By Alex Knott, CQ-Roll Call

The Federal Election Commission approved new rules Thursday that limit how congressional campaigns use private and corporate jets.

The new regulations restrict — and in some situations prohibit — federal candidates from spending campaign funds for non-commercial air travel. The new rules were designed to remove the influence that some special interests are believed to have on lawmakers and they coincide with the provisions of the 2007 Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (PL 110-81).

The new rules, passed by a 4-2 vote, bar House campaigns and their leadership political action committees from using their funds to travel on non-commercial flights unless it is using government- or family-owned aircraft. Meanwhile, presidential, vice presidential and Senate campaigns have to pay “charter rates” for such flights, which cost significantly more than these campaigns previously paid.

These regulations, enacted more than two years after the passage of the law, differ from previous rules where candidates could use corporate jets from organizations that lobbied them and only pay for them the cost of a first-class or coach plane ticket. Today’s new rules did not change this rule for PACs connected to candidates for the Senate and White House as well as party committees. These leadership PACs can still pay this lower rate of a typical plane ticket for their travel on private aircraft.

Commissioners passed the new rules after disagreeing in a split 3-3 vote on whether to adopt more restrictive regulations. The commission had originally approved tougher rules at the end of 2007 but half of today’s six-person commission rejected those regulations along party lines.

FEC Chairman Steven T. Walther — a self-described “independent” who occupies a Democratic seat — supported the tougher regulations, but finally stepped in to break up the tie on the following vote and support the Republican-backed rules.

“If we deadlocked on this, it would not be providing guidance in the area,” he said. “I think the rules that were adopted before were the right rules but I cannot say that the motion before us does not adhere” to the 2007 law.

While some in the campaign finance overhaul community were happy to see the regulations enacted, others said the move did not go far enough to regulate leadership PACs

“For years, federal law permitted candidates to fly around the world on corporate and other privately owned aircraft for the price of a first-class plane ticket,” wrote Paul S. Ryan, FEC program director and associate legal council for the Campaign Legal Center, in response to the new rule.

“Yet the FEC today adopted a final rule nonsensically declaring that a candidate is not a ‘candidate,’ for the purpose of this statute,” when that candidate “is traveling on behalf of another political committee [such as a political party committee or Senate leadership PAC.]”