Week of August 19 - August 23, 2013
Weekly Digest Week of August 19 - 23
COMMISSION MEETINGS AND HEARINGS
On August 22, the Commission held an open meeting. Click here for agendas and related documents for open meetings. Click here for audio recordings of selected meetings, hearings and presentations. ADVISORY OPINIONS
Advisory Opinions Issued
AO 2013-09 (Special Operations Speaks PAC and Robert L. Maness). On August 22, the Commission concluded that because Special Operations Speaks PAC (SOS) has not made contributions to at least five federal candidates and therefore is not yet qualified as a multicandidate political committee, it is prohibited from contributing more than $2,600 per election to Maness, and Maness is prohibited from knowingly accepting more than $2,600 per election from SOS.
Advisory Opinions Considered
AOR 2013-04 (Democratic Governors Association and Jobs & Opportunity). On August 22, the Commission discussed and then held over an advisory opinion request from the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) and Jobs and Opportunity. DGA is an independent, unincorporated political organization that operates under section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code. Its membership consists of the nation''''s incumbent Democratic governors. Jobs and Opportunity intends to be a separate 527 organization that will engage in independent spending in gubernatorial races. The requestors ask whether, under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended, and Commission regulations, their disbursements for voter registration, get-out-the-vote activities, voter identification, and generic campaign activities may be made with non-federal funds. On August 22, the Commission received an extension to issue a response by September 12, 2013. Request Withdrawn AOR 2013-10 (National Republican Senatorial Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee). On August 21, the requestors withdrew their request for an Advisory Opinion. The requestors had asked whether national party committees may pay for building related expenses from separate federal accounts that the committees have established to pay for recounts and some other expenses. ENFORCEMENT The Commission made public one campaign finance enforcement matter that was resolved through its Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) program, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Enforcement Query System. ADR 629– Randy Hultgren for Congress and Paul Kilgore, in his official capacity as treasurer. The respondent agreed to (1) develop and certify implementation of compliance measures, (2) send a representative to an FEC conference, and (3) pay a civil penalty of $2,500. AUDITS
Audit Division Recommendation Memorandum on the Mississippi Democratic Party PAC (MDP). On August 22, the Commission approved the Audit Division Recommendation Memorandum on the MDP, covering campaign finance activity between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010, subject to changes discussed at the open meeting. The Audit Division Recommendation Memorandum proposed that the Commission approve findings presented in the Draft Final Audit Report related to the misstatement of financial activity, disclosure of disbursements, disclosure of occupation/name of employer and recordkeeping for employees. The Audit Division will prepare the Proposed Final Audit Report within 30 days. LITIGATION Conway for Senate v. FEC (Case 3:12-cv-00244-CRS-JDM). On August 20, the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky at Louisville issued its Memorandum Opinion and Order granting the Commission’s motion for summary judgment.
Shaun McCutcheon, et al., v. FEC (Case 12-536). On August 19, Appellant McCutcheon filed a Reply Brief in the United States Supreme Court. On August 16, Appellant RNC filed its Reply Brief. CAMPAIGN FINANCE REPORTS PRESS RELEASES District Court Issues Order in Conway for Senate v. FEC (issued August 21)
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS On August 20-21, the Commission hosted a Regional Conference for House & Senate Campaigns, Political Party Committees and Corporate/Trade/Labor PACsin Austin, Texas. UPCOMING EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS September 25, Federal Election Commission, Washington, DC. “Webinar: Candidate 101: Preparing for the Next Election Cycle.” Additional information is available on the Educational Outreach page of the Commission website. October 2, Federal Election Commission, Washington, DC. “Webinar: FECFile and E-Filing for Candidate Committees.” Additional information is available on the Educational Outreach page of the Commission website. October 23-24, San Francisco, California, Regional Conference for House & Senate Campaigns, Political Party Committees and Corporate/Trade/Labor PACs. Additional information is available on the Educational Outreach page of the Commission website. UPCOMING COMMISSION MEETINGS
September 12: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.
The 2013 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 Official 2012 Presidential General Election Results are available in the Library section of the website. This listing was compiled from the official election results published by state election offices.
An index to the Record news articles published in 2013 is available on the Commission website. The Record news page is available in the Publications section of the Commission website. Sign up to receive email notification when new articles are posted.
The FEC Annual Reports from 1975-2006 are now available on the website. Beginning in 2007, the Commission consolidated its Annual Report with its Performance and Accountability Report (PAR) to provide a single account of the agency''''s activities for each fiscal year.
The 2012 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.
Instructional videos are available on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/FECTube?feature=watch. These videos are also available on the Commission''''s E-Learning resources page at http://www.fec.gov/info/elearning.shtml.
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