THE FEDERAL ELECTION

COMMISSION

1325 KStreet NW., Washington, D.C. 20463

.Volume 6, Number 1 January 19S0

1980 PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES

According to information received from the Secretaries

of State, each of the states below has established the indicated date for its Presidential primary.

FEDERAL ELECTION

CAMPAIGN ACT AMENDED

On December 20, 1979, just as th is month's

Record went to press, the House passed H.R. 5010,

which contains major amendments to the Federal

Election Campaign Act. The same bill had passed the

Senate on December 18, 1979. H.R. 5010 substantially changes the reporting and bookkeeping requirements that apply to all federal candidates and all

political committees. The February Record will

provide detailed information on these amendments

to the Act.

NEW CAMPAIGN GUIDE FOR PRESIDENTIAL

CANDIDATES AND THEIR COMMITTEES

The Commission recently published the Campaign Guide

for Presidential Candidates and Their Committees. This

latest Guide focuses on the application of the Act and

Commission Regulations to all Presidential candidates

and their committees. For those candidates who qualify,

or think they might qualify, for public funding for the

primary election, a special chapter is included on the

Primary Matching Payment Program. The Guide also

covers: Contributions and Expenditures; Starting, Conducting and Terminating the Campaign; and Keeping

Records and Filing Reports. The appendices to the Guide

contsin additional information on public funding expenditure limits, independent expenditures, a recommended

procedure for recording contributions and guidelines for

joint fundraising. .

The Guide, which is printed as a binder insert, hasbeen sent

to all registered. Presidential candidates and their authorized

committees. Additional copies of the Guide are available

from the Office of Public Communications.

Alabama

Arkansas

California

Connecticut

District of Columbia

Florida

Georgia

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

Ohio

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Puerto Rico

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Vermont

West Virginia

Wisconsin

March 11

May 27 (D)

June 3

March 25

May 6

March 11

March 11

May 27

March 18

May 6

April 1

May 27

April 5

May 13

March 4

May 20

June 3

May 13

May 27

February 26

June 3

June 3

March 25

May 6

June 3

May 20

April 22

February 17 (R)

March 16 (D)

June 3

March 8 (R)

June 3

May 6

May 3 (R)

March 4

June 3

April 1
ADVISORY OPINION REQUESTS

Advisory Opinion Requests (AOR's) pose questions on

the application of the Act or Commission Regulations to

specific factual situations described in the ADR. The

following chart lists recent AOA's, with a brief description

of the subject matter, the date the requests were made

public and the number of pages of each request. The full

text of each AOR is available to the public in the Cornmission's Office of Public Records.

ADVISORY OPINIONS: SUMMARIES

An Advisory Opinion (AO) issued by the Commission

provides guidance with regard to the specific situation

described in the ADR's. Any qualified person who has

requested an AO and acts in accordance with the opinion

will not be subject to any sanctions under the Act. Other

persons may rely on the opinion if they are involved in a

specific activity which is indistinguishable in all material

aspects from the activity discussed in the AO. Those

seeking guidance for their own activity, however, should

consult the full text of an AO and not rely only on the

summary given here.

AOR Subject

1979-68 Transfer of funds between

affiliated committees.

1979-69 Solicitation of "associate"

members of trade association by

trade association's PAC;whether

corporation's purchase of timber

cutting rightson federal land'

confers federal contractor status

on corporation.

Date Made

Public

11/23n9

11/29n9

No. of

Pagll5

2

4

AO 1979-56: Affiliation of Political

Action Committees

The proposed pol itical action committee of Brunswick,

a joint venture corporation established by Scott Paper

Company and the Mead Corporation, would be affiliated

with the political action committees of both parent corporations (SCOTTPACand MEADPACI. The management

agreement between Scott and Mead gives each corporation

the authority to appoint and remove executive officers and

board members of Brunswick and otherwise influence

decisions made by Brunswick.

1979-70 Corporate PAC'spublication of 11/29/79

responses by all Presidential

candidates to corporation's

questions on selected public issues.

1979-71 Reporting requirements for PAC 11130n9

making contributions to Presidential candidate involvedin

state caucus.

1979-72 PAC reimbursement to parent 12/5/79

organization for fundraising

costs related to entertainment

and raffle.

1979-73 Proper allocation of salariesand 12/7/79

expenses of Presidential campaign's advancestaff.

1979-74 Lobbyist's continued employ- 12/11n9

ment by corporations during

his candidacy for federal office.

1979·75 Combined fundraising for federal 12/11/79

and non-federal elections by PAC

and its state and local chapters.

1979·76 PAC'sacceptance of corporate 12/12n9

check in payment for book

published by PAC.

