This file contains information for each committee or organization that has registered with the FEC and filed a financial report during 2009 or 2010.
The information in this file cover the time period from January 1 of the non-election year through the most recent report submitted by these committees.
The record (row) for each committee contains information, updated nightly, based upon reports either received (for electronic filings) or computerized (for paper filings from small committees) through 7 pm the previous day. These totals also incorporate any changes made by committees if any report covering the period is amended.
As part of each financial report, committees must provide a summary of their financial activity in each filing, and these summaries are combined for the full two year period to create these records. Generally, committees file reports on a quarterly or monthly basis, but some must also submit a report 12 days before primary elections. During the primary election season, therefore, the period covered by this file may be different for different committees.
The presentation here includes total receipts and total disbursements for the committee along with the most recent cash-on-hand value and total debts owed by the committee at the end of the most recent reporting period. There are several different reporting structures, depending on what type of organization is submitting financial information. To see one example of these reporting requirements you can look at the summary and detailed summary pages of the FEC Form 3X. Detailed descriptions of each element in the file can be found in the line-by-line instructions.
Downloads for these data (XML or CSV links from the top of the list) include additional information taken from the summary pages of reports submitted by the committee (e.g. contributions from individuals, independent expenditures made by the committee, etc.). All of the elements requested on pages 2-4 of the paper versions of these reports are included in the file.
The FEC has also created a blog to discuss features of these files and respond to your questions or comments.
The Committee Summary File contains the following information:
| Tag | Field Name | Data Type | Description | Range | Explanation |
| com_nam | Committee Name | Character | Name of committee or other entity registered with the FEC | Max 200 characters | This is the name of the campaign committee or leadership PAC reporting that they received contributions bundled by lobbyists |
| lin_ima | Link to list of reports for the committee | URI | List of all disclosure filings for this committee | Link to list of all filings provided by this committee as well as letters from the FEC asking for additional information | |
| com_typ | Committee Type | Character | Code for type of committee | 1 character |
C = Communication Cost |
| com_des | Committee Designation | Character | Code for committee designation | 1 character | A = authorized by a candidate; |
| fil_fre | Filing Frequency | Character | 1 character | M=Monthly; Q=Quarterly; T=terminated; A=administratively terminated | |
| add | Address | Text | Postal street address provided by the committee | Mailing addresses for committees do not necessarily reflect the actual geographic focus of the organization. Many PACs, for example, use Washington area addresses | |
| cit | City | Text | mailing address for committee | ||
| sta | State | Character | Postal abbreviation | 2 characters | |
| zip | Zip | Number | 5 digits | May be either 5 or 9 digits | |
| tre_nam | Treasurer's Name | Text | name of the current committee treasurer | ||
| com_id | Committee ID | Character | Character C followed by eight digits | 9 characters | Unique nine characters identifier used by the Commission to identify each political committee. In general committee id's begin with the letter C which is followed by eight |
| fec_ele_yea | FEC Election Year | Number | 4 digits | ||
| ind_ite_con | Individual Itemized Contribution | Currency | Sum of itemized contributions from individuals | Contributions must be itemized (i.e. listing specific information about the donor and the contribution) when the total given to the committee from a single individual exceeds $200. | |
| ind_uni_con | Individual Unitemized Contribution | Currency | Sum of unitemized contributions from individuals | Total given to the campaign where specific information about the donors is not required because they have not given more than $200 | |
| ind_con | Individual Contribution | Currency | Total contributions from individuals | Sum of the previous 2 fields (e.g. ind_ite_con and ind_uni_con) | |
| ind_ref | Individual Refund | Currency | contribution refunds made to individuals | ||
| par_com_con | Party Committee Contribution | Currency | contributions from party committees | This must be itemized regardless of amount | |
