February 2000 Federal Election Commission Volume 26, Number 2

Table of Contents

Compliance

1 MURs 4322 and 4650

2 Advisory Opinions

4 Federal Register

Reports

5 Eleven More States Certified for

State Waiver

Information

5 FEC Launches Redesigned Web

Site

Public Funding

6 Public Funding Shortage Remains

Significant

6 Dole Requests Withdrawal of

Certification for Matching Funds

7 FEC Approves Matching Funds

7 Buchanan Eligible for Matching

Funds in Seeking Reform Party

Nomination

Publications

7 Availability of FEC Information

800 Line

8 “Purpose” of Disbursement

Budget

8 FEC Submits Budget Request for

2001

Outreach

9 Conferences

9 Monthly Roundtable

10 Index

Compliance

MURs 4322 and 4650

Violations by Candidate,

Campaign Committees,

Treasurer and Relative

The Commission entered into

conciliation agreements with Enid

Greene, a candidate in Utah’s

Second Congressional District; Enid

Greene ’94 and Enid Greene ’96;

Joseph P. Waldholtz, Enid Greene’s

former husband and treasurer of

both campaigns; and D. Forest

Greene, Enid Greene’s father. The

agreements were concluded after the

Commission found that these

persons violated the law in several

ways, including: commingling

campaign funds with personal

funds, making and accepting

contributions in the names of

another, filing inaccurate reports

and making and accepting excessive

contributions.

From January 21, 1994, to

October 12, 1995, candidate

Greene’s father, Forest Greene, gave

Enid Greene and her husband,

Joseph Waldholtz, $3,987,426

through wire transfers and personal

checks. Joseph Waldholtz used

these funds to finance Enid

Greene’s campaigns for Congress in

1994 and 1996. He either transferred funds from their personal

accounts to campaign accounts or

paid campaign expenses directly out

of their personal accounts. Both

actions resulted in excessive contributions.

As treasurer for the campaigns,

Joseph Waldholtz tried to cover up

the excessive contributions by

reporting some of them as personal

funds of Enid Greene, by reporting

others as contributions in the names

of other people, and by not reporting

some of them at all.

With regard to Joseph

Waldholtz’s actions, the Commission found probable cause that he

had knowingly and willfully violated the law, by:

• Commingling campaign funds with

personal funds, in violation of 2

U.S.C. 432(b)(3);

• Misreporting and failing to report

contributions, in violation of 2

U.S.C. 434(b)(3)(A);

• Falsely identifying contributors,

thereby failing to file accurate

reports—also in violation of 2

U.S.C. 434(b)(3)(A);

• Accepting contributions in the

name of others, in violation of 2

U.S.C. 441f;

• Accepting cash contributions in

excess of $100, in violation of 2

U.S.C. 441g;

• Accepting contributions in excess

of the statutory limits, in violation

of 2 U.S.C. 441a(f); and

• Accepting a corporate contribution, in violation of 2 U.S.C.

441(b)(a).

 (continued on page 2)
Federal Election Commission RECORD February 2000

2

Federal Election Commission

999 E Street, NW

Washington, DC 20463

800/424-9530

202/694-1100

202/501-3413 (FEC Faxline)

202/219-3336 (TDD for the

 hearing impaired)

800/877-8339 (FIRS)

Darryl R. Wold, Chairman

Danny L. McDonald,

Vice Chairman

Lee Ann Elliott, Commissioner

David M. Mason, Commissioner

Karl J. Sandstrom, Commissioner

Scott E. Thomas, Commissioner

James A. Pehrkon, Staff Director

Lawrence M. Noble, General

 Counsel

Published by the Information

 Division

Louise D. Wides, Director

Jennifer A. Han, Editor

http://www.fec.gov

Because of Joseph Waldholtz’s

incarceration and personal finance

problems, resulting from his criminal conviction on 27 counts of bank

fraud1

—and an outstanding civil

judgment against him for nearly $4

million—the conciliation agreement

included no civil penalty.

Additionally, the Commission

found probable cause to believe that

the other respondents had also

violated the Act. By allowing her

campaign to report the excessive

contributions from her father as her

own personal funds, Enid Greene

permitted her name to be used to

effect contributions in the name of

another, in violation of 2 U.S.C.

