Communication costs file description
The communication costs file contains transactions disclosed as communication costs by corporations and labor organizations.
Corporations and labor organizations can communicate to a "restricted class" of individuals on any subject, including express advocacy of the election or defeat of any federal candidate. The costs of these communications must be reported to the Commission when they exceed $2,000 per election.
This provision of the Federal Election Campaign Act pre-dates the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. FEC, which struck down the ban on independent expenditures and electioneering communications financed by the general treasuries of corporations and labor unions. That court decision does not change the requirement that these costs must be reported.
Communication costs file format
| Column name | Field name | Position | Null | Data type | Description | Example data |
| CMTE_ID | Committee Identification | 1 | N | VARCHAR2(2) | A 9-character alpha-numeric code assigned to a Committee by the FEC. | C70001005 |
| CMTE_NAME |
Committee name | 2 | Y | VARCHAR2(90) |
National Association of Financial Administrators | |
| CANDIDATE_ID | Candidate Identification | 3 | N | VARCHAR2(2) | A 9-character alpha-numeric code assigned to a candidate by the Federal Election Commission. The candidate ID for a specific candidate remains the same across election cycles as long as the candidate is running for the same office. | H8VA01233 |
| CANDIDATE_NAME |
Candidate name | 4 | Y | VARCHAR2(90) |
Martha Washington | |
| CANDIDATE_OFFICE |
Candidate office | 5 | Y | VARCHAR2(9) |
H = House S = Senate P = President |
H |
| CANDIDATE_OFFICE_STATE |
Candidate Office state | 6 | Y | VARCHAR2(40) | House = state of race President = US Senate = state of race |
VA |
| CANDIDATE_OFFICE_DISTRICT |
Candidate office district |
7 | Y | VARCHAR2(2) |
Congressional district number Congressional at large 00 Senate 00 Presidential 00 |
01 |
| CAND_PTY_AFFILIATION |
Party name | 8 | Y | VARCHAR2(50) |
Political party description | Non |
| TRANSACTION_DT |
Transaction date |
9 | Y | Date |
Receipt date | 10/17/2018 |
| TRANSACTION_AMT |
Transaction amount |
10 | Y | NUMBER | Receipt date | 10,000.00 |
| TRANSACTION_TP | Transaction type | 11 | Y | VARCHAR2(3) | Transaction type 24F = Communication cost for candidate (only for Form 7 filer) 24N = Communication cost against candidate (only for Form 7 filer) |
24F |
| COMMUNICATION_TP | Communication type | 12 | Y | VARCHAR2(2) |
Communication type DM = Direct mail TP = Telephone TM = Telegram O = Other |
DM |
| COMMUNICATION_CLASS | Communication class | 13 | Y | VARCHAR2(2) | Communication class E = Executive/ administrative personnel M = Members S = stockholders |
M |
| SUPPORT_OPPOSE_IND |
Support-oppose Indicator |
14 | Y | VARCHAR2(3) |
Suppor/oppose Indicator | S |
| IMAGE_NUM |
URL for the image number |
15 | Y | VARCHAR2(18) |
URL for the image number | http://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/fecimg/?_2018022099004767936+0 |
| FORM_TP_CD |
Form type code | 16 | Y | VARCHAR2(8) |
Form type code | F6 |
| SCHED_TP_CD |
Schedule type code |
18 | Y | VARCHAR2(8) |
Schedule Type Code | F76 |
| TRAN_ID |
Transaction ID |
19 | Y | VARCHAR2(8) | Transaction ID | F76.1245 |
| SUB_ID |
Sub ID |
20 | Y | VARCHAR2(19) |
Sub ID | 12345678912345678912 |
| FILE_NUM |
File number |
21 | Y | VARCHAR2(19) |
File number | 1100101 |
| RPT_YR |
Report year |
22 | Y | VARCHAR2(4) |
Report year | 2018 |