Week of February 10 - February 14, 2014

Weekly Digest

Week of February 10 – 14

COMMISSION MEETINGS AND HEARINGS

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

ADVISORY OPINIONS

Request Received

AOR 2014-02 (Make Your Laws PAC). On February 12, the Commission made public Advisory Opinion Request 2014-02 from Make Your Laws PAC (MYL PAC). MYL PAC asks several questions related to its receipt, purchase, and disbursement of Bitcoins. The Commission will accept written comments on the request during the 10-day period following publication of the request (no later than February 24, 2014) and must issue a response no later than 60 days after receipt of the complete request, that is, by April 14, 2014.

ADMINISTRATIVE FINES

The Commission made public two 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 2632 – Friends of Liberty for Jessica and Gary E. Doan, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $550.

AF 2744 – Jim Renacci for Congress and Russell Corwin, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $9,749.

AUDITS

Final Audit Report of the Commission on the North Dakota Republican Party. On February 12, the Commission made public the Final Audit Report of the Commission on the North Dakota Republican Party, covering campaign finance activity between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010. The Commission approved findings related to (1) the misstatement of financial activity and (2) the reporting of debts and obligations.

LITIGATION

CREW v. FEC (Case 11-cv-00951-CKK-JMF). On February 12, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued a Report and Recommendation recommending that the district court grant the fee petition and award the plaintiffs their attorneys'''' fees and costs.

Kuhn for Congress v. FEC (Case 2:13-cv-03337-PMD-BHH). On January 6, the plaintiff filed a Petition for Review in the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina. The complaint challenges the $8,800 civil penalty the Commission assessed in connection with a late filing.

UPCOMING COMMISSION MEETINGS

February 25: The Commission is scheduled to hold an executive session.

February 27: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS

On February 11-12, the Commission hosted a Regional Conference for House & Senate Campaigns, Political Party Committees and Corporate/Trade/Labor PACs in Tampa, Florida.

UPCOMING REPORTING DUE DATES

February 20: February Monthly Reports are due. For more information on monthly reporting dates, refer to the 2014 Monthly Reporting page of the Commission website.

The Commission posted the filing deadlines for the Special Election in Florida’s 19th Congressional District. For information on reporting dates for this election, refer to the Special Election Report Notice.

The Commission posted the filing deadlines for the Senate Special Election in Oklahoma. For information on reporting dates for this election, refer to the Special Election Report Notice.

UPCOMING EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS

March 19, Federal Election Commission, Washington, D.C. Seminar/Webinar for House and Senate Campaigns and Party Committees. Additional information is available on the Educational Outreach page of the Commission website.

OTHER RESOURCES

The 2013 Legislative Recommendations are 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 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 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.

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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