1979-77 Permissible activities of and 12/12/79

solicitations by PAC of

limited partnership.

1979-78 Limitations on honoraria income 12/13n9

of federal officeholders.

5

2

6

2

4

4

4

When one organization has the authority to influence the

decisions of officers or members of another organization,

Commission Regulations provide that all political committees established by those organizations are affiliated. 11

CFR 100.14(c}(2)(ii) and 110.3(a)(1 )(iii). Thus, Brunswick's proposed political action committee would be

affiliated with both SCOTTPAC and MEADPAC. Contributions made by SCOTTPAC and Brunswick's proposed

committee would be considered to have been made by a

single committee. Similarly, contributions made by

MEADPAC and Brunswick's proposed committee would be

considered to have been made by a separate single commit·

tee. 2 U.S.C. §441a(a)(5). Although the proposed Brunswick committee would be affiliated with both SCOTTPAC

and MEADPAC, the Commission found no basis for coneluding, from the facts presented in the request, that

SCOTTPAC and MEADPAC were affiliated with each

other. Commissioners Joan Aikens and Max L. Friedersdorf

filed a dissenting opinion. (Date Issued: December '9,

1979; Length, including dissenting opinion: 7 pages) .

AO 1979-59: Solicitation of Personnel

Living Abroad

The Container Corporation Political Action Committee

may solicit executive employees of the Container Corporation (the Corporation) who are United States citizens

assigned to a Corporation office in a foreign country. The

The RECORD is pUblished by the Federal Election Commission, 1325 K Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20463. Commissioners are: Robert O. Tiernan, Chairman; Max L. Friedersdorf, Vice Chairman; Joan D. Aikens; Thomas E. Harris;

John W McGarry; Frank P. Reiche; J.S. Klmmitt, Secretary of the Senate, Ex Officio; Edmund L. Henshaw,Jr., Clerk

of the House of Representatives, Ex Officio. For more information, call 202/523·4068 or tott-iree 800/424·9530.

2
Act prohibits contributions by foreign nationals 12 U.S.C.

§441e), but American citizens living abroad are not included in that category. All contributions from the Corporation's foreiqn-based employees are subject to all applicable

limits and prohibitions of the Act. (Date Issued: November

29, 1979; Length: 2 pages)

AO 1979-60: Deduction Plan

Contributions

The Hoisting and Portable Engineers Local Union 101

(the Union) may solicit contributions to its 101 Political

Fund (the PAC) by using a plan which would permit union

members to authorize the deduction of a portion of the

monies paid to their vacation fund. The amounts deducted

would be transferred to the PAC. The plan would be

permissible, however, only if the sample authorization,

proposed by the Union, were modified to reflect the

contributor's right to donate more or less than the amount

specified on the authorization card. Commission Regula'

tions require that, although a contribution guideline may be

suggested, any solicitation must inform contributors of

their right to contribute more or less than the suggested

guideline, and the guideline may not be enforced by the

union. 11 CFA 114.5(a)(2). (Date Issued: November 29,

1979; Length: 4 pages)

AO 1979-63: Prohibited Transfer

of Corporate Funds

The Veterans of Foreign Wars Political Action Committee

(VFW-PACl, the separate segregated fund of the Veterans

of Foreign Wars (the Corporation I, may not accept unsolicited donations, consisting of membership dues and the

proceeds from the sale of food and beverages, from local

posts and auxiliaries. The Act prohibits a corporation from

contributing general treasury funds [e.q., membership dues}

to its separate segregated fund, and also prohibits a separate

segregated fund from using funds obtained in commercial

transactions conducted by local posts and auxiliaries (e.g.,

the sale of food and beverages). It would be permissible,

however, for the Corporation to use these funds to pay for

the administrative expenses of VFW·PAC and for the

solicitation of contributions to VFW·PAC. 11 CFR 114.1

(b) and 114.5(bl. (Date Issued: December 10, 1979;

Length: 2 pages)

AO 1979·64: Application of the Act to

Legislative Support Organization

The Tourism Caucus may solicit and accept corporate

and individual funds without regard to the contribution

limitations and prohibitions of the Act. The Tourism

Caucus, a legislative support organization created by 112

Members of Congress to "promote and expand the econom ic viability of the American industry and the jobs of

its workers," does not expect to become a political committee as defined by the Act or to be involved in federal

elections. This determination is based on the stated intention and proposed activities of the Caucus.

