourage transparency and promote independent investigation of state-level campaign contributions by journalists, academic researchers, public-interest groups, government agencies, policymakers, students and the public at large.

The American Constitution Society for Law and Policy (ACS) is one of the nation's leading progressive legal organizations. Founded in 2001, ACS is a rapidly growing network of lawyers, law students, scholars, judges, policymakers and other concerned individuals.

The most important source of government revenue is taxes, but sale of public properties and franchises, as well as the sale of interest-bearing bonds, also contribute. Since the Korean War, a large part of governmental expenditures has gone for various military and defense needs. Other important areas of governmental expenditure are health, education, and welfare (the Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid programs); interest on the national debt; and public works. Important institutions of international finance are the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Monetary Fund.

WSJ on the cases, trends and personalities of interest to the business community.

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