Week of March 1-5, 2021

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Advisory Opinions

Draft Opinion

Advisory Opinion Request 2021-01 (Aluminate, Inc.) On March 5, the Commission made public a draft advisory opinion in response to a request from Aluminate, Inc. The requestors ask whether it may use certain data from FEC reports in providing services to universities, colleges, and not-for-profit organizations.

Regulations and agency procedures

On March 5, the Commission made public a Draft Interpretive Rule on the Use of Campaign Funds for Security.

Administrative fines

The Commission made public 17 closed cases, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Enforcement Query System.

AF 3746 Malek for Congress and Chris M. Harrison, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $3,204.

AF 3747 American Pro-Israel PAC and Jeanne Sullivan, in her official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $6,541.

AF 3749 International Union of Operating Engineers Local #302 Voluntary Political Fund and Daren Konopaski, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $200.

AF 3750 Republican State Committee of Delaware and Dennis Cini, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $206.

AF 3751 Vermont Democratic Party and Billi Gosh, in her official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $684.

AF 3752 Republican State Committee of Delaware and Dennis Cini, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $684.

AF 3754 Committee to Elect HP and Dounia Metouri, in her official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $9,811.

AF 3755 Friends of Marc Friedenberg and Margaret Swoboda, in her official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed no civil penalty.

AF 3756 Jill Stein for President and Steven Welzer, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $17,662.

AF 3757 Jonathan Jenkins for Senate Committee and Office of Treasurer, in the official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $17,440.

AF 3758 Shaun Brown for Virginia and Octavianus Smith, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed no civil penalty.

AF 3759 Republican State Committee of Delaware and Dennis Cini, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $684.

AF 3760 Health Justice for All and Eric Feigl-Ding, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $3,117.

AF 3761 Republican State Committee of Delaware and Dennis Cini, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $684.

AF 3762 Bishop for Congress and Jinger Kelly, in her official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $11,634.

AF 3763 District Council 37 AFSCME Public Employees Organized for Pol & Leg Equality (DC37PEOPLE) and Maf Uddin, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $3,237.

AF 3764 Republican State Committee of Delaware and Dennis Cini, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $684.

Outreach

On March 2, Chair Shana M. Broussard and Vice Chair Allen Dickerson spoke with students at William & Mary Law School.

On March 3, the Commission hosted a webinar for corporations and their PACs.

Litigation

Level the Playing Field, et al. v. FEC (Case No. 20-649) On February 26, Petitioners filed a Reply Brief in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Upcoming educational programs

March 10, 2021: The Commission will host a 2021 Filing Dates Overview workshop. The 30-minute, online workshop is free but pre-registration is required to participate.

March 24, 2021: The Commission will hold a webinar for membership and labor organizations and their PACs.

April 7, 2021: The Commission will host a FECFile webinar for candidate committees.

For more information on upcoming training opportunities, see the Commission’s Trainings page.

Upcoming Commission meetings

March 9 and 11, 2021: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

March 11, 2021: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

March 23, 2021: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

March 25, 2021: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

Upcoming reporting due dates

March 20: March Monthly Reports are due. For more information, see the 2021 Monthly Reporting schedule.

The Commission has posted filing deadlines for the Texas 6th District Special Election. For information on the reporting dates for this election, refer to the Special Election Report Notice.

Status of agency operations

See the Commission’s statement on the status of agency operations, updated on January 4, 2021. At this stage, most agency staff remain in telework status and the Commission’s office remains closed to visitors.

Additional research materials

Contribution Limits. In addition to the current limits, the Commission has posted an archive of contribution limits that were in effect going back to the 1975-1976 election cycles.

2020 Presidential General Election Results and Federal Elections 2018: Election Results for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives are available. The data was compiled from the official vote totals published by state election offices.

FEC Notify: Want to be notified by email when campaign finance reports are received by the agency? Sign up here.

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

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.

Other election-related resources

Videos on protecting U.S. elections. The FBI’s Protected Voices initiative provides videos designed to help political campaigns protect themselves from foreign influence. The 2019 videos offer guidance on ransomware, business email compromise, supply chain, social media literacy, and foreign influence operations. Other videos, released in 2018, include cyber hygiene topics such as social engineering, patching, router hardening, and app and browser safety.

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 currently. The use of the agency’s logo, name, and likeness on other media has not been authorized by the FEC.