Shays rehearing denied; rulemakings expedited

On October 21, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit declined to rehear en banc the Commission’s appeal of an earlier D.C. Circuit decision in Shays v. FEC that upheld a district court remand of several of the Commission’s regulations. In response, the Commission has announced that it is moving forward aggressively to complete action on the affected regulations.

At the Commission’s November 3 open meeting, FEC Chairman Scott Thomas and Vice-Chairman Michael Toner said the agency is committed to completing action on all of the affected regulations by the end of February 2006. To accomplish that task, the Commission has scheduled two additional open meetings before the end of this year, and expects to meet frequently during January and February.

The Commission began work on the affected regulations shortly after the district court’s decision in September 2004. Chairman Thomas noted: “We, in fact, already have accomplished a good deal of the work needed on the 15 regulation topics at issue. The Commission has held hearings on proposals for modifying 12 of the regulations, which has moved us to the final stage of the process for those rulemakings. We appreciate the numerous written comments and oral testimony, all of which we are carefully evaluating in reaching decisions on final rules and developing the detailed written explanations required by law.”

Additional information regarding Commission rulemakings will appear in the Record and on the FEC’s website.