Bloomberg BNA:

Enforcement of campaign finance laws by the Federal Election Commission has fallen significantly in recent years, as measured by the total amount of fines and average fines collected by the agency, according to a Bloomberg BNA review of statistical information provided by the FEC.

The FEC collected total fines of $1 million or more every year between 2001 and 2009, with annual tallies reaching up to nearly $6 million in 2006. But, the annual total has exceeded the $1 million mark in only two of the last five years, with the less than $600,000 collected in 2014 being the lowest total since the early 1990s.

FEC enforcement has become increasingly controversial, with Democratic FEC commissioners, including Chairwoman Ann Ravel, accusing Republican colleagues of refusal to act on alleged violations that should be investigated. Republican FEC commissioners have bristled at Ravel’s comments and said their votes on enforcement matters reflect their judgment about individual cases and changes in campaign finance laws wrought by recent court decisions.

Comprehensive information on FEC enforcement cases handled over the last four decades recently was provided by the agency to the New York Times. The same statistical information—with some data missing or subject to revision—now has been provided to Bloomberg BNA and is expected to be made available to the public soon on the FEC’s website, according to officials.