Message from the Chairman
With the end of the year fast approaching, I want to take this opportunity to begin my final Message from the Chairman in the Record by thanking my fellow Commissioners and every member of the Commission staff for their tireless work over the last year. Without each of you, the Commission would not have been able to bring the Commission current with the backlog of matters we inherited in June of last year, when the Commission was reconstituted, and we would not have accomplished the many additional projects that were initiated, continued, or completed during 2009.
The Commissioners had an uncommonly large number of matters before them, due in no small part to the aftermath of the six month dormancy, the remaining legal issues left after the Shays litigation, and the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (HLOGA) passed in 2007. HLOGA left us with thorny issues on disclosure of lobbyist bundling and travel rates, as we all know. I want to thank Vice Chairman Matt Petersen, who is our incoming Chairman and Commissioner Cyndi Bauerly, who is our incoming Vice-Chair, for their service on two of our most critical committees, Finance and Personnel. Both devoted a lot of hard work and your efforts clearly were very successful. Also, Commissioners Ellen Weintraub and Caroline Hunter worked tirelessly to advance their positions and to try to find consensus whenever possible on our Regulations Committee. Both dedicated a lot of hard and thankless work. They produced very good results over many hours, many after normal working hours, negotiating, trading drafts, and sending emails to each other and the other Commissioners. Also thanks to Commissioner Don McGahn, who working with Commissioner Weintraub on the Press Committee, kept accurate information on our efforts and activities forthcoming to the public in a prompt, straightforward and educational manner.
On a personal note, I want to express my sincere appreciation to each of my Executive Assistants this year. Brad Deutsch has been with me since 2006, even through the six month dormancy. Brad has been my loyal right-hand man, advisor, and mentor in many more ways than the job description requires. Stacey Shin, who left this week to practice law in California, was there helping in every way, always with a positive attitude, infectious smile, and thoughtful foresight on how to get things done in a timely and professional manner. Stacey nearly singlehandedly prepared the first draft of the well-received Weekly Digest. The format she created and the content she suggested was adopted by the Commissioners without any major modification. Tom Andersen analyzed enforcement cases with great thoroughness and attention to detail, summarized them, opined on them, and worked effectively with all the EAs on the ninth floor, and when necessary, the Commissioners, seeking consensus, and arranging schedules. He is returning to General Counsel's Office. Thanks again for the great help.
We had a good year on a number of fronts, and I would like to point some of the accomplishments out in more detail.
Elimination of Backlog Created During the Dormancy
The Commission was comprised of only two Commissioners from January 1 to June 10 of last year, and was accordingly unable to take any formal action on enforcement or other Commission matters during that period. Accordingly, a significant backlog of enforcement, regulation adoption and advisory opinion matters were awaiting the current Commissioners when we were reconstituted on June 10, 2008.
By the spring of 2009, the Commission had formally acted on all backlogged matters, and, since then has remained current on all matters submitted to the Commission that came before it for consideration. These results were due to the heightened pace of the enforcement docket commenced by the Commissioners last year, which continued into the early part of this year. All this was possible only by the extraordinary commitment to that accelerated pace by the staff of the Office of General Counsel, led by Tommie Duncan, and the Audit Division, led by Joe Stoltz.
Agency Procedures Improvements
In the fall of 2008, during the term of the previous Chairman, Don McGahn, an initiative was undertaken to conduct a full-scale, broad ranging examination of Commission policies and procedures. This review included a notice in the Federal Register asking for public feedback on how well the Commission had been fulfilling its mission, and more importantly, how the Commission can improve fairness, efficiency and transparency going forward. The Agency received numerous thoughtful, knowledgeable, and persuasive written comments as well as oral testimony at two days of formal public hearings before the full Commission on January 14-15, 2009.
These comments have already led to several new initiatives adopted by the Commission. These include (a) the adoption of a new audit hearing process; (b) the adoption of modifications to the Commission's procedures for consideration of Advisory Opinions by clarifying the role of the General Counsel; and (c) the adoption of an additional procedural rights for respondents in enforcement cases by providing them with written notices of non-complaint generated referrals and an opportunity to respond prior to consideration by the Commission of whether it has reason to believe that a violation of the Act has occurred. To further transparency, the Commission also recently adopted a policy to resume its previous practice of placing all First General Counsel Reports on the public record at the close of an enforcement matter.
Certain other initiatives are under active consideration. These include (a) providing a written status report to respondents and to the Commissioners of all matters that have not received Commission action within 12 months; (b) including Audit and Reports Analysis Division matters in the statute of limitations scheduling process; and (c) accelerating enforcement steps for statute of limitations imperiled cases.
The Weekly Digest
In May, the Commission adopted a policy of issuing a Weekly Digest covering the spectrum of the FEC's public activities. The Digests, which supplement the Commission's other press releases, are aimed at providing increased transparency to the public through a weekly synopsis of Commission actions and events and a preview of upcoming activities. The program has received substantial praise from members of the regulated community and their counsel for providing a convenient and accessible one-stop summary of all Commission matters for a given week with one click on the computer.