| oth_com_con | Other Committee Contribution | Currency | contributions from other committees | Mostly contributions from PACs, also includes contributions from other candidates. These also must be itemized regardless of amount | |
| oth_com_ref | Other Committee Refund | Currency | contribution refunds made to other committees | Mainly PACs or other candidates | |
| can_con | Candidate Contribution | Currency | Contributions from the candidate | applies only to campaign comittees | |
| tot_con | Total Contribution | Currency | Sum of contributions from all sources | ||
| tot_con_ref | Total Contribution Refund | Currency | Sum of contribution refunds made to all sources | ||
| can_loa | Candidate Loan | Currency | Sum of loans from the candidate | applies only to campaign comittees | |
| can_loa_rep | Candidate Loan Repayment | Currency | Repayments to the candidate | applies only to campaign comittees | |
| oth_loa | Other Loan | Currency | Sum of loans from other sources | ||
| oth_loa_rep | Other Loan Repayment | Currency | Loan repayments to other sources | ||
| tot_loa | Total Loan | Currency | Sum of all loans | ||
| tot_loa_rep | Total Loan Repayment | Currency | Sum of all loan repayments | ||
| tra_fro_oth_aut_com | Transfer from Other Authorized Committee | Currency | Transfers received from other affiliated or authorized committees | Candidates may have more than one committee working for their election (including jointfundraising committees). PAC sponsors may have more than one committee, but all would be treated as one for limitation purposes. Transfers from others within the set appear here | |
| tra_fro_non_fed_acc | Transfer from non Federal Account | Currency | Funds outside federal restrictions used for activities that include state or local candidates | Applies only to state or local party committees and some PACs | |
| tra_fro_non_fed_lev_acc | Transfer from non Federal Levin Account | Currency | special nonfederal funds for specific activities of state or local party committees | applies only to state or local party committees | |
| tot_non_fed_tra | Total non Federal Transfer | Currency | sum of the previous 2 fields | ||
| oth_rec | Other Receipt | Currency | e.g. interest on bank deposits, capital gains, etc. | ||
| tot_rec | Total Receipt | Currency | sum of all receipts | ||
| tot_fed_rec | Total Federal Receipt | Currency | sum of all receipts within federal limits and restrictions | ||
| ope_exp | Operating Expenditure | Currency | total spending for operating activities | applies to candidate committees | |
| sha_fed_ope_exp | Shared Federal Operating Expenditure | Currency | federal share of any spending combining federal and state/local activity | ||
| sha_non_fed_ope_exp | Shared non Federal Operating Expenditure | Currency | nonfederal share of any spending combining federal and state/local activity | ||
| tot_ope_exp | Total Operating Expenditure | Currency | line 21c of form 3X used by PACs and parties | ||
| off_to_ope_exp | Offsets to Operating Expenditure | Currency | e.g. refunds of deposits, etc. | ||
| fed_sha_of_joi_act | Federal Share of Joint Federal Election Activity | Currency | party committees only - federal election activity is a special subset of party spending. | ||
| non_fed_sha_of_joi_act | Non Federal Share of Joint Federal Election Activity | Currency | party committees only - federal election activity is a special subset of party spending | ||
| non_all_fed_ele_act_par | Non Allocated Federal Election Activity (Party only) | Currency | party committees only | ||
| tot_fed_ele_act | Total Federal Election Activity | Currency | party committees only | ||
| fed_can_com_con | Federal Candidate Committee Contribution | Currency | contributions to federal campaigns or other federal committees (e.g. PACs or parties) | ||
| fed_can_con_ref | Federal Candidate Contribution Refund | Currency | contribution refunds received | refunds received from federal campaigns or other committees | |
| ind_exp_mad | Independent Expenditures Made | Currency | spending advocating the election or defeat of specific candidates made without coordination with the campaign | ||
| coo_exp_par | Coordinated Expenditure (Party only) | Currency | limited expenditures by party committees that may be coordinates with candidates | ||
| loa_mad | Loan Made | Currency | |||
| loa_rep_rec | Loan Repayments Received | Currency | |||
| tra_to_oth_aut_com | Transfer to Other Authorized Committee | Currency | Transfers made to other affiliated or authorized committees | ||
| fun_dis | Fundraising Disbursement | Currency | Applies only for Presidential candidates receiving public matching funds in the primaries | ||
| off_to_fun_exp_pre | Offsets to Fundraising Expenses (Presidential only) | Currency | Applies only for Presidential candidates receiving public matching funds in the primaries | ||
| exe_leg_acc_dis_pre | Exempt Legal/Accounting Disbursement (Presidential only) | Currency | Applies only for Presidential candidates receiving public matching funds in the primaries | ||
