Week of March 7 – March 11, 2016

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 6646

• COMPLAINANT: Julia Brownley
• RESPONDENTS: Strickland for Congress 2012 and Lysa Ray, in her official capacity as treasurer; Matthew Doheny; and David Hilty
• SUBJECT: The complaint alleged that Strickland for Congress 2012 and Ray, in her official capacity as treasurer (the Committee), accepted excessive contributions from two individuals, Doheny and Hilty, which the Committee reported receiving after the 2012 primary election. Anthony Strickland was a 2012 primary election candidate for California’s 26th Congressional District.
• DISPOSITION: The Commission found no reason to believe Doheny and Hilty made excessive contributions because the record suggests that both made their contributions before the primary election and thus the Committee could have presumed the contributions were intended to be apportioned between the primary and general elections. The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed the allegations in connection with the Committee. The Commission observed that although the Committee could redesignate the excessive portions of the contributions, Commission regulations require that committees in such a situation provide notice to the contributors of the amount it redesignates and the opportunity to request a refund. The Committee did not appear to provide the required notice.

Administrative Fines

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

AF 2957

Brad Peck for Congress and Allen William Berkman, III, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission voted to otherwise terminate the proceedings.

AF 2963

DeFranco for Congress and Kai P. Moy, in his official capacity as treasurer. The Commission voted to otherwise terminate the proceedings.

AF 3021

Priorities for Iowa Political Fund and Sara Craig, in her official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $343.

Litigation

• FEC v. Lynch (Case 9:15-cv-81732-KAM). On March 7, the Commission filed its Amended Complaint for Civil Penalty, Declaratory, Injunctive, and Other Appropriate Relief and a Memorandum of Law in Opposition to Defendant's Motion to Dismiss in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. On March 8, the Court issued an Order Denying the Defendant’s Motion.
• FEC v. O’Donnell (Case 15-cv-00017-LPS). On March 8, the Commission filed its Motion for Summary Judgment in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware.
• Public Citizen, et al. v. FEC (Case 1:14-cv-00148-RJL). On March 9, the plaintiffs filed a Reply Memorandum in Support of their Motion for Summary Judgment and Memorandum in Opposition to Crossroads Grassroots Political Strategies' Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

Outreach

• On March 7, Commissioner Ann M. Ravel discussed campaign finance reform with students from Scholars for North Carolina's Future at Duke University.
• On March 10-13, Deputy Press Officer Christian Hilland and Disclosure Business Architect Paul Clark demonstrated the FEC's beta website at the 2016 CAR Conference, an investigative reporting conference, in Denver, CO.
• On March 11, Michael Columbo and Thomas Moore, Executive Assistants to Commissioners Lee E. Goodman and Ellen L. Weintraub, respectively, discussed the role of the FEC with researcher Jacob Kopnick, as part of the 44th Annual Washington Seminar Field Study.

Rulemaking and agency operations

• Technical Amendments to 2015 CFR. On March 10, the Commission made public two drafts of the Final Rules to Technical Amendments to 2015 of Title 11 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

Press releases

• FEC Cites Committees for Failure to File 12-Day Pre-Primary Financial Report (issued March 11)

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

• March 15: The Commission is scheduled to hold an executive session.
• March 16: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting and an executive session.

Meeting dates are subject to change. Please contact the Press Office the week of the scheduled meeting for confirmation.

Upcoming educational programs

• March 23: Webinar for Candidate Committees. 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 2016 Monthly Reporting page of the Commission website.
• April 15: April Quarterly Reports are due. For information on quarterly reporting dates, refer to the 2016 Quarterly Reporting page of the Commission website.
• April 20: April Monthly Reports are due. For more information on monthly reporting dates, refer to the 2016 Monthly Reporting page of the Commission website.

Disclosure initiatives

Commission staff, together with our partners at 18F, continue to add new features to the agency's beta.fec.gov website. The Commission encourages website visitors to submit comments and questions by clicking on the "Feedback" tab at the bottom of each page.

Additional research materials

Additional research materials about the agency, campaign finance information, and election results are available through the Library section of the Commission website.

The Commission has published the March Record newsletter. Sign up to receive email notification when new Record articles are posted.