Week of August 21 – 25, 2017

Commission meetings and hearings

On August 22, the Commission held an executive session.

Advisory opinions

Extension of time and comment received

Advisory Opinion Request 2017-06 (Stein/Gottlieb)

On August 18, the Commission received an Extension of Time until September 15 on Advisory Opinion Request 2017-06. The requestors ask several questions about a proposed app that would allow users to round up spare change from the user’s debit or credit card transactions and contribute those amounts to candidates for federal office. On August 23, the Commission received a Comment on the Advisory Opinion draft.

Enforcement

The Commission made public two closed cases, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Enforcement Query System.

MUR 7212

• COMPLAINANT: Paul Sapperstein
  
• RESPONDENTS: James Pfaff; and Hoosiers for Jim Pfaff (the Committee)
  
• SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Pfaff and the Committee failed to disclose debts in disclosure reports filed with the Commission. Pfaff was a candidate for Indiana’s 9^th Congressional District.
  
• DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter in consideration of Commission priorities. The Commission observed that the Committee has demonstrated no recent financial activity and appears to have no cash on hand, and that the alleged reporting violation is de minimis. The Commission sent a letter reminding the Committee to amend its reports to disclose the debts at issue or to declare those debts as disputed.
  

MUR 7248

• COMPLAINANT: Self-Initiated
  
• RESPONDENTS: Cancer Treatment Centers of America Global, Inc. (CTCA); Eastern Regional Medical Center, Inc.; Midwestern Regional Medical Center, Inc.; Southeastern Regional Medical Center, Inc., Southwestern Regional Medical Center, Inc., and Western Regional Medical Center, Inc. (the Regional Medical Centers); Stephen Bonner; Robert Mayo; and Richard Stephenson
  
• SUBJECT: CTCA, the Regional Medical Centers and 16 current and former employees notified the Commission that, between 2009 and 2014, CTCA used corporate resources to conduct political fundraising for federal candidates, had issued its senior executives bonus payments to reimburse $696,443.65 in federal political contributions, and directly reimbursed its Chairman for $120,700 in political contributions.
  
• DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for CTCA, the Regional Medical Centers, Bonner, Mayo, and Stephenson to pay a joint civil penalty of $288,000, to waive their right to a refund, and to instruct the recipient committees to disgorge the prohibited contributions to the United States Treasury. The agreement notes that Respondents have instituted a compliance program to prevent future violations.
  

Administrative fines

The Commission made public one campaign finance enforcement matter that was resolved through its Administrative Fines (AF) program, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Enforcement Query System.

AF 3249

Professional Compounding Centers of America Political Action Committee and Emory Rogers, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination to terminate the proceedings and close the file.

Litigation

Campaign Legal Center, et al. v. FEC (Case 1:16-CV-00752-JDB). On August 21, the Commission filed its Motion for Summary Judgment in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. On the same day, the Intervenor-Defendants also filed a Motion for Summary Judgment.

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

• September 12: The Commission is scheduled to hold an executive session.
• September 14: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting and executive session.
• September 14: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open audit hearing on Freedom's Defense Fund and the Conservative Majority Fund.
• Meeting dates are subject to change. Please contact the Press Office the week of the scheduled meeting for confirmation.

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Follow @FEC on Twitter to receive the latest information on agency updates, news releases, and weekly activity. Subscribe to our YouTube channel, FECTube: FECConnect on Demand, to watch instructional videos that have been designed to help candidates and committees comply with federal campaign finance laws. Note that the FEC is not currently available through other social media platforms at this time. The use of the agency’s logo, name, and likeness on other mediums has not been authorized by the FEC.

Upcoming educational programs

August 30-31: Chicago Regional Conference for candidates, parties and separate segregated funds. Additional information is available on the Educational Outreach page of the Commission website.

November 14-15: Washington, DC Regional Conference for candidates, parties and separate segregated funds. Additional information is available on the Educational Outreach page of the Commission website.

Upcoming reporting due dates

September 20: September Monthly Reports are due. For more information on monthly reporting dates, refer to the 2017 Monthly Reporting page of the Commission website.

Additional research materials

The Official 2016 Presidential General Election Results are available in the Library section of the website. This listing was compiled from the official vote totals published by state election offices.

Additional research materials about the agency, campaign finance information, and election results are available through the Library section of the Commission website.

The 2017 edition of the Combined Federal State Disclosure and Election Directory is available on the new Commission website. This publication identifies the federal and state agencies responsible for the disclosure of campaign finances, lobbying, personal finances, public financing, candidates on the ballot, election results, spending on state initiatives and other financial filings.

The FEC Record is available as a continuously-updated online news source.

The 2017 edition of Title 11 of the Code of Federal Regulations can be downloaded from the website. To order printed copies, call (800) 424-9530 (press 6) or send an email to info@fec.gov.