Week of August 15 – August 19, 2016

Commission meetings and hearings

• On August 16, the Commission held an open meeting and an executive session.
  

Advisory opinions

Advisory opinion issued

Advisory Opinion 2016-08 (eBundler.com)

On August 16, the Commission issued Advisory Opinion 2016-08, responding to a number of questions about the requestor''''s proposed fundraising and contribution-processing platforms. The Commission concluded that the provision of fundraising, processing, forwarding, tracking, and solicitation services as proposed by the requestor, a non-partisan, for-profit, limited liability company, would not result in the requestor making contributions and would not subject the requestor to any reporting requirements under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended.

Litigation

• Holmes, et al. v. FEC (Case 16-5194). On August 16, the Plaintiffs filed an Opening Brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
• Independence Institute v. FEC (Case 1:14-cv-01500-CKK-PAM-APM). On August 12, the Plaintiff filed a Consolidated Opposition to Commission''''s Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment and Reply in Support of Its Motion for Summary Judgment in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

Rulemaking and agency procedures

Motion to Set Priorities and Scheduling on Pending Enforcement Matters Awaiting Reason-To-Believe Consideration

On August 16, the Commission voted on but did not reach the required four affirmative votes on a motion to adopt a policy and schedule to expedite Commission action on matters pending exclusively before the Commission for more than a year as of July 31, 2016.

REG 2013-01: Draft Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Technological Modernization

On August 16, the Commission held over discussion of this open meeting agenda item.

REG 2014-10: Implementing the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015

On August 16, the Commission held over discussion of this open meeting agenda item.

REG 2016-03: Political Party Rules

On August 16, the Commission held over discussion of this open meeting agenda item.

Proposal to Rescind Advisory Opinion 2006-15 (Transcanada)

On August 16, the Commission held over discussion of this open meeting agenda item. Commissioner Ann Ravel invites comment on this proposal at CommissionerRavel@fec.gov.

Agency procedures

• On August 18, the Commission announced an interim procedure staff will follow to verify information in filings from the 2016 election cycle that appear to be unlawfully false or fictitious. The new procedure comes in response to an increase this election cycle in the filing of registration and statement of candidacy forms (FEC Forms 1 and 2) that provide patently false candidate or treasurer names, questionable contact or bank information, or material that does not relate to campaign finance, such as drawings, essays and personal court records.
  

Press releases

• FEC Issues Advisory Opinion (issued August 17)
• FEC Adopts Interim Verification Procedure for Filings Containing Possibly False or Fictitious Information (issued August 18)

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

• September 13: The Commission is scheduled to hold an executive session.
• September 15: 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

• August 24: Webinar on Pre-Election Communications and Reporting. Additional information is available on the Educational Outreach page of the Commission website.

Upcoming reporting due dates

• August 20: August Monthly Reports are due. For more information on monthly reporting dates, refer to the 2016 Monthly Reporting page of the Commission website.

Disclosure initiatives

Commission staff, together with our partners at 18F, continue to add new features to the agency's beta.fec.gov website. The Commission encourages website visitors to submit comments and questions by clicking on the “Feedback” tab at the bottom of each page.

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.

The 2016 edition of the Combined Federal State Disclosure and Election Directory is available in the Public Records section of the 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 Commission has published the August Record newsletter. Sign up to receive email notification when new Record articles are posted.

The 2016 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.