3

The Commission expressed no opiruon regarding aoplication of the House or senate Aules to the situation described, Those issues are not within the Commission's

jurisdiction. (Date lssued: December 10, 1979; Length: 2

pages)

ADVISORY OPINION

REQUESTS WITHDRAWN

Since November 1979, the following Advisory Opinion

Aequests have been withdrawn by their requesters:

AOA 1979·29

ADR 1979-54

AOA 1979-61

COMPLAINTS BASED ON

NEWSPAPER ARTICLES

On November 15, 1979, the Commission determined

that it would continue to investigate complaints that

are based on documented, substantial news articles provided the complaints are signed, sworn and notarized.

The Commission had previously questioned the propriety

of such complaints because news articles are not within

a complainant's personal knowledge and might contain

inaccuracies. The General Counsel pointed out that,

although the legislative history of the Act does not speclflcally address complaints based on news articles, Congress

was concerned that complaints not be frivolous or mali·

clous, In his view, that Congressional concern does not

seem to preclude complaints based on well documented and

substantial articles, provided that the complaints are signed,

sworn and notarized as required by 2 U.S.C. §437g(a)(1 l.

Furthermore, 11 CFA 111.2(b) provides the Commission

with the discretion to reject any complaint for insubstantial itY, whether or not it is based on a news article.

CORRECTION

In the November 1979 Record, three incorrect dates

were published in MUR 592 (P. 5). In the Complaint

section of the article, March 16, 1979, should have been

March 16, 1978; and June 7, 1979, should have been June

7, 1978. In the Commission Determination section,

December 15, 1978, should have been November 15, 1978.
FEC NAMES NEW

GENERAL COUNSEL

On December 6, 1979, FEC Chairman Robert O.

Tiernan announced that Charles N. Steele had been appointed General Counsel of the FEC. Mr. Steele, who has

been with the Commission since January 1976, had been

Acting General Counsel since November t, 1979. Previously, he had served as Associate General Counsel for

Enforcement and Litigation. Mr. Steele received an A.S.

from Harvard College in 1960 and an LL.B. from Harvard

Law School in 1965. Prior to his employment with the

FEC. Mr. Steele was a staff attorney with the Appellate

Court Branch of the National Labor Relations Board.

AUDITS RELEASED

TO TH E PUBLIC

The Federal Election Campaign Act, as amended (the

Act), requires candidates and political committees to file

financial disclosure reports with the Commission. The Act

also requires the Commission to audit campaigns of all

Presidential candidates who receive public funds and to

periodically audit the reports of other candidates and

committees. Final audit reports are those that have been

approved by the Commission. Interim audit reports (designated by an asterisk (*) in the list below) are those that

have been discussed in an open Commission meeting

but have not been approved by the Commission. Both final

and interim audit reports are available to the press through

the Press Office and to the general public through the

Office of Public Records. The following is a chronological

listing of audits released between November 12, 1979. and

December 10, 1979:

PROGRESS OF AUDITS

The audit summary chart below provides cumulative

information on the progress of FEC audits from 1976

through November 30, 1979. The chart includes data on

the types of committees being audited, the status of those

.audits and the number of audits completed and available

to the public. (For a full discussion of FEC audit policy.

see the Record, January 1979, p. 5.)

Audit

1. American Party Convention

Arrangements Committee

2. Maryland Democratic PartyNoter

Registration Drive

3. Charles Leland Ward. OK/3

4. Democratic National Committee/

Campaign Victory Fund

5. Republican Party of Florida/Federal

Campaign Account

Date Made

Public

11/16/79

11/16/79

11120/79

11/27/79

11/27/79

Audits Field Internal Audits

Required Work Field Review of Completed Audits

by Audit In Work Audit in & Released To Be

Type of Committee Audited Policy Progress Completed Progress to Public Scheduled

Presidential Candidate

Public Financing (1976) 19 0 19 0 19 0

Presidential Candidate

No Public Financing (19761 17 0 17 11 6 0

Congressional Candidate

Random (1976) 106 0 106 2 104 0

State Party 71 0 71 21 50 0

Congressional Party 9 0 9 0 9 0

National Party 20 3 17 13 4 0

Non-Party. Non-Candidate 51 2 29 18 11 20

Referral Audits* 9 0 9 6 3 0

-Referral AUdits include candidates and committees,in categories not directlycovered by the Audit Policy, which are referred to the Audit

Division by the ReportsAnalysis DiVision or the Office of General Counsel.

4
FEC-APPROVES ELIGIBILITY OF

PRESIDENT CARTER FOR 1980

MATCHING FUNDS

On November 20, 1979, the Commission determined

that President Jimmy Carter is eligible to receive primary

matching fund payments for the 1980 Presidential primary

election. The Commission determination followed a

thorough review by the FEC Audit Division of the campaign committee's threshold submission. The Commission

will certify actual payment by the U.S. Treasury to President Carter in December. The Act does not allow payment

of any funds from the Presidential Primary Matching

. Payment Account until January 1,1980.

