Week of January 6 - January 10, 2014

Weekly Digest

Week of January 6 - 10

COMMISSION MEETINGS AND HEARINGS

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

ENFORCEMENT

The Commission made public two closed cases and two Statements of Reasons, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Enforcement Query System.

MUR 6396
COMPLAINANTS: Public Citizen; ProtectOurElections.org; ProsperityAgenda.us; AmericanCrossroadsWatch.org; Kevin Zeese; Craig Holman; and Missouri Democratic Party
RESPONDENT: Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies, a 501(c)(4) organization, failed to organize, register and report as a political committee despite raising and spending significant amounts of money to influence federal elections.
DISPOSITION: The Commission closed the file. On January 10, Statements of Reasons were issued by Chairman Lee E. Goodman and Commissioners Caroline C. Hunter and Matthew S. Petersen and by Vice Chair Ann M. Ravel and Commissioners Steven T. Walther and Ellen L. Weintraub.

MUR 6654
COMPLAINANT: Democratic Party of Connecticut
RESPONDENTS: Obsitnik for Congress, Inc. and Bradley Crate, in his official capacity as treasurer; and Roraback for Congress and Anna-Elysapeth McGuire, in her official capacity as treasurer
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Obsitnik for Congress, Inc. and Crate, in his official capacity as treasurer, and Roraback for Congress and McGuire, in her official capacity as treasurer, did not comply with the Commission’s joint fundraising regulations in connection with a cocktail reception hosted in a private residence when the committees failed to (1) establish a joint fundraising committee for the purpose of administrating the event and (2) provide the appropriate joint fundraising notice to prospective donors in the event invitation. Steve Obsitnik and Andrew Roraback were 2012 candidates for Connecticut’s 4th and 5th Congressional Districts, respectively.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter in light of the de minimis dollar amounts and activity at issue.

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 2732 – Rice for Congress and Ronald C. Rice, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $170.

AF 2758 – Paul Broun Committee and Paul Kilgore, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination to take no further action.

ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION

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 640 – 4th Congressional District Republican Party of Minnesota and Beverly Aplikowski, in her official capacity as treasurer, James B. Carson and Mervale “Skip” Wolverton.  The Commission closed the file.

UPCOMING COMMISSION MEETINGS

January 16, 2014: The Commission is scheduled to hold both an open meeting and an executive session.

UPCOMING EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS

February 11-12, 2014, Tampa, Florida, 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 REPORTING DUE DATES

January 31, 2014: Year-End Reports are due. For more information on reporting dates, refer to the 2013 Reporting Dates page of the Commission website.

OTHER RESOURCES

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 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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