FEC Approves Two Advisory Opinions, Discusses Third

WASHINGTON –The Federal Election Commission today approved two advisory opinions and directed the Office of General Counsel to prepare a revised draft for a third.

Advisory Opinion 2011-28 (Western Representation PAC). The Commission concluded that Western Representation PAC may not exclude the costs of independent expenditure advertisements placed on Facebook from the calculation of expenses included on its 24- and 48-hour reports. The Commission concluded further that Western Representation PAC must attribute the monthly cost of these independent expenditure advertisements to various states’ Presidential primary elections on Western Representation PAC’s regular monthly reports.

Advisory Opinion Request 2011-24 (StandLouder.com). The Commission discussed an advisory opinion request from Louder Solutions, LLC, a for-profit limited liability company. The Commission then directed the Office of General Counsel to prepare and circulate a revised draft advisory opinion for a Commission vote. The LLC plans to establish a web application through the website StandLouder.com that will allow users to post and fund proposed advertisements. In its advisory opinion request, StandLouder.com indicates that it will receive a license from content creators to, among other services, facilitate funding, provide technical compliance, and determine the time and placement of the ads. StandLouder.com anticipates that the advertisements will relate to topics including political and social issues as well as candidates for federal office.

Advisory Opinion 2011-27 (New Mexico Voices for Children). The Commission concluded that New Mexico Voices for Children’s proposed severance payment to its former Executive Director, who is currently a candidate for federal office, will not result in a prohibited corporate contribution to the candidate under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended, or Commission regulations because the severance payment would be made irrespective of the individual’s candidacy for Congress.

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.

# # #