Week of December 24 - December 28, 2012

Weekly Digest

Week of December 24 – 28

COMMISSION MEETINGS AND HEARINGS

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

ADVISORY OPINIONS

Request Received

AOR 2012-39 (Green Party of Virginia). On December 27, the Commission made public Advisory Opinion Request 2012-39. The Green Party of Virginia, a political committee that is registered with and reports to the Commission, asks to be recognized as the State committee of a political party, the Green Party of the United States. The Commission will accept written comments on the request during the 10-day period following publication of the request (no later than January 7, 2013) and shall issue a response no later than 60 days after receipt of the complete request, specifically by February 12, 2013.

ENFORCEMENT

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

MUR 6533
COMPLAINANT: Colorado Republican Committee
RESPONDENTS: Perry Haney; Perry Haney for Congress f/k/a/ Perry Haney for Congress Exploratory Committee and Terrance Snyder, in his official capacity as treasurer
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Haney and Perry Haney for Congress f/k/a/ Perry Haney for Congress Exploratory Committee and Snyder, in his official capacity as treasurer, (the Committee) failed to register and report with the Commission in a timely manner after Haney became a candidate. Haney was a 2012 candidate for Colorado’s 6th Congressional District.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the allegation that Haney and the Committee failed to timely register with the Commission in light of the fact that (1) the Commission is not aware of any statement indicating that Haney was a candidate early enough that his principal campaign committee was required to file a disclosure report prior to the 2011 Year-End Report and (2) the Committee filed its initial disclosure report in a timely manner. The Commission found no reason to believe the Committee filed untimely disclosure reports because the Committee filed the 2011 Year-End Report in a timely manner.

LITIGATION

Miller v. FEC (Case 1:12-cv-00242-SJD). On December 21, the Commission filed its Reply Memorandum in Support of Its Motion for Summary Judgment in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

RULEMAKING AND AGENCY PROCEDURES

December 27, the Commission received public comments in response to the Draft Notice of Availability of a Petition for Rulemaking on Electioneering Communications Reporting.

UPCOMING EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS

January 16, 2013, Federal Election Commission, Washington, DC. Roundtable Workshops/Webinars on “2012 Year-end Reporting and Electronic Filing for PACs and Party Committees.” Additional information is available on the Educational Outreach page of the Commission website.

January 23, 2013, Federal Election Commission, Washington, DC. Webinars on “2012 Year-end Reporting and Electronic Filing for Candidate Committees.” Additional information is available on the Educational Outreach page of the Commission website.

February 13, 2013, Federal Election Commission, Washington, DC. “Candidate 101: Preparing for the Next Election Cycle” Webinar for new candidates and their campaign staff. Additional information is available on the Educational Outreach page of the Commission website.

UPCOMING REPORTING DUE DATES

January 31, 2013: Year-end Reports are due. For more information on reporting dates, refer to the Reporting page of the Commission website.

OTHER RESOURCES

The 2012 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.

An index to the Record news articles published in 2012 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.

Printed copies of the 2012 edition of Title 11 of the Code of Federal Regulations are now available and can be downloaded from the website. To order, 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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