Week of March 2 - March 6, 2015

Weekly Digest

Week of March 2 – 6

COMMISSION MEETINGS AND HEARINGS

On March 3, the Commission held an executive session.

The open meeting scheduled for March 5 was rescheduled for March 10.

ADVISORY OPINIONS

AOR 2014-20 (Make Your Laws PAC). On March 2, the Commission made public a revised draft advisory opinion. The requestor, a nonconnected political committee, asks whether foreign nationals may assign intellectual property rights created as a result of volunteer services they provide to the requestor to develop the requestor''''s website, logos, trademarks and trade dress.

ENFORCEMENT

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

MUR 6405
COMPLAINANT: Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
RESPONDENTS: Friends of John McCain Inc. and Keith A. Davis, in his official capacity as treasurer; John McCain; Ruth McClung for Congress and Anne Loftfield, in her official capacity as treasurer; Ruth McClung; Kelly for Congress and Kristen L. Smith, in her official capacity as treasurer; and Jesse Kelly
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that McCain and Friends of John McCain Inc. and Davis, in his official capacity as treasurer (McCain Committee) made and McClung, Ruth McClung for Congress and Loftfield, in her official capacity as treasurer (McClung Committee) and Kelly, Kelly for Congress and Smith, in her official capacity as treasurer (Kelly Committee), received excessive, in-kind contributions as a result of coordinated communications. The complaint alleged further that the McCain Committee jeopardized its authorized committee status by providing support to other federal candidates by paying for independent communications that expressly advocated those candidates’ election. McClung and Kelly were 2010 candidates in Arizona’s 7th and 8th Congressional Districts, respectively. McCain was a 2010 candidate for Arizona’s United States Senate seat.
DISPOSITION: The Commission found no reason to believe coordination occurred because the advertisements at issue did not appear to satisfy the conduct prong of the Commission’s coordination regulations. The Commission further exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the allegation that McCain and the McCain Committee violated 52 U.S.C. § 30102(e)(3)(A) (formerly 2 U.S.C. § 432(e)(3)(A)), because it is unlikely that independent spending by authorized committees would be deemed more potentially corrupting than independent expenditures by individuals, political parties, or corporations.

MUR 6712
COMPLAINANT: Revolvis Consulting, Inc.
RESPONDENT: Kreegel for Congress and Alan Childers, in his official capacity as treasurer
SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Kreegel for Congress and Childers, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee), failed to report a debt of $49,762.63 for consulting services that Revolvis rendered to the Committee.
DISPOSITION: The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the matter in light of the remedial action taken by the Committee in amending its reports shortly after being notified of the complaint.

ADMINISTRATIVE FINES

The Commission made public four 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 2807– Uniformed Firefighters Association of New York and Edward Brown, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $785.

AF 2825– Republican Party of Bexar County and Scott J. Stratton, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $220.

AF 2826– Richard Bolger for Congress and Richard Bolger, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $550.

AF 2843– Lynch for Congress and Laura Lynch, in her official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $5,562.

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 742– Texas Patriots PAC and William J. O’Sullivan, Jr., in his official capacity as treasurer. The respondent agreed to (1) develop and certify implementation of a compliance operations manual which includes internal controls consistent with the Commission’s Internal Controls and Political Committees advisory document and Best Practices for Committee Management (2) certify that a representative of the Committee participated in an FEC conference, webinar, or other program developed in consultation with the FEC’s Information Division, and (3) pay a civil penalty of $3,500.

LITIGATION

Stop Reckless Economic Instability caused by Democrats, et al. v. FEC (Case 1:14-cv-00397-AJT-IDD). On February 27, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia issued a Memorandum Opinion, Order and Judgment.

FILING NEWS

The FEC has developed webforms that will allow most federal candidates and committees to register with the Commission online. The Statement of Organization (Form 1) and Statement of Candidacy (Form 2) webforms are available on the “Registration and Reporting Forms” and “Online Webforms” pages of FEC.gov. The new webforms accommodate all committee types, work with most major web browsers, and are easier to complete than their paper counterparts. Senate candidates cannot file electronically, but may complete the webforms, print paper copies and file the copies with the Secretary of the Senate. See 11 CFR 104.18.

PRESS RELEASES

District Court Issues Memorandum Opinion and Order in Stop Reckless Economic Instability caused by Democrats, et al. v. FEC (issued March 2)

Meeting Advisory: FEC Reschedules Tomorrow’s Open Meeting to March 10 at 1:00 p.m. (issued March 4)

CAMPAIGN FINANCE REPORTS

The Commission posted the filing deadlines for the Special Election in Mississippi’s First 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 Special General Election in New York’s 11th Congressional District. For information on reporting dates for this election, refer to the Special Election Report Notice.

UPCOMING COMMISSION MEETINGS AND HEARINGS

March 10: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

March 10: The Commission is scheduled to reconvene the executive session of March 3.

March 17 and 19: The Commission is scheduled to hold an executive session.

March 19: 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    

March 25: Webinar for Member/Labor PACs. Additional information is available on the Educational Outreach page of the Commission website.

UPCOMING REPORTING DUE DATES

March 20: March Monthly Reports are due. For more information on monthly reporting dates, refer to the 2015 Monthly Reporting page of the Commission website.

April 15: April Quarterly Reports are due. For information on quarterly reporting dates, refer to the 2015 Quarterly Reporting page of the Commission website.

April 20: April Monthly Reports are due. For more information on monthly reporting dates, refer to the 2015 Monthly Reporting 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.

The Commission has published the 2015 Record Index page. An index to previously published Record news articles 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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