Week of August 5 – 9, 2019

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Advisory Opinions

Request Received

Advisory Opinion Request 2019-15 (NORPAC)

On August 9, 2019, the Commission made public Advisory Opinion Request 2019-15. The requestor, NORPAC, a political action committee, asks whether it may deduct a percentage fee from earmarked contributions that it forwards in order to reimburse its own solicitation and administrative costs. The Commission will accept written comments on the request during the 10-day period following publication of the request (no later than August 19, 2019) and must issue a response no later than 60 days after the receipt of the complete request, that is, by October 7, 2019.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

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

ADR 900

COMPLAINANT: Jonathan Lines, Chairman, Arizona Republican Party
RESPONDENTS: Brill for Congress and David Brill, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that the Committee engaged in non-commercial travel to conduct campaign activities and may have accepted a prohibited or excessive in-kind contribution for the value of the flight, depending on the cost of the flight and the ownership of the aircraft used. Brill was a 2018 candidate for Arizona’s 4th Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to participate in a one-on-one training with Commission staff regarding reporting requirements and to amend its campaign finance reports to disclose the non-commercial travel.

Litigation

Campaign Legal Center, et al. v. FEC (Case No. 19-2336) On August 2, Plaintiffs filed a Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia alleging that the Commission acted contrary to law when it dismissed an administrative complaint.

Outreach

On August 8, Audit Manager Kendrick Smith, Assistant Branch Chief of the Party/Non-Party Branch Kaitlin Seufert, and Senior Campaign Finance and Reviewing Analyst Romy Adame-Wilson led workshop discussions on reporting and compliance at the California Treasurer Conference in Washington, D.C.

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

August 20: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

August 22: 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 reporting due dates

August 20: August Monthly reports are due. For more information on monthly reporting dates, refer to the 2019 Monthly Reporting page of the Commission website.

Upcoming educational programs

On August 27-28, the Commission will host a Regional Conference in Chicago, IL for candidates, political parties, and political action committees.

Additional research materials

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.

Printed copies of the 2019 edition of Title 11 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) are available. Contact the Commission's Information Division at (202) 694-1100 or (800) 424-9530 (press 6, when prompted) to order printed copies of the CFR at no charge. You may also email the Information Division to place an order at info@fec.gov.

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.

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. To order a printed copy, please contact the FEC’s Public Records Office at 800/424-9530 (option 2) or 202/694-1120, or send an email to pubrec@fec.gov.

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

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 media has not been authorized by the FEC.