The American College of Surgeons Professional Association (ACSPA) and its political action committee (ACSPA-SurgeonsPAC) raised more than $460,000 from more than 1,100 individual members and College staff January 1–November 6. The SurgeonsPAC also disbursed more than $327,000 to more than 80 congressional candidates, leadership PACs, and political campaign committees. Distributions were made in line with congressional party ratios: 59 percent to Republicans and 41 percent to Democrats.
In addition to raising funds to elect and reelect congressional candidates who support a pro-surgeon, pro-patient agenda, ACSPA-SurgeonsPAC supported 12 physician members of Congress, and supporters and staff attended more than 160 fundraisers, candidate meetings, and health care industry events and organized several physician community events for key members of Congress and political campaign committees.
In addition to hosting events at the ACS Leadership and Advocacy Summit and annual Clinical Congress, the ACSPA-SurgeonsPAC conducted targeted fundraising campaigns and used other tools, including health professional PAC benchmarking, an annual dues insert, and peer-to-peer outreach to maintain and grow its contributor base. SurgeonsPAC supporters and staff also participated in the physician and dentist candidate workshop and in-district PAC check deliveries.
To learn more about SurgeonsPAC fundraising or disbursements, visit SurgeonsPAC.org (login required using facs.org username and password) or contact Katie Oehmen, Manager, ACSPA-SurgeonsPAC and Grassroots, at 202-672-1503 or koehmen@facs.org. For more information about the College’s legislative priorities, visit SurgeonsVoice.org.
Note
Contributions to ACSPA-SurgeonsPAC are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes. Contributions are voluntary, and all members of the ACSPA have the right to refuse to contribute without reprisal. Federal law prohibits ACSPA-SurgeonsPAC from accepting contributions from foreign nations. By law, if your contributions are made using a personal check or credit card, ACSPA-SurgeonsPAC may only use your contribution to support candidates in federal elections. All corporate contributions to ACSPA-SurgeonsPAC will be used for educational and administrative fees of ACSPA and other activities permissible under federal law. Federal law requires ACSPA-SurgeonsPAC to use its best efforts to collect and report the name, mailing address, occupation, and the name of the employer of individuals whose contributions exceed $200 in a calendar year. ACSPA-SurgeonsPAC is a program of the ACSPA, which is exempt from federal income tax under section 501c(6) of the Internal Revenue Code.