441f.

Forest Greene, her father:

• Made excessive contributions, in

violation of 441a(a)(1)(A);

• Exceeded the $25,000 yearly

contribution limit, in violation of 2

U.S.C. 441a(a)(3); and

• Provided funds that were used to

make contributions in the name of

another, in violation of 2 U.S.C.

441f.

Enid Greene ’94 and ’96, the two

campaign committees:

• Failed to report numerous contributions, in violation of 2 U.S.C.

434(b)(3)(A);

• Failed to accurately file reports,

also in violation of 2 U.S.C.

434(b)(3)(A);

• Accepted contributions in the

names of others, in violation of 2

U.S.C. 441f;

• Failed to return cash contributions

exceeding $100, in violation of 11

CFR 110.4(c)(2); and

• Accepted a prohibited corporate

contribution, in violation of 2

U.S.C. 441b(a).

In the conciliation agreement,

Enid Greene, her father and the two

campaign committees agreed to pay

a $100,000 joint civil penalty for the

violations.

Compliance

(continued from page 1)

Advisory

Opinions

AO 1999-34

Use of Campaign Funds to

Finance Charity Event

The Mike Bilirakis for Congress

Committee (the Committee) may

use its campaign funds to finance a

charity event, based on certain

assumptions made by the Commission.

The Committee wishes to donate

funds and make other payments in

support of an event known as the

1

 Under section 170(a) of the Internal

Revenue Code, charitable contributions

are tax deductible. Section 170(c)

defines “charitable contribution,”

stating that it means “a contribution or

gift to or for the use of” certain

categories of organizations. Among

these organization are “a corporation,

trust, or community chest, fund, or

foundation” organized and operated

exclusively for religions, charitable, or

educational purposes, and which is not

disqualified for other reasons such as

use of net earnings to benefit a private

shareholder or individual, or participation in political campaigns. 26 U.S.C.

§170(a) and (c).

1

 Conviction resulted from a Justice

Department investigation and indictment in 1996. Joseph Waldlholtz

pleaded guilty to bank, election and tax

fraud and was sentenced to 37 months

in prison.

“KIDS First Family Fair.” It is

intended to raise money to improve

facilities at elementary schools in

Mr. Bilirakis’s Congressional

district through Parent-Teacher

Associations and other organizations defined under 26 U.S.C.

§170(c).1

Co-hosted with his son, State

Representative Gus Bilirakis, the

event will be held at a skating

facility provided at no charge.

The “minimum contribution

level” to the event is the $3 price for

a ticket, but there is no limit on the

amount an individual can donate.

The Committee will match individual monetary donations, dollar

for dollar, up to a maximum of

$60,000.

Payments Not Contributions or

Expenditures

The Act and Commission regulations define the terms “contribution”

and “expenditure” to include gifts or

payments of money or anything of

value made for the purpose of

influencing a federal election. 2

U.S.C §431(8)(A)(i), 431(9)(A)(i).

In the past, when determining

whether expenses incurred for

events involving federal candidates

were made “for the purpose of

influencing a federal election,” the

Commission concluded that events

in which federal officeholders
February 2000 Federal Election Commission RECORD

3

2

 The Committee could, however,

purchase the list at the usual and

normal charge. See 11 CFR

100.7(a)(1)(iii).

participated as officeholders were

not “for the purpose of influencing a

federal election” simply because the

officeholders might also be candidates for federal office. AOs 1994-

15, 1992-5 and 1991-17. Thus,

payments for the expenses of such

events were not contributions or

expenditures, absent any campaign

activity at the events or with respect

to the promotion and other arrangements for the events. AO 1999-11.

In this case, the event and Mr.

Bilirakis’s participation are not “for

the purpose of influencing a federal

election,” based upon:

• Various features of the event and

its promotion,

• The role of the Committee, and

• Certain assumptions made by the

Commission.

The pertinent features of the

event, its promotion and the role of

the Committee include the following:

• No individual may sign up to

volunteer for or participate in Mr.

Bilirakis’s campaign, and no

campaign material will be available at the fair.

