Weekly Digest Week of June 11 – 15
COMMISSION MEETINGS AND HEARINGS
No Commission Executive Sessions or Open Meetings were scheduled this week.
ADVISORY OPINIONS Advisory Opinions Issued
AO 2012-17 (Red Blue T LLC, ArmourMedia, Inc., and m-Qube, Inc.). On June 11, the Commission concluded that m-Qube, Inc.’s proposal that would allow political committees to use mobile phone text messaging to collect contributions is consistent with the recordkeeping and reporting requirements of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended, (the Act) and Commission regulations and conforms to the Act’s prohibition on corporate contributions. The Commission further concluded that the proposal does not implicate the contribution forwarding requirements of the Act and satisfies the segregation requirement for commercial vendors that process political contributions.
AO 2012-19 (American Future Fund). American Future Fund intends to produce and distribute certain broadcast advertisements and asks whether or not any of its proposed ads refer to a clearly identified candidate and therefore are electioneering communications. On June 13, the Commission concluded that two of AFF’s eight proposed advertisements would constitute electioneering communications, and one of the proposed advertisements would not constitute an electioneering communication. The Commission could not approve a response by the required four affirmative votes about the remaining proposed advertisements. A Concurring Statement was issued by Vice Chair Ellen L. Weintraub and Commissioner Cynthia L. Bauerly.
Advisory Opinions and Requests are available through the Advisory Opinions search page in the Law and Regulations section of the Commission website. ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION The Commission made public two campaign finance enforcement matters that were resolved through its Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) program. ADR 599 – New Hampshire Republican State Committee and Robert Scott, in his official capacity as treasurer. The respondent agreed to (1) implement compliance measures and (2) pay a civil penalty of $6,000. ADR 607 – Karen Harrington for Congress and Janet C. Haley, in her official capacity as treasurer. The respondent agreed to (1) implement compliance measures, (2) send representatives to an FEC conference and (3) pay a civil penalty of $1,500. For more information, see the case documents in the Enforcement Query System. ADMINISTRATIVE FINES
The Commission made public one campaign finance enforcement matter that was resolved through its Administrative Fines (AF) program. AF 2495 – Americans for Legal Immigration PAC and Jane Patterson, in her official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $1,910. For more information, see the case documents in the Enforcement Query System. LITIGATION Beam v. Hunter (formerly Beam v. Petersen) (No. 11-3386). On June 8, the appellants filed a brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. FEC v. Craig for U.S. Senate (No. 12-cv-00958 (ABJ)). On June 11, the Commission filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The complaint alleges that defendants converted campaign contributions to personal use and seeks a permanent injunction against future similar violations, an order requiring Larry Craig to repay the converted funds to Craig for U.S. Senate, and the assessment of civil penalties against the defendants. The Real Truth About Abortion f/k/a Real Truth About Obama v. Federal Election Commission (Civ. No. 11-1760). On June 12, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued an opinion. IT INITIATIVES The Commission has introduced an Electronic Filing RSS feed, which allows users to search and download recently filed reports. This can be done automatically (via RSS reader) or manually (through scrolling the web page). Reports for the last seven days are posted and made available for immediate access. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Issues Opinion in Real Truth About Abortion, f/k/a Real Truth About Obama v. FEC (issued June 12) UPCOMING COMMISSION MEETINGS The Executive Session previously scheduled for June 19 has been cancelled. June 21: The Commission is scheduled to hold an Open Session. UPCOMING EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS July 11, Washington, DC. Roundtable Workshops on Reporting for PACs and Party Committees. Registration information and schedule are on the Educational Outreach page of the Commission website. July 11, Washington, DC. Roundtable Workshops on FECFile & E-Filing for Candidates Committees. Registration information and schedule are on the Educational Outreach page of the Commission website. July 11, Washington, DC. Roundtable Workshops on Reporting for Candidate Committees. Registration information and schedule are on the Educational Outreach page of the Commission website. July 11, Washington, DC. Roundtable Workshops on FECFile & E-Filing for PACs and Party Committees. Registration information and schedule are on the Educational Outreach page of the Commission website. UPCOMING REPORTING DUE DATES June 20: June Monthly Reports are due. For more information on monthly reporting dates, refer to the 2012 Monthly Reporting page of the Commission website. July 15: July Quarterly Reports are due. For information on quarterly reporting dates, refer to the 2012 Quarterly Reporting page of the Commission website. July 20: July Monthly Reports are due. For more information on monthly reporting dates, refer to the 2012 Monthly Reporting page of the Commission website. OTHER RESOURCES The 2012 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 Record news page is available in the Publications section of the Commission website. Sign up to receive email notification when new articles are posted. Printed copies of the 2012 edition of Title 11 of the Code of Federal Regulations are now available. To order, call (800)424-9530 (press 6) or send an email to info@fec.gov. Follow Us on Twitter - http://twitter.com/FECupdates |
