Weeks of September 30

Weekly Digest

Weeks of September 30 – October 18

COMMISSION MEETINGS AND HEARINGS

No Commission open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week. The executive session previously scheduled for October 8 and the open meeting previously scheduled for October 10 were not held due to the federal government shutdown.

ADVISORY OPINIONS

Extensions of Time Received

AOR 2013-13 (Freshman Hold''''em JFC). On October 18, the Commission received an Extension of Time until November 22 on Advisory Opinion Request 2013-13 from the Freshman Hold''''em Joint Fundraising Committee, Stutzman for Congress, Gardner for Congress 2012, Tom Reed for Congress, Denham for Congress, Benishek for Congress, Inc., Rodney for Congress, Duffy for Congress, Chris Gibson for Congress, Friends of Joe Heck, Friends of Dave Joyce, Pat Meehan for Congress, Scott Rigell for Congress, Rothfus for Congress, Jon Runyan for Congress, Inc., VoteTipton.com, Valadao for Congress, and Walorski for Congress Inc. Joint Fundraising Committee. The requestors ask whether Freshman Hold’em JFC may use its shorter name and its URL in its required disclaimers, rather than the committee''''s full name.

AOR 2013-15 (Conservative Action Fund). On October 18, the Commission received an Extension of Time until November 22 on Advisory Opinion Request 2013-15 from Conservative Action Fund (CAF). CAF asks several questions related to its receipt of Bitcoins as contributions.  

AOR 2013-16 (PoliticalRefund.org). On October 18, the Commission received an Extension of Time until November 22 on Advisory Opinion Request 2013-16. PoliticalRefund.org asks whether it may use data obtained from reports filed with the Commission to contact contributors to federal candidates to inform them of their right to seek refunds of their contributions, and to facilitate such requests. The requestor also asks whether it may collect and display on its website the aggregate number of people requesting refunds from specific campaign committees, and whether it may accept banner advertising on its website and sponsorship of its contacts with contributors.

AOR 2013-17 (The Tea Party Leadership Fund). On October 18, the Commission received an Extension of Time until November 22 on Advisory Opinion Request 2013-17. The Tea Party Leadership Fund (TPLF) seeks an exemption from the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended, (the Act) and Commission regulations requiring reporting to the FEC contributors to the TPLF and to the recipients of TPLF disbursements.

Comment Received

AOR 2013-11 (Citizens for Joe Miller). On October 17, the Commission received a comment on Advisory Opinion Request 2013-11. Citizens for Joe Miller (the Committee) is an authorized committee of Joseph Miller, a former federal candidate for Senate from Alaska. The Committee asks whether it can use campaign funds as a deposit with an Alaska state court pending an appeal of an Alaskan judgment assessing attorney''''s fees in litigation involving Mr. Miller.

LITIGATION

Combat Veterans for Congress PAC v. FEC (Case 1:11-cv-02168-CKK). On September 30, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued its Memorandum Opinion and an Order granting summary judgment to the Commission.

FEC v. Craig for U.S. Senate (Case 1:12-cv-00958-ABJ). On September 30, the Commission filed its Motion for Summary Judgment in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

Free Speech v. FEC (Case 13-8033). On September 30, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit issued its Order.

Van Hollen v. FEC (Case 1:11-cv-00766-ABJ). On October 17, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia vacated the Motions Hearing set for October 22 and rescheduled the hearing for October 29.

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS

Due to the federal government shutdown, the October 2 Webinars on October Quarterly Reporting for Candidate Committees and FECFile and E-Filing for Candidate Committees were cancelled.

CAMPAIGN FINANCE REPORTS

October 15: October Quarterly Reports were due. For information on quarterly reporting dates, refer to the 2013 Quarterly Reporting page of the Commission website.  The Commission has announced that it will not pursue administrative fines against filers whose reports were due during the federal government shutdown and who failed to file on a timely basis as long as they filed their reports by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, October 18, 2013.  See 11 CFR 111.35.  This deadline applied to both electronic filers and paper filers, including those that file with the Secretary of the Senate.

UPCOMING COMMISSION MEETINGS

October 31: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

UPCOMING EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS

October 23-24, San Francisco, California, 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

October 20: October Monthly Reports are due. For information on monthly reporting dates, refer to the 2013 Monthly Reporting page of the Commission website.

OTHER RESOURCES

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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