• No funds will be made payable to

the campaign or accepted by the

campaign, and the disbursements

of the proceeds will be controlled

by each benefiting PTA or other

170(c) organization.

• Ticket purchases and other donations will be collected by a law

firm and, although the Committee

will be able to review and tally the

donations, this will be for the

purpose of determining the matching payments that the Committee

will make.

• The flyer advertising the fair

indicates that the event is for the

purpose of benefiting local elementary schools, and refers to the

campaign and the Committee only

to say that the Committee will

match individual donations to the

school organizations.

• The flyers will be distributed eight

months in advance of the primary

election in which Mr. Bilirakis will

run.

In addition to the foregoing facts,

the Commission based its conclusion on the following assumptions.

• Anyone invited to speak, or to

make a presentation, at the event

will not make reference to the

campaign or the Committee.

• Neither Mr. Bilirakis nor any of

the agents of his Committee will

use the event as an opportunity to

discuss the campaign or to campaign for reelection.

• In publicizing the event, the

Committee and its agents will not

refer to the campaign or the

Committee, although they may

disclose that Mr. Bilirakis is cohosting the event and that the

Committee will match the donations.

• The Committee will inform those

who direct or coordinate the

promotion of the event that those

conditions apply.

• The Committee will not obtain any

list of donors to the event and will

not use such a list for campaign

purposes.2

Based on the foregoing information, conditions and assumptions,

the event and the related activities

are not for the purpose of influencing Mr. Bilirakis’ re-election.

Excessive Campaign Funds

The event is a charitable event,

and the disbursements by the

Committee fit within one of the

allowable uses of excess campaign

funds under 2 U.S.C. §439a and 11

CFR 113.2. (Under those provisions, excess campaign funds may,

among other uses, be contributed to

any charitable organization described in section 170(c) of title 26

or may be used in connection with a

candidate’s duties as a federal

officeholder, except that they cannot

be converted by any person to any

personal use.)

The Committee may, therefore,

donate funds and make other

payments in connection with the

event subject to the conditions and

assumptions discussed; and the

purchases and donations by individuals, corporations or other

entities will not be contributions to

the Committee or to Mr. Bilirakis’s

campaign.

Reporting

Because the Committee’s disbursements will not be for the

purpose of influencing a federal

election, they should be reported as

“other disbursements.” 2 U.S.C

§434(b)(4); 11 CFR 104.3(b)(2).

The recipient of the disbursements

(such as PTA donees or vendors

paid by the Committee for their

 (continued on page 4)

Back Issues of the

Record Available on

the Internet

This issue of the Record and all

other issues of the Record starting

with January 1996 are available

through the Internet as PDF files.

Visit the FEC’s Web site at http:/

/www.fec.gov and click on

“What’s New” for this issue.

Click “Help for Candidates, Parties and PACs” to see back issues. Future Record issues will be

posted on the Web as well. You

will need Adobe® Acrobat®

Reader software to view the publication. The FEC’s Web site has

a link that will take you to Adobe’s

Web site, where you can download

the latest version of the software

for free.
Federal Election Commission RECORD February 2000

4

1

 This $10 limitation is permissible

because it appears to be linked to the

administrative costs of the program and

does not prevent contributors from

using other means to make contributions of a lesser amount. Consequently,

the limit does not violate the rule

against enforced guidelines under 11

CFR 114.5(a)(2).

AO 1999-35

Soliciting for SSF Through

Electronic Deduction System

Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc. (ABC), its political action

committee (ABC PAC), ABC North

Texas and its chapter nonfederal

PAC may collect contributions from

their solicitable personnel through

electronic transfers from contributors’ personal checking accounts to

a special escrow account.

ABC is a national, nonprofit

incorporated trade association that is

affiliated with its local chapters and

state-level chapters, including the

ABC North Texas chapter.

ABC solicits voluntary contributions from the executives of its

member companies, provided that

ABC has received prior written

approval from its member companies, under 11 CFR 114.8(d), to

solicit those personnel. In Advisory

Opinion 1979-75, the Commission

permitted ABC PAC and the ABC

chapter PACs, such as ABC PAC

North Texas, to engage in joint

fundraising. Under the old plan,

contributions made by check were

deposited into an escrow account

and then, based on a predetermined

allocation formula, distributed to

ABC PAC and the chapter PACs.

