Message from the Chairman

The Commission will face many challenges and opportunities in the year ahead. Last month, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Citizens United v. FEC — a landmark campaign finance ruling that will have a large impact on the Commission’s enforcement, rulemaking, and litigation activities. Other pending cases involving the FEC may also result in significant changes to the law, as the agency works to promulgate regulations based upon earlier court rulings.

For example, this year, the Commission has undertaken rulemakings to implement the Shays III decision and has scheduled hearings regarding coordinated communications and federal candidate solicitations, respectively. The Commission also recently published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to implement the court’s decision in EMILY’s List v. FEC.

With the 2010 midterm elections approaching, the number of advisory opinion is likely to surge. The Commission intends to act on these requests quickly in order to provide real-time advice to those involved in the federal campaign process.

The Commission will also continue to build upon recent initiatives aimed at improving the transparency of our operations, bolstering our interaction with the public, and enhancing procedural fairness. As part of our Website Improvement Initiative, we have added a new Disclosure Data Blog that provides timely information and allows readers to submit comments and questions on FEC procedures and data search capabilities.

In addition, the Commission continues to expand the universe of information available on our website. Matters Under Review (MURs) dating back to 1975 have been posted online, and the Commission plans to continue enhancing the usability of those documents. Also, FEC staff members are currently hard at work adding older AO-related documents to the online database. You can expect to see these and other improvements to the Commission’s website in the coming months.

At the same time, the FEC will conduct outreach programs to ensure that the public is provided with up-to- date information regarding developments in the law and Commission regulations. The Commission will again host several conferences and informational sessions—including a regional conference in New Orleans this February—and roundtable sessions on election-year reporting requirements and the recently passed travel rules.

I look forward to working with my fellow Commissioners and the dedicated staff at the Commission in the coming year in meeting all of the foreseen (and unforeseen) challenges that lay ahead.