Collecting Agent Basics, Part I

The term "Collecting Agent" is one that corporate/labor/trade PACs need to know. Collecting agent is the term used in FEC regulations at 102.6(b) and (c) to refer to the PAC's connected organization, or an affiliate or local unit of the connected organization, or a state PAC of any of these, when that entity collects and forwards money on behalf of the federal PAC (often as part of another activity). For example, a corporation acts as a collecting agent when it operates a payroll deduction plan for its corporate PAC. Another example: When the state PAC of a labor union collects money for both itself and for the union's federal PAC in a joint solicitation, that state PAC is acting as a collecting agent for the federal PAC. Entities that are collecting agents must follow the Act's recordkeeping rules, as well as timelines for separating and forwarding the federal PAC contributions ( See the May 27 tip on those). You can read more about the collecting agent guidelines in the Campaign Guide for Corporations and Labor Organizations on page 28. Next week's tip will discuss how the collecting agent separates out the federal PAC funds and moves the money from its accounts to the federal PAC.