Progress for America

Progress for America (PFA) (a 501(c)(4)) and its affiliate Progress for America Voter Fund (PFA-VF) (a 527 committee) are national tax-exempt organizations in the United States. PFA was established in 2001 to support George W. Bush's "agenda for America". The PFA Voter Fund, which was set up in 2004, raised US$38 million in support of Bush's 2004 election bid.

PFA was registered as a 501(c)(4) group in February 2001 by Tony Feather, a political director of the Bush-Cheney 2000 campaign and partner at DCI Group as well as at the affiliated telemarketing and fundraising firm of Feather Larson Synhorst-DCI (FLS-DCI). Feather set up PFA as a “grassroots organization that mobilizes the public to contact their members of Congress about pending legislation and to write local newspapers to publicize the White House’s agenda,” the Center for Public Integrity wrote in 2002. During the first part of the Bush Administration, it led campaigns to support tax cuts, conservative judicial appointments and energy legislation.

Feather told the Washington Post in August 2002 that PFA was simply a vehicle for building grassroots support for Bush Administration policies. However others said it was intended to accept soft money donations which political parties were barred from accepting starting in 2002. Feather left PFA in 2003 after receiving a legal opinion that his involvement with it and the Bush-Cheney campaign could violate regulations barring coordination between the entities.

On July 21, 2004, complaints were filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) by Democracy 21, the Campaign Legal Center, and the Center for Responsive Politics. The Complaints charged that Progress for America Voter Fund (PFA-VF) was illegally raising and spending soft money to influence the 2004 presidential elections.

On February 28, 2007 the Federal Election Commission (FEC) reached a settlement with Progress for America related to its activities in 2004. In the 2004 election cycle, the Fund had raised US$45 million. Under the terms of the settlement, PFA-VF did not admit to any wrongdoing, and agreed to pay US$750,000 and to register as a political committee if it undertakes any activities similar to those in 2004. The FEC stated: "Over US$41 million of those funds consisted of excessive contributions from individuals, while over US$2 million came from sources prohibited from making contributions . . . ."

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