FEC Announces Reports Analysis Division Web Page, New Feature of its Conciliation Practice

WASHINGTON – The Federal Election Commission this week unveiled a new web page designed to assist filers with the reporting of campaign finance activity, the latest endeavor in the Commission’s ongoing efforts to expand transparency.

The new page is segmented by filer type to address easily the reporting and filing needs of candidate and party committees, PACs, and other filers, and provides helpful links and reporting resources to assist the filing community with disclosure requirements. The new page also provides guidance on the processes and procedures of the Reports Analysis Division (RAD), which helps with the accurate and timely disclosure of campaign finance activity, and reviews financial disclosure reports submitted to the Commission.

“As we enter this presidential election year, the Reports Analysis Division web page will be a vitally important, ‘one-stop’ resource for political committees. I would like to thank the members of the Reports Analysis Division and the Office of Chief Information Officer, who worked collaboratively on this new page,” said Chair Caroline C. Hunter.

The RAD web page released at http://www.fec.gov/rad/ provides the following:

• an overview of the RAD review process;
• a series of frequently asked questions (FAQs) targeted to candidate and party committees, PACs, and other filers;
• links to filing information such as reporting schedules, electronic filing instructions, registration and reporting forms, and a link to information on upcoming training sessions and conferences;
• links to filing resources for each type of committee such as campaign guides, independent expenditure timeframes, Federal Election Activity timeframes and coordinated expenditure limits;
• tips on how to properly respond to Requests for Additional Information (RFAIs), covering topics such as adequate descriptions of purposes of disbursement and how to establish “best efforts” for obtaining contributor information;
• links to the Commission’s Administrative Fine Program page and the Administrative Fine Calculator for late-filed reports;
• users’ manuals on the FECFile software program, and instructions on requesting a password for electronic filing; and
• links to campaign finance reports, RFAIs, and miscellaneous documents filed by committees.
• In the coming weeks, committees will be able to use this web page to find contact information for their RAD campaign finance analysts.

The Commission on Thursday also announced that it is now beginning to provide to respondents, in writing, the method used to determine the Commission’s opening settlement offer at the conciliation stage of certain enforcement matters. This information will be included with the proposed conciliation agreement.

These newest initiatives are part of the Commission’s ongoing efforts to make its processes more transparent, including the following:

• Agency Procedure Following the Submission of Probable Cause Briefs by the Office of General Counsel, 76 Fed. Reg. 63570 (Oct. 13, 2011)
• Agency Procedures for Disclosure of Documents and Information in the Enforcement Process, 76 Fed. Reg. 34986 (Jun. 15, 2011)
• FEC Directive on Legal Guidance to the Office of Compliance--Directive 69
• FEC Directive on Processing Audit Reports--Directive 70
• Policy Statement Regarding a Program for Requesting Consideration of Legal Questions by the Commission, 76 Fed. Reg. 45798 (Aug. 1, 2011)
• Agency Procedure for Notice to Respondents in Non-Complaint Generated Matters, 74 Fed. Reg. 38617 (Aug. 4, 2009)
• Procedural Rules for Audit Hearings, 74 Fed. Reg. 33140 (Jul. 10, 2009)
• Advisory Opinion Hearing Procedures, 74 Fed. Reg. 32160 (Jul. 7, 2009)
• Statement of Policy Regarding Placing First General Counsel Reports on the Public Record. 74 Fed. Reg. 66132 (Dec. 14, 2009)

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent regulatory agency that administers and enforces federal campaign finance laws. The FEC has jurisdiction over the financing of campaigns for the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate, the Presidency and the Vice Presidency. Established in 1975, the FEC is composed of six Commissioners who are nominated by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

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