| off_to_leg_acc_exp_pre | Offsets to Legal/Accounting Expenses (Presidential only) | Currency | Applies only for Presidential candidates receiving public matching funds in the primaries | ||
| tot_off_to_ope_exp | Total Offsets to Operating Expenditure | Currency | Offsets include, for example, refunds of deposits required for the use of phone banks or other similar services | ||
| oth_dis | Other Disbursement | Currency | e.g. contributions to charities or to state or local candidates | ||
| tot_fed_dis | Total Federal Disbursement | Currency | sum of all exclusively federal disbursements | ||
| tot_dis | Total Disbursement | Currency | sum of all disbursements | ||
| net_con | Net Contribution | Currency | sum of contributions received minus any refunds made | ||
| net_ope_exp | Net Operating Expenditure | Currency | sum of operating expenditures minus any offsets | ||
| cas_on_han_beg_of_per | Cash on Hand Beginning of Period | Currency | Cash balance for the committee at the start of the two-year period | ||
| cas_on_han_clo_of_per | Cash on Hand Closing of Period | Currency | Ending cash balance on the most recent filing | ||
| deb_owe_by_com | Debt Owed by Committee | Currency | |||
| deb_owe_to_com | Debt Owed to Committee | Currency | MM/DD/YYYY | Beginning date for the first report during the two year period | |
| cov_sta_dat | Coverage Start Date | Date | MM/DD/YYYY | Ending date of the most recent report | |
| cov_end_dat | Coverage End Date | Date | |||
| pol_par_com_ref | Political Party Committee Refund | Currency | refunds made to political party committees | ||
| can_id | Candidate Id | Character | 9 characters | First character indicates office sought - H=House, S=Senate, P=Presidential. Columns 3-4 are the state abbreviation for Congressional candidates | |
| cas_on_han_beg_of_yea | Cash on Hand Beginning of Year | Currency | |||
| cas_on_han_clo_of_yea | Cash on Hand Closing of Year | Currency | |||
| exp_sub_to_lim_pri_yea_pre | Expenditures Subject to Limit - Prior Year (Presidential only) | Currency | Applies only for Presidential candidates receiving public matching funds in the primaries | ||
| exp_sub_lim | Expenditures Subject to Limit | Currency | Applies only for Presidential candidates receiving public matching funds in the primaries | ||
| fed_fun | Federal Funds | Currency | Applies only for Presidential candidates receiving public matching funds in the primaries | ||
| ite_con_exp_con_com | Itemized Convention Expenditure (Convention Committee only) | Currency | applies only to national party convention and host committees | ||
| ite_oth_dis | Itemized Other Disbursement | Currency | applies only to national party convention and host committees | ||
| ite_oth_inc | Itemized Other Income | Currency | applies only to national party convention and host committees | ||
| ite_oth_ref_or_reb | Itemized Other Refunds or Rebates | Currency | applies only to national party convention and host committees | ||
| ite_ref_or_reb | Itemized Refunds or Rebates | Currency | applies only to national party convention and host committees | ||
| oth_fed_ope_exp | Other Federal Operating Expenditures | Currency | parties and some PACs only - line 21b of form 3X | ||
| sub_con_exp | Subtotal Convention Expenses | Currency | applies only to national party convention and host committees | ||
| sub_oth_ref_or_reb | Subtotal Other Refunds or Rebates | Currency | applies only to national party convention and host committees | ||
| sub_ref_or_reb | Subtotal Refunds or Rebates | Currency | applies only to national party convention and host committees | ||
| tot_com_cos | Total Communication Cost | Currency | special filings used only for this purpose | communications advocating candidates by membership organizations exclusively to their members | |
| tot_exp_sub_to_lim_pre | Total Expenditures Subject to Limit (Presidential only) | Currency | Applies only for Presidential candidates receiving public matching funds in the primaries | ||
| uni_con_exp | Unitemized Convention Expenses | Currency | applies only to national party convention and host committees | ||
| uni_oth_dis | Unitemized Other Disbursements | Currency | applies only to national party convention and host committees | ||
| uni_oth_inc | Unitemized Other Income | Currency | applies only to national party convention and host committees | ||
| uni_oth_ref_or_reb | Unitemized other Refunds or Rebates | Currency | applies only to national party convention and host committees | ||
| uni_ref_or_reb | Unitemized Refunds or Rebates | Currency | applies only to national party convention and host committees | ||
| org_tp | Organization Type | Character | Code for type of organization | 1 character | C = Corporation, L = Labor Organization, M = Membership Organization, T = Trade Association, V = Cooperative, W = Corporation Without Capital Stock, |
