Week of September 5 – September 9, 2016

Commission meetings and hearings

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

Advisory opinions

Draft

Advisory Opinion 2016-09 (Martins for Congress)

On September 6, the Commission made public a draft of Advisory Opinion 2016-09. The requester asks whether it may raise contributions subject to a separate limit for a new primary. Public comments on the draft were due by September 8, 2016.

Enforcement

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

MUR 7052

• COMPLAINANT: Self-Initiated
  
• RESPONDENTS: Freedom Fund and Lance Kolbet, in his official capacity as treasurer; and Thomas O’Gara
  
• SUBJECT: Freedom Fund and Kolbet, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee), notified the Commission that O’Gara made, and the Committee knowingly accepted, excessive in-kind contributions, and that the Committee failed to keep required records relating to those contributions and timely disclose those contributions in its disclosure reports.
  
• DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for the Committee and O’Gara to pay a combined civil penalty of $12,600.
  

Litigation

• CREW v. FEC (Case 1:16-cv-01088). On September 6, the Plaintiffs filed a Memorandum in Opposition to Commission''''s Motion to Dismiss in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
  
• Independence Institute v. FEC (Case 14-5249). On September 2, the Commission filed itsReply Memorandum in Support of Its Motion for Summary Judgment in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
  
• Public Citizen, et al. v. FEC (Case 1:14-cv-00148-RJL). On September 6, the Plaintiffs filed a Supplemental Brief, the Intervenor-Defendant Crossroads GPS filed aSupplemental Argument and the Commission filed its Supplemental Memorandum in Support of Its Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
  

Outreach

• On September 8, Chairman Matthew S. Petersen and Commissioner Ellen L. Weintraub spoke at "Corporate Political Activities 2016: Complying with Campaign Finance, Lobbying and Ethics Laws," a program of the Practising Law Institute, in Washington, DC.
  
• On September 8, Commissioner Ann M. Ravel delivered a speech during a seminar entitled "Money, Politics, and the Supreme Court," at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, CA.
  
• On September 9, Commissioner Ravel spoke about campaign finance law to the California Women Lawyers at their annual "Elect to Run" event this year in Los Angeles, CA.
  

Public disclosure

• On September 9, the Commission issued the Statistical Summary of 18-Month Campaign Activity of the 2015-2016 Election Cycle.
  

Press releases

• FEC Cites Committee for Failure to File 12-Day Pre-Primary Financial Report (issued September 6)
  

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

• September 13: The Commission is scheduled to hold an executive session.
  
• September 15: 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

• September 22: Roundtable Workshop/Webinar on Reporting for PACs and Party Committees. Additional information is available on the Educational Outreach page of the Commission website.
  
• September 22: Roundtable Workshop/Webinar on FECFile for PACs and Party Committees. Additional information is available on the Educational Outreach page of the Commission website.
  
• September 28: Roundtable Workshop/Webinar on Reporting for Candidate Committees. Additional information is available on the Educational Outreach page of the Commission website.
  
• September 28: Roundtable Workshop/Webinar on FECFile for Candidate Committees. Additional information is available on the Educational Outreach page of the Commission website.
  

Upcoming reporting due dates

• September 20: September 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 2016 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 Commission has published the September Record newsletter. Sign up to receive email notification when new Record articles are posted.

The 2016 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.