July 29 and August 25, 2009 Public Hearings on Website and Internet Communications Improvement Initiative
The Commission considers new regulations and other public matters at public hearings at FEC headquarters, 1050 First Street NE, Washington, DC. Members of the public can attend public hearings in person. Public hearings are also streamed live online. To attend in person, please bring a photo ID and be prepared to go through a security check. After security, attendees are escorted to the Commission's hearing room. Please check the meeting page for updates to the agenda, including cancellations.
The Commission held public hearings on July 29 and August 25, 2009, to receive testimony regarding possible improvements to its website and Internet communications.
Agenda
Wednesday, July 29, 2009 through Tuesday, August 25, 2009 | 10:00 AM
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Wednesday, July 25, 2009 | 10:00 a.m.
10:00 a.m. - 10:10 a.m. Introductory Remarks
10:10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Panel 1 – Legal Practitioners [Audio of panel 1]
- Craig Engle, Arent Fox LLP
- Brian Svoboda, Perkins Coie LLP
- Michael Toner, Bryan Cave LLP; Former FEC Chairman
11:30 a.m. - 11:35 a.m. Break
11:35 a.m. - 12:55 p.m. Panel 2 – Electronic Filing of Disclosure Reports [Audio of panel 2]
- Matt DeBergalis, ActBlue, Chairman & Founder
- Paul W. Houghtaling, Political CFOs, Founder
- Nathaniel Pearlman, NGP Software, Inc., Founder
12:55 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Lunch
2:00 p.m. - 3:20 p.m. Panel 3 – Website Organization, Data Availability and Transparency [Audio of panel 3]
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Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Testimony from Panel 4 [Audio of panel 4]
- Jonda Byrd, EPA, Chief of Policy and Program Management Branch
- Martha Dorris, GSA, Acting Associate Administrator of the Office of Citizen Services and Communications
- Lisa Welchman, Welchman Pierpoint, Founding Partner
Testimony from Panel 5 [Audio of panel 5]
- Jan Baran, Wiley Rein LLP, Partner
- Robert Biersack, FEC, Special Assistant to the Staff Director for Data Integration
- Sheila Krumholz, Center for Responsive Politics, Executive Director
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Hearing - Related Information
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Supplemental Information
Documents Cited in Federal Register Notice
- Comments on FEC Website sent to Webmanager@fec.gov
- Federal Election Commission, Hearing on Agency Practices and Procedures
Technical Overview (as of 2009)
The FEC website has both Web and FTP servers. There are various navigational aids: a menu system, a site map, a search engine, and navigational breadcrumbs at the top of primary pages.
Both paper and electronic filings can be viewed. Paper filings are indexed to the images. Electronic filings can be seen as HTML pages or delimited files. One can query subsets of the data taken from both electronic and paper filings. In addition, Campaign Finance Maps provide graphical ways for accessing this data.
There are specialized query processes available for searching and retrieving legal materials related to the FEC's enforcement and policy making role such as the Enforcement Query System and the Advisory Opinions Search.
In addition to the thousands of pages and documents on the servers, information is also available through several dynamic applications such as the Commission Calendar and the recent List of Lobbyist/Registrant PACs.
Additional Information on Agency Procedures
- FEC Offices
An interactive organizational chart provides access to descriptions of the offices that comprise the FEC and their functions. - Strategic Plan FY 2008-2013
The framework for the FEC’s use of resources to administer and enforce the federal campaign finance laws.
Other Resources