Website Improvement Initiative
This year the Commission launched its first formal initiative in Agency history designed to examine and obtain suggestions and opinions from outside the Agency on all aspects of ways to improve its websites and methods of internet communications. Nearly all of our disclosure mission and method of communication with the public is currently accomplished through our website and email, and we undertook this initiative in order to ensure that the Agency's website and email communication become and remain the state of the art in all aspects. Several governmental agencies and nonprofit entities went out of their way to give input, and did so enthusiastically, in order to make the Commission's website the most user-friendly, thorough and, in terms of technology, the most sophisticated and advanced.
The Commission received numerous public comments and held two days of public hearings on July 29 and August 25, 2009, as part of this website improvement initiative. The comments and testimony provided the Commission with over 250 inventive ideas and strategies from experts and lay people alike, and the Commission has since moved forward with its initiative to make the FEC website as accessible, navigable, and informative as possible. Following this process, all suggestions were carefully catalogued by my Executive Assistant Stacey Shin, by subject matter. Our staff has since developed a plan to accomplish many of the suggested improvements and is working on a strategic plan for the rest. The Commission has already received an interim report relating to both. When completed, I am convinced that the Commission will have the best possible website and method of communication in an efficient, thorough and user-friendly manner. Our goal is to be ranked at least in the top 10, if not the very top, of all government agencies.
This initiative has already led to several improvements that make information on the FEC website easier to find and use. For example, campaign finance data is now available in formats that are flexible and compatible with the current generation of software for users who download information, and users can sign up to receive RSS feeds and email notifications whenever specific information is updated. The Agency has also taken steps to present information in more dynamic and intuitive ways. Streaming audio is now available for all public meetings and hearings, and we hope to soon add video streaming. The Agency has also added new video content, hosted on YouTube, and a multimedia E-Learning page to the site. The Commission is currently reviewing every aspect of its web content to replace technical and legal language with plain English wherever possible. A review and streamlining of the website's navigation will be complete by early summer of next year, so that navigating the site will be equally clear and intuitive for users.
Users of our website will see other improvements in the next few months. These include (a) a compliance map to provide quick access to each state’s ballot deadlines, election dates, reporting schedules and other essential compliance information; (b) data presentation and programming interfaces that will allow users direct access to the programs the Commission uses to assemble and display campaign finance information; and (c) a regulations database for searching rulemaking materials.
The Commission greatly appreciates the advice and experience shared by commenters. Because these web improvements are part of an on-going conversation with those who use the FEC website, our staff launched an FEC blog to support continuous collaboration with users. I encourage you to share your reactions to the changes we've made at http://www.fec.gov/blog/.
Digital Archiving of All Closed Enforcement Matters and Administrative Fine Actions Online
In June, the Commission launched the final phase of a project to make its full archive of closed enforcement matters, called Matters Under Review, or MURs, and all closed Administrative Fines matters, and all related documents regarding our Advisory Opinions available online. As a result, by the end of this calendar year, there will be nearly one million new pages of information readily available to the public on our website. As mentioned by one of the technical commenters at our Website hearing, transparency is not considered to exist, in this day and age, unless information can be found on the internet. While this material could be found if one were to physically visit our premises and scroll through mind-numbing microfilm rolls, it will now be available at the click of a computer key.
The MUR digital archiving project is estimated to be completed in the next week or two. This will result in approximately 4,600 closed MURs – consisting of approximately 770,000 pages of documents covering the 24-year period from the inception of the Agency to 1998 – being accessible in digital form on the FEC website. Upon completion, this project will be the largest expansion of the digitization of enforcement matters in the history of the Agency.
The Commission is similarly in the final phases of a project to add its complete case files of over 2,000 Administrative Fine actions to the website database.
Further, the Agency has accelerated its process of adding related documents to the Advisory Opinion files, such as draft opinions and comments. This project is near completion and has been given new emphasis by the Office of General Counsel in recent months.
These new pages, nearly one million in number, will be available to the public, globally, regarding disclosure of Agency actions on enforcement of the laws and regulations, and providing expanded guidance on compliance through Advisory Opinions.
I am pleased to say that, in addition to the regular workload of the Commission on matters for which we often hold diverse opinions, these initiatives have been met with, and approved by, the near unanimous support of the Commissioners.
As I reflect on the year, it is clear that all of these accomplishments have been due to the dedicated, mission-oriented, friendly, hardworking and collegial staff. Simply put, I have never worked in a place with so many dedicated people and when I joined the FEC I never would have ever expected to find so many great employees working for the Agency.
Finally, I want to thank Vice Chairman Matt Petersen for his support and assistance during the last year. I wish him the best of luck as he takes over the gavel on January 1, and I know, with the support of the Commissioners and the entire FEC staff, he will have a successful chairmanship in 2010. Additionally, I am confident that Commissioner Cyndi Bauerly will do a great job as Vice-Chair. Both are hard working, dedicated public servants, and they will lead the Commission effectively and productively in the upcoming year.
Best Wishes to all of you and your families and friends for a joyous Holiday Season and a Happy New Year.