Selection of Top Union PACs
There numerous ways to gauge the size and power of Top Union PACs. Different criteria would yield a different lists of Top Union PACs. For this study, the ten Union PACs selected led in Political Disbursements in the 1995-96 election cycle.
Because there are strong similarities in the patterns among these Top Union PACs, it is not unreasonable to assume that the conclusions drawn from analyzing these Top Union PACs would be similar to conclusions about all Union PACs in general.

Please note that despite the pending merger between #2 National Education Association and #8 American Federation of Teachers, NLPC believed prudent to keep the two separate for this study. Had they been combined, the NEA-AFT PAC would still have been #2 and $2.2 million behind the #1 Teamsters in Political Disbursements, and the National Association of Letter Carriers' PAC would have become the #10 Union PAC in this study.

Ordering of Union PACs
The order of all PAC by PAC Charts and Tables is by the size of Political Disbursements in the 1995-96 cycle (See Chart 1B). Thus, the Teamsters are #1 in every Chart and Table because they led all Top Union PACs with $9.9 million in Political Disbursements in 1995-96. Likewise, the Communications Workers of America are #10 in every Chart and Table because they were the tenth largest with $2.3 million in Political Disbursements in 1995-96.

Selection of Data
To analyze these Top Union PACs, NLPC selected four different categories of data. In all cases the data was obtained from the year-end reports to the FEC (FORM 3X) by these Top Union PACs.

(1) Political Disbursements -- this category (Line 7 Column B on FEC FORM 3X) gives a comprehensive view of Top Union PACs' political activity during a given year. It goes beyond Direct Federal Candidate Contributions to itemize amount the PAC spends on other political activities such as transfers to political parties, independent expenditures, coordinated expenditures, loans, transfers to the unions' locals for political activity and direct non-federal candidate contributions.

(2) Cash on Hand -- this is an important statistic (Line 8 Column B on FEC FORM 3X) because it quantifies Top Union PACs' political "war chests" at the start of the election year.

(3) Political Receipts -- this category (Line 6C Column B on FEC FORM 3x) shows the income of the Top Union PACs. Sources for these receipts include itemized (over $200) and non-itemized (under $200) contributions to the Union PACs, as well as transfers from affiliated and other party committees. Virtually all of Top Union PACs' contributions come from their union members and union bosses.

(4) Direct Federal Candidate Contributions -- this item (Line 23 Column B on FEC FORM 3X) is included in the study because it tends to be the largest component of Political Disbursements. It contains contributions made directly to candidates for the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, as well as other federal political action committees.

Explanation of 1998 Estimates
To better understand where Top Union PACs are headed in the 1998 elections, NLPC believed it appropriate to estimate 1998 Top Union PAC activity based on the history of the off years of 1993, 1995 and 1997 and election years of 1994 and 1996. The 1998 estimate was obtained in each data category by finding the allocation percentage between the off year and election year in the 1993-94 and 1995-96 cycles. Once the mean trend was established, the 1997 figures were used to extend the trend of the 1993-94 and 1995-96 cycles into the 1997-98 cycle.

1998 Study on Top Union PACs