Petitions for rulemaking on independent spending by corporations, labor organizations, foreign nationals and independent-expenditure-only committees (2015)
July 29, 2015
On July 29, 2015, the Commission published a Notice of Availability that seeks public comments on two petitions for rulemaking filed by Make Your Laws PAC Inc. and Make Your Laws Advocacy, Inc., and Craig Holman and Public Citizen. The petitions seek modifications to FEC regulations arising from the Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. FEC.
Specifically, the two petitions request that the Commission revise and clarify existing rules and draft new regulations concerning the following issues:
- Disclosure of donors to organizations making independent expenditures and electioneering communications;
- The prohibition on foreign nationals making independent expenditures and electioneering communications;
- Preventing the coercion of the restricted class of an organization into providing financial support for the organization’s independent spending; and
- Ensuring that independent expenditures and other election-related spending by independent expenditure-only committees (Super PACs) and non-contribution accounts set up for making independent expenditures (also known as Carey accounts or Hybrid PACs) are not coordinated with candidates or political party committees.
Public comments on the petitions are due by October 27, 2015.