ABC PAC may utilize an Automatic Clearing House (ACH)

program, a cash management

service provided by Bank One,

Texas, to collect preauthorized

contributions from the restricted

class. The program will operate as

follows: After obtaining the prior

approval of member corporations,

ABC PAC and the chapter PAC will

jointly solicit the restricted class for

contributions. To participate using

the ACH, individuals will fill out

and sign a form containing the

required information for any contribution and the necessary bank

account information to allow funds

to be transferred from a personal

bank account to the special ABC

PAC escrow account set up to

receive these funds. ABC PAC will

file an amendment to its Statement

of Organization (Form 1) regarding

the opening of this escrow account

only if the ACH account resides at a

new bank not previously disclosed.

No other funds will be deposited

into the ACH escrow account. ABC

will comply with all other requirements concerning prior approvals

and voluntary contributions. 11

CFR 114.8(d)(4); 11 CFR 114.1(i),

114.5(a) and 114.8(e)(4).

Either ABC or ABC North Texas

will pay the bank an administrative

fee of $35 per month and 14 cents

per transaction.

Minimum contributions of $10

per month will be required to use

ACH.1

 If an individual’s contribution does not exceed $50 per month,

the account will be cleared every

two or three weeks. If a monthly

individual contribution exceeds $50,

the transfers from the escrow

account to ABC PAC and ABC

PAC North Texas will be made

within ten days after receipt to

Advisory Opinions

(continued from page 3)

comply with the applicable Commission regulations. A copy of each

permission (or contributor authorization) form will accompany the

funds going to ABC PAC.

Legal Analysis

While Commission regulations

state that trade associations are not

limited in the method of soliciting

voluntary contributions or the

method of facilitating the making of

voluntary contributions, the regulations do prohibit trade associations

from using a payroll deduction or

checkoff system to solicit contributions to the trade association’s

separate segregated fund. 11 CFR

114.8(e)(3). This prohibition,

however, does not bar the proposed

ACH program since the funds

contributed will not be deducted

though a payroll deduction system

administered by the employer of the

contributing individual. Instead,

under the ACH program, voluntary

contributions will be deducted from

an executive employee’s personal

checking account at a bank. Consequently, the use of the ACH payment system for collecting

contributions for ABC PAC is

permissible.

Federal Register

Federal Register notices are

available from the FEC’s Public

Records Office.

Notice 2000-1

Use of the Internet for Campaign

Activity; Extension of Comment

Period (65 FR 1074, January 7,

2000)

Notice 2000-2

Schedule of Matching Fund

Submission Dates and

Submission Dates for Statements

of Net Outstanding Campaign

Obligations (NOCO) for 2000

Presidential Candidates Post Date

of Ineligibility (65 FR 3237,

January 20, 2000)

services to the event), the purpose

and other information must be

disclosed for disbursements that

aggregate in excess of $200 to the

same payee within the calendar

year. 2 U.S.C. §434(b)(6)(A); 11

CFR 104.3(b)(4)(vi). The ticket

purchases, money donations, and inkind donations made by others for

the event should not be reported

since they are not receipts of the

Committee.
February 2000 Federal Election Commission RECORD

5

Advisory Opinion Requests

AOR 1999-39

Disaffiliation between corporate

PACs after structural reorganization

of their connected organizations

(WellPoint Health Networks

Political Action Committee, November 5, 1999)

AOR 1999-40

Solicitation of individual members of cooperatives and utilization

of cooperatives’ billing systems to

collect contributions for PAC of

federation of cooperatives (National

Rural Electric Cooperative Association, December 30, 1999)

The described PAC checking

account deduction program may

only be utilized by personnel who

qualify as members of the “restricted class” of ABC and its state

affiliates. 11 CFR 114.1(c), (h) and

(j) and 114.8(c). In addition, all

contributions made through the

checking account deduction process

must comply with Commission

regulations that require them to be

voluntary. See 11 CFR 114.1(i),

114.5(a) and 114.8(e)(4).

PACronyms, Other PAC Publications Available

 The Commission annually publishes PACronyms, an alphabetical listing of acronyms, abbreviations and common names

of political action committees (PACs).

