Week of December 22 - December 26, 2014

Weekly Digest

Week of December 22 – 26

COMMISSION MEETINGS AND HEARINGS

No Commission open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

ENFORCEMENT

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

MUR 6662
COMPLAINANT: Shawn C. Phillips
RESPONDENTS: Heidi for Texas Campaign, Inc.; and Heidi Thiess
SUBJECT:  The complaint alleged that Heidi for Texas Campaign, Inc. (the Committee) funded communications in the form of emails in behalf of several federal candidates and did not include a proper disclaimer. The complaint also alleged that the Committee failed to disclose related contributions and expenditures to the Commission. Thiess was a 2012 state candidate for representative of Texas’s 24th state district.
DISPOSITION: The Commission found no reason to believe that the Committee and Thiess failed to include disclaimers because the emails at issue are not “public communications,” did not require disclaimers and did not need to be financed with funds subject to the limitations, prohibitions and reporting requirements of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended. The Commission further found no reason to believe that the Committee and Thiess failed to file independent expenditure notices because the available information indicates that any costs associated with the emails at issue were not in excess of the applicable reporting threshold.

ADMINISTRATIVE FINES

The Commission made public three campaign finance enforcement matters that were resolved through its Administrative Fines (AF) program, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Enforcement Query System.

AF 2779 – Jill Stein for President and James Moran, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $343.

AF 2788 – Jill Stein for President and James Moran, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $343.

AF 2789 – Jill Stein for President and James Moran, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $343.

LITIGATION 

Independence Institute v. FEC (Case 14-5249). On December 22, the Commission filed its Reply in Support of its Motion for Summary Affirmance and in Opposition to Appellant''''s Cross-Motion for Summary Reversal in the United States Court of Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Public Citizen, et al. v. FEC  (Case 14-5199). On December 19, the proposed intervenor-appellant filed the Reply Brief for Appellant Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

RULEMAKING

McCutcheon v. FEC Final Rule. On December 24, the Commission published the Final Rule in the Federal Register.

Petition for Rulemaking on Amendment of 11 C.F.R. 110.13(c) from Level the Playing Field. On December 23, the Commission made public 1,262 comments on a petition for rulemaking from Level the Playing Field. The petition requests that the Commission conduct a rulemaking proceeding to revise its regulations governing criteria for inclusion of candidates in presidential and vice presidential candidate debates.

FEDERAL REGISTER

On December 18, the Commission published the Notice of Disposition on Amendment to 11 C.F.R. 100.4 in the Federal Register.

UPCOMING COMMISSION MEETINGS

January 13, 2015: The Commission is scheduled to hold an executive session.

January 15, 2015: 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 14: Webinars for PACs and party committees on Year-End Reporting and FECFile. Additional information is available on the Educational Outreach page of the Commission website.

January 21: Webinars for candidate committees on Year-End Reporting and FECFile. Additional information is available on the Educational Outreach page of the Commission website.

UPCOMING REPORTING DUE DATES

January 31, 2015: Year-End Reports are due. For information on general election reporting dates, refer to the 2014 Reporting Dates page of the Commission website.

OTHER RESOURCES

The 2014 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 2014 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.

The 2014 Legislative Recommendations are available on the Commission’s website.

The 2014 edition of the Federal Election Commission Campaign Guide for Congressional Candidates and Committees is available on the Commission’s website.

The August 2013 edition of the Federal Election Commission Campaign Guide for Political Party Committees is available on the Commission’s website.

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 Record news articles published 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 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.

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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