Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title VIII Chapter 55
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 55, § 7 (2026)

Receipts, disbursements and contributions regulated; limitations; penalties

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 7. No person or combination of persons, including a corporation formed under the provisions of chapter one hundred and eighty, shall in connection with any nomination or election receive money or its equivalent, expend or disburse or promise to expend or disburse the same, except as authorized by this chapter. A political committee or a person acting under the authority or on behalf of such a committee may receive money or its equivalent, or expend or disburse or promise to expend or disburse the same for the purpose of aiding or promoting the success or defeat of a candidate at a primary or election or a political party or principle in public election or favoring or opposing the adoption or rejection of a question submitted to the voters, and for other purposes expressly authorized by this chapter subject, however, to the provisions thereof. A candidate may make expenditures without limitation for the purposes of his own campaign and may make campaign contributions without limitation for the benefit of the non-elected political committee organized on his behalf.

No candidate or candidate's committee shall receive a transfer of funds or assets from any federal political committee. No candidate or candidate's committee shall make an expenditure of, or transfer, funds or assets that were transferred on or after November 25, 1998 from a federal political committee. A candidate's committee may, however, coordinate arrangements, with a federal committee that refunds contributions pursuant to federal law, for a solicitation of the same contributors by the candidate's committee. The candidate's committee shall pay the full cost of any such solicitation.

Notwithstanding the provisions of any law to the contrary, a candidate shall not loan, per election, more than the following amounts to his candidate's committee:

Notwithstanding the provisions of this section and section seven A, an individual of less than eighteen years of age shall not make campaign contributions in an amount in excess of twenty-five dollars in the aggregate during any one calendar year.

Violation of any provision of this section or section seven A shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than six months or by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 6 cases, 1946–1997 · leading case: First Nat'l Bank of Boston v. Attorney Gen., 290 N.E.2d 526 (Mass. 1972).
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First Nat'l Bank of Boston v. Attorney Gen., 290 N.E.2d 526 (Mass. 1972). · cites it 29× “The bill further alleges that under the 1972 amendment to G.L.c. 55, § 7 ("political contributions" statute), *573 they are forbidden to expend moneys for any such purpose.”
Bowe v. Sec'y of Commonwealth, 69 N.E.2d 115 (Mass. 1946). · cites it 5× “One of those proposed laws is entitled "An Act relative to contributions by labor unions or persons acting in behalf *233 thereof for political purposes or to campaign funds,” and purports to amend G. L. c. 55, § 7, “as amended by” St. 1938, c.”
First Nat'l Bank of Boston v. Attorney Gen., 359 N.E.2d 1262 (Mass. 1977). · cites it 4× “570 (1972) First Nat’l Bank I), we considered the effect of a legislative amendment of the statute (after Lustwerk) which added the following sentence to G. L. c. 55, § 7: “No question submitted to the voters concerning the taxation of the income, property or transactions of…”
Lustwerk v. Lytron, Inc., 183 N.E.2d 871 (Mass. 1962). · cites it 4× “” Lustwerk asserts that such an expenditure would be illegal under G. L. c. 55, § 7 2 . Lytron is a Massachusetts *649 business corporation doing business in Cambridge.”
Commonwealth v. Cook, 687 N.E.2d 386 (Mass. 1997). · cites it 2× “Cook, alleging fourteen counts of violating the Commonwealth’s campaign finance laws, G. L. c. 55, §§ 7, 10. Because we conclude that the defendant was deprived of his rights under G.”
Answer of the Justices to the House of Representatives, 367 N.E.2d 793 (Mass. 1977). “To amend G. L. c. 55, § 7, as appearing in St. 1975, c.”
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