FEC approves advisory opinion, Notification of Availability

WASHINGTON – The Federal Election Commission today approved an advisory opinion and a Notification of Availability in connection with a rulemaking petition. The Commission held over discussion of an advisory opinion request.

Advisory Opinion 2021-07 (PAC Management Services LLC) The Commission approved an advisory opinion in response to a request from PAC Management Services LLC (PACMS). The requestor asked several questions about its proposal to allow individuals to solicit and make contributions to political committees via its online platform. The Commission concluded that the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act), and Commission regulations would not prohibit PACMS’s proposed services, and the proposed services would not cause PACMS to make, facilitate, or be a conduit for contributions, to incur registration or reporting obligations, or to be a “commercial vendor” under 11 C.F.R. § 114.2(f) or § 116.1(c). The Commission also concluded that PACMS may allow individuals who work for corporations and trade associations, acting in their personal capacities, to solicit contributions via its online platform. During the discussion, the Commission heard from counsel for the requestor.

Advisory Opinion Request 2021-08 (Fitzgerald). The Commission held over discussion of two draft advisory opinions in response to a request from Congressman Scott Fitzgerald, who became a member of Congress in 2021 after previously serving in the Wisconsin state senate. The requestor asks whether his state campaign committee and federal leadership PAC are affiliated committees under the Act and Commission regulations and if so, whether the leadership PAC may receive unlimited transfers of funds from the state committee, provided that such funds comply with the source prohibitions and contribution limitations of the Act and Commission regulations. If the Commission finds that the proposed transfers are permissible, the requestor asks whether the state committee is required to notify its contributors that their contributions are subject to the applicable source prohibitions and contribution limitations at the time such transfers are made. On July 27, the Commission made public a comment on the drafts. On July 28, the requestor granted the Commission an Extension of Time until August 12.

REG 2021-02 (Subvendor Reporting) - Draft Notification of Availability. The Commission approved a Notification of Availability, seeking comment on whether the Commission should initiate a rulemaking in response to a Petition for Rulemaking from the Campaign Legal Center and the Center on Science & Technology Policy at Duke University. The petitioners ask the Commission to amend its existing regulations to require political committees and persons who make independent expenditures and electioneering communications to itemize all expenditures or disbursements made on behalf of the reporting entity, including those made by an agent, independent contractor, vendor, or subvendor. The Notification will be published in the Federal Register at a later date.