Week of January 8 -January 12, 2018

Commission meetings and hearings

• On January 9, the Commission held an executive session
• On January 11, the Commission held an open meeting.
  

 Alternative dispute resolution

 The Commission made public two campaign finance enforcement matters that were resolved through its Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) program, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Enforcement Query System.

ADR 832

• COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
  
• RESPONDENT: Democratic Party of New Mexico and Robert Lara, in his official capacity as treasurer  
  
• SUBJECT: The respondent failed to disclose all financial activity on its 2016 September Monthly Report.  
  
• DISPOSITION: The respondent agreed to participate in an FEC conference, webinar, or other program and to pay a civil penalty of $8,600.
  

ADR 836

• COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
  
• RESPONDENT: Arizona Grassroots Action PAC and Lisa Lisker, in her official capacity as treasurer
  
• SUBJECT: The respondent failed to file a 24-Hour Report totaling $30,000 to support an independent expenditure disclosed on its 2016 30-Day Post-General Report.
  
• DISPOSITION: The respondent agreed to develop and certify (1) implementation of a compliance operations manual including internal controls and (2) a process to track receipt of and response to communications with the Commission, and to pay a civil penalty of $2,250.
  

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 3298

• Friends of Pam Tucker and Kenneth G. Bellevue, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $326.
  

Litigation

• Campaign Legal Center v. FEC (Case 1:18-cv-00053). On January 10, the Campaign Legal Center filed a Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief alleging the Commission has delayed action on an administrative complaint.
  
• CREW v. FEC (Case 1:16-cv-02255-CRC). On January 9, the plaintiffs filed their Reply in Support of Plaintiffs’ Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment.
  
• Pursuing America’s Greatness v. FEC (Case 1:15-cv-01217-TSC). On January 9, the Commission filed a Reply in Support of Its Motion for Summary Judgment.
  

Rulemaking and agency procedures

• Draft Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for REG 2014-02 (Independent expenditures by authorized committees; reporting multistate independent expenditures and electioneering communications). On January 11, the Commission approved an NPRM, which solicits public comment on proposed changes to its regulations in (1) 11 CFR parts 102 and 104 concerning independent expenditures by candidates and (2) 11 CFR parts 104 and 109 to address reporting of independent expenditures and electioneering communications that relate to presidential primary elections and that are publicly distributed in multiple states but do not refer to any particular state’s primary election. The Commission will accept comments on the Notice for 60 days after it is published in the Federal Register.
  

Press releases

• FEC approves NPRM on independent expenditures (issued January 11)
  

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

• January 23, 2018: The Commission is scheduled to hold an executive session.
• January 25, 2018: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

Meeting dates are subject to change. Please contact the Press Office the week of the scheduled meeting for confirmation.

Upcoming educational programs

• January 17: Year-End Reporting and FECFile Webinar for PACs and Party Committees. Additional information is available on the Educational Outreach page of the Commission website.
  
• January 24: Year-End Reporting and FECFile Webinar for Candidate Committees. Additional information is available on the Educational Outreach page of the Commission website.
  
• February 21-22: Scottsdale, Arizona 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

January 31: 2017 Year-End Reports are due. For information on quarterly reporting dates, refer to the 2018 Quarterly Reporting page of the Commission website.

Additional research materials

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

Federal Elections 2016: Election Results for the U.S. President, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives is available. The data was compiled from the official vote totals published by state election offices.

The 2017 edition of the Combined Federal State Disclosure and Election Directory is available. 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.

Join the FEC on Twitter and YouTube

 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.