 For each PAC listed, the index provides the full name of the PAC, its city, state, FEC identification number and, if not

identifiable from the full name, its connected, sponsoring or affiliated organization.

 The index is helpful in identifying PACs that are not readily identified in their reports and statements on file with the

FEC.

 To order a free copy of PACronyms, call the FEC’s Public Records Office at 800/424-9530 (press 3) or 202/694-1120.

PACronyms also is available on diskette for $1 and can be accessed free under the “Using FEC Services” icon at the FEC’s

Web site—http://www.fec.gov.

Other PAC indexes, described below, may be ordered from the Public Records Office. Prepayment is required.

• An alphabetical list of all • A list of registered PACs • An alphabetical list of

 registered PACs showing each arranged by state providing the organizations sponsoring PACs

 PAC’s identification number, same information as previous. showing the PAC’s name and

 address, treasurer and ($13.25). .0000identification number

($7.50).

 connected organization ($13.25).

 The Public Records Office can also conduct database research to locate federal political committees when only part of the

committee name is known. Call the telephone numbers above for assistance or visit the Public Records Office in

Washington at 999 E St., N.W.

Eleven More States Certified

for State Waiver

Eleven more states * have been

certified by the Commission as

being qualified for the state filing

waiver: California, Delaware,

Hawaii, Indiana, New Hampshire,

Ohio, Tennessee, Vermont, U.S.

Virgin Islands, Washington and

West Virginia. This brings the total

number of states certified to 23.

The Commission approved the

State Filing Waiver Program on

October 14, 1999. Under this

program, states that meet certain

criteria set out by the Commission

no longer have to receive and

maintain paper copies of most FEC

reports in their state’s campaign

Reports

finance records office. Additionally, most committees no longer

have to file copies of their reports in

the certified states.

The Commission previously

certified Arkansas, Florida, Idaho,

Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska, New York, North Dakota,

South Dakota, Utah and Wisconsin.

For more information on the waiver,

please see page 2 of the January

2000 Record and page 17 of the

December 1999 Record.

*

 Commission regulations define

“state” to include each state of the

United States, the District of Columbia,

the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and

any territory or possession of the

United States. 11 CFR 100.11.

Information

FEC Launches Redesigned

Web Site

The FEC has launched a newly

redesigned Web site, which can still

be accessed at www.fec.gov.

The following topics are now

available on the Web site.

• An alphabetical site index to all

information available on the FEC’s

Web site.

 (continued on page 6)
Federal Election Commission RECORD February 2000

6

Public Funding

Public Funding Shortage

Remains Significant

Based on revised estimates of the

public funds available for the 2000

primary election cycle, the calculated shortfall remains significant.

FEC staff has concluded that the

January 3, 2000, pay-out would be

about 50 cents on the dollar. Previous estimates had projected that the

Commission would pay 32 percent

of the candidates’ entitlement in

early January. (See May 1999

Record, p.1.) The percentage

change can be explained, in part, by

the fact that Elizabeth Dole has

Dole Requests Withdrawal of

Certification for Matching

Funds

On December 22, 1999, the

Commission withdrew its certification that Republican candidate

Elizabeth Dole and the Elizabeth

Dole for President Exploratory

Committee (the Committee) were

eligible to receive public matching

payments. The action came after

the Committee withdrew its request

for the funds. Accordingly, the

Treasury Department will not

provide any public funds to the Dole

campaign, and the FEC will not

conduct a mandatory audit of the

The FEC Takes Visa and Mastercard

 FEC customers can pay for FEC materials with Visa or Mastercard. Most

FEC materials are available free of charge, but some are sold, including

financial statistical reports ($10 each), candidate indexes ($10) and PAC

directories ($13.25). The FEC also has a 5¢ per page copying charge for paper

documents and a 15¢ per page copying charge for microfilmed documents.

 Paying by credit card has its advantages. For instance, since the FEC will not

fill an order until payment is received, using a credit card speeds delivery by

four to five days.

 Visitors to the FEC’s Public Records Office may make payments by credit

card. Regular visitors, such as researchers and reporters, who in the past have

paid for FEC materials out of their own pockets, may make payments with a

company credit card.

