FEC to host two Independent Expenditure Webinars on November 15 (2023)
Political committees, individuals and organizations spent more than $2 billion on independent expenditures during the 2021-22 election cycle. If you’d like to learn more about these unlimited express advocacy communications, please plan to attend one or both of our November 15 webinars:
- Independent Expenditures, 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM Eastern
- Reporting Independent Expenditures Using FECFile, 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM Eastern
During the first workshop, staff from the FEC’s Information and Reports Analysis Divisions will review the rules and reporting requirements for political committees—including Super PACs and Hybrid PACs—individuals and organizations that make independent expenditures. Participants will learn the difference between independent expenditures and coordinated communications, and the consequences of making one rather than the other. We’ll also review disclaimer requirements and work through several scenarios to demonstrate how and when to report independent expenditures.
The FECFile workshop will demonstrate how to report independent expenditures and related transactions on both Form 3X and Form 5 using the Commission’s free electronic filing software. Among other things, attendees will learn how to use FECFile to submit 24- and 48-Hour Reports and disclose single-candidate, multi-candidate and multistate independent expenditures.
Both webinars will be presented using Zoom, and participants will be able to submit questions and get answers in real-time from the speakers and chat hosts. An email containing a link to workshop materials, technical information and additional instructions will be sent to registered participants the day before the webinar.
Registration Information
The cost to attend is $20 per webinar. To register, visit the FEC Training Payment page on Pay.gov (the government’s secure portal for online payments). A full refund will made for all cancellations received before 5 p.m. Eastern on Monday, November 13; no refunds will be made for cancellations received after that time. Additionally, please note that refunds of automated clearinghouse (ACH) payments are not readily available.
Learning credits
The FEC will provide all attendees with a letter certifying participation in the webinar, which participants can use to independently apply for CLE or other credits. Email conferences@fec.gov if you have further questions related to educational credit.
Registration questions
Please direct all questions about the webinars to conferences@fec.gov or call the FEC’s Information Division at 1-800-424-9530 (menu option 6).