REPAYMENT HEARING

On November 27, 1979, the Commission held a hearing,

at the request of the Udall '76 Committee (the Committee),

to provide the Committee with a final opportunity to

contest the Commission's determination that the Committee must repay $62,449.22 in public funds to the U.~.

Treasury. Of that amount, the Committee was only contesting $52,755.40, which represented undocumented and,

therefore, unqualified campaign expenditures made by Mr.

Udall's 1976 Presidential campaign.

After the FEC had completed audits of the national and

state committees of the Udall '76 campaign. the Commission determined, on November 15, 1978, that the committees had not provided sufficient documentation for

$163,614.50 in expenditures. As a result of the Committee's subsequent submission of more documentation, on

October 19, 1979, the Commission" reduced the required

repayment (for undocumented and, therefore, unqualified

campaign expenditures) to $52,755.40. At the hearing,

Committee spokemen pointed out the difficulty of obtaining the required documentation for expenditures that had

been made three years earlier,

Neither the Act nor current Regulations require a hearing

to contest repayment determinations. (The current Regulation, 11 CFR 9038.2(b), provides only for submission of

written information in repayment dlsputes.l However,

former Section 134.2 of the Commission's Regulations

(now superseded by 11 CFR 9038.2(b)} did provide for

such a hearing. Because the former Regulations were in

effect during the audits of the Udall committees, the

hearing was held. In addition to the information provided

at the hearing, the Committee was allowed to submit

additional written information until December 10, 1979.

When all the information has been submitted, the Commission will either reaffirm or modify its October 19, 1979,

determination.

5

BARNSTEAD FOR CONGRESS

COMMITTEE v, FEC et al.

On June 5, 1979, the U.S. District Court for the District

of Columbia granted summary judqrnent to the FEC and

dismissed a complaint which had been filed by the Barnstead Committee (the Committee) against the FEC, WGBH

Educational Foundation (Public Broadcasting, TV Channel

2), the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Quaker

Oats Corporation. The Committee had filed suit on January

1, 1979, disputing the Commission's dismissal of a complaint which the Committee had filed with the Commission

on November 2, 1978. The Committee requested that the

Court reverse the Commission's determination.

The Committee had alleged in its complaint, and repeated

in its suit, that the corporate sponsorship of and payment

for production and promotional costs of a televised film

about House Speaker Tip O'Neill (Mr. Barnstead's opponent for a House seat) was in violation of 2 U.S.C. §441 b.

The Committee contended that, since Congressman O'Neill

was officially a candidate at the time the film was broadcast, the film was" .. , in essence a campaign film, which

enhanced the political standing of one candidate over

another." Costs incurred in producing and broadcasting the

film, therefore, were expenditures in connection with a

federal election. The FEC, on the other hand, maintained"

that the costs incurred by WGBH Educational Foundation,

the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Quaker

Oats Corporation, in sponsoring the film, were exempt

communication costs. Under §431 (f}(4}(Al. the Act

exempts from the definition of expenditure certain communication costs, which include "any news story, commentary or editorial distributed through the facilities of any

broadcasting station, newspaper, magazine, or other periodical publication, unless such facil ities are owned or

controlled by any political party, political committee

or candidate." In dismissing the suit, the Court upheld the

Commission'S determination that the costs involved in

sponsoring the broadcast were, in fact, communication

costs and not expenditures under the Act.

REMINDER

The year-end report is due on January 31, 1980.

All filers should use the peel-off address labels from

the envelopes containing the prior notice. These

labels, which will assist the Commission in identifying

the filing candidate or committee, should be placed in

the address block on the front of the reporting form.

For details on year-end fil ing requirements, see the

December 1979 Record, p. 1.
The list below identifies aJl FEC documents which

appeared in the Federal Register between November 12,

1979, and December 13, 1979. Copies of these notices are

not available from the FEC.

Notice Title

Federal Register

Publication Date Citation

FEC PUBLIC APPEARANCES

To provide information on campaign finance laws

and the FEC, the Commission regularly accepts

invitations to address public gatherings. This regular

column lists upcoming scheduled Commission appearances, the name of the sponsoring organization, the

location of the event and the name of the Commission's speaker. For additional information on any

appearance, please contact the sponsoring organization.

1979·22 Availability of Opinion

and Regulation Index

Supplements

12/13/79 44 FR 72226

1113-15 Clearinghouse Southeast Regional Seminar

Conference on Election Administration

Winston-Salem, North Carolina

FEC Commissioners and Staff

1/16 FEC Campaign Finance Seminar

Winston-Salem, North Carolina

FEC Commissioners and Staff

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION

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