Appropriations Act extends administrative fine program

On November 30, 2005, President Bush signed the Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, Judiciary, District of Columbia, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006, allotting $54.7 million to fund the Federal Election Commission for the current fiscal year. In addition to the funding, the Appropriations Act also amended the Federal Election Campaign Act (the Act) to extend the agency’s Administrative Fine Program through December 31, 2008.

Administrative fine program

Under the Administrative Fine Program, the Commission assesses civil money penalties for late and non-filed reports. Penalty amounts are determined by the number of days a report was late, the amount of financial activity involved and any prior penalties for violations under the administrative fines regulations.

Initially, Congress authorized the Program as a pilot, only in place for violations occurring between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2001. Since then, however, Congress has extended authorization for the Administrative Fine Program several times. The 2006 Appropriations Act extends the Congressional authorization for the Administrative Fine Program from December 31, 2005 to December 31, 2008.

On December 15, 2005, the Commission approved a final rule amending 11 CFR 111.30 to reflect the new sunset date of December 31, 2008. The Commission did not make any other revisions to the Administrative Fine Program at that time. The Commission published the Final Rule and Explanation and Justification in the Federal Register (70 FR 75717) on December 21, 2005.

The full text of the Final Rule Extending the Administrative Fine Regulations is available on the FEC website.