FEC Seeks Comment on Proposed Rules Regarding Political Committee Status
| For Immediate Release March 12, 2004 |
Contact: | Bob Biersack Ian Stirton Kelly Huff George Smaragdis |
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| FEC SEEKS COMMENT ON PROPOSED RULES REGARDING POLITICAL COMMITTEE STATUS | ||
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WASHINGTON ? The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is seeking comment on
whether to amend the definition of "political committee" applicable to
nonconnected committees. The Supreme Court in McConnell v. FEC, 540 U.S.
---, 124 S. Ct. 619 (2003) recognized that regulation of certain activities
that affect Federal elections is a valid measure to prevent circumvention of
the Federal Election Campaign Act?s contribution limitations and
prohibitions. Consequently, the Commission is undertaking this rulemaking to
revisit the issue of whether the current definitions of "political
committee" adequately encompasses all organizations that should be
considered political committees subject to the limitations, prohibitions and
reporting requirements of the Act. A similar review of the definition of
"expenditure" and its implications, along with the rules for allocating
funds for activities involving both federal and nonfederal elections are
also a part of this rulemaking. The notice of proposed rulemaking, which can be found at http://www.fec.gov/register.htm [expired link] , was published in the Federal Register on March 11, 2004. The Commission will hold a public hearing on these proposed rules on April 14 and 15, 2004, at 10:00 a.m. Commenters wishing to testify at the hearing must submit their request to testify along with their written or electronic comments by April 5, 2004. Commenters who do not wish to testify must submit their written or electronic comments by April 9, 2004. Electronic mail comments on this rulemaking are encouraged, and should be addressed to Ms. Mai T. Dinh, Acting Assistant General Counsel, and sent to politicalcommitteestatus@fec.gov and must include the full name, electronic mail address, and postal service address of the commenter. Faxed comments should be sent to (202) 219-3923, with printed copy follow-up to ensure legibility. Written comments and printed copies of faxed comments should be sent to the Federal Election Commission, 999 E Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20463. No final decisions have been made by the Commission on any of the proposed revisions in this Notice. ### |
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