 The credit card payment system also reduces costs and paperwork associated

with check processing, enabling FEC staff to better serve the walk-in visitor.

1

 U.S. Senate candidates do not file

their campaign finance reports directly

with the FEC, but with the Secretary of

the Senate, who currently microfilms

them and sends the microfilm to the

FEC. Imaging is not available for

these reports at this time. While the

Democratic Senatorial Campaign

Committee and the National Republican

Senatorial Committee also file their

reports with the Secretary of the Senate,

copies of their reports are available on

the FEC Web site because the Senate

provides the Commission with paper

copies that meet requirements for

scanning.

• Advisory opinions going back to

1977.

• Notices of proposed rulemakings.

• Summaries of court cases.

• Reporting forms.

• FEC publications, including

Campaign Guides and the Record

(current and past editions and

annual indexes).

• Images of campaign finance

reports from candidates for the

U.S. House of Representatives and

the Presidency and from most

other political committees.1

• Summaries and searchable databases of campaign contributions.

• News releases and media advisories.

• Statistics and data on voting and

elections.

• Freedom of Information Act

(FOIA) guidelines.

• A “What’s New” scrolling menu.

The Web site was reorganized to

offer more efficient presentation of

relevant and appropriate information

to various audiences, including the

general public, candidates and their

campaign workers, and the media.

Additionally, the FEC implemented Media-Independent Presentation Language (MIPL), an

Internet-based technology that

allows persons with special needs to

access information by using a wide

variety of hardware and software

solutions. For example, the visually

handicapped can dial a phone

number (818-995-2463) and hear a

menu of phone-touch choices that

parallel the FEC’s Web site choices.

The hearing-impaired may dial 818-

995-2464 (TTY) for a similar menu.

(More information about MIPL can

be found at www.altaccess.org.)

rejected public funds. The shortfall

should be shorter in duration than

previously projected. Staff projected that, by June 20, all estimated

payments would be made in full.

The estimated figures are based

on an analysis of empirical data. A

lag in deposits of the $3 that taxpayers check off on their income tax

forms or an acceleration in requested payments could change the

June 20 estimate.

For previous articles about the

shortfall, see the August 1999

Record, p.1, and the May 1999

Record, p.1.

Information

(continued from page 5)
February 2000 Federal Election Commission RECORD

7

FEC Approves Matching

Funds

The FEC certified

$34,019,496.24 in Federal Matching

Funds to eight Presidential candidates for the 2000 election. The

U.S. Treasury Department made the

payments on January 3.

Listed below is the amount

certified to each candidate at this

time and the amount actually paid.

Because there are insufficient funds

to pay these amounts, the Department of Treasury calculated a

reduced amount for each campaign.

Actual payments amounted to 50

cents on the dollar. Reduced

payments will continue until the

Fund has been replenished by future

checkoff designations on 1999 tax

returns, at which time each campaign will receive the amount it is

due. Elizabeth Dole initially

qualified to receive matching funds,

but her campaign withdrew its

request for funds.

To be eligible to receive Federal

Matching Funds, a candidate must

first raise $100,000 in contributions

from individuals: $5,000-plus in 20

different states, in amounts of no

more than $250 from any individual

contributor. Candidates must also

agree to abide by spending limits, to

keep certain records and to submit

those records for audit000.

Only contributions from individuals in amounts of $250 or less

are matchable. Following the

primary season, candidates may be

entitled to receive additional matching funds to assist in winding down

their campaigns or to retire debts.

The Commission previously

certified $13,224,000 to each of the

two major political parties, and

$2,468,921 to the Reform Party

(totaling $28,916,921) for their 2000

Presidential Nominating Conventions.

Candidate Certification Actual Payment

Amount on 1/3/2000

Gary L. Bauer (R) $3,964,359.04 $1,969,126.75

Bill Bradley (D) $8,343,853.83 $4,144,454.52

Patrick J. Buchanan (Reform) $2,372,196.26 $1,178,287.60

Al Gore (D) $11,070,709.82 $5,498,904.26

Alan L. Keyes (R) $1,241,434.35 $616,629.71

Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr. (D) $733,767.72 $364,467.91

John S. McCain (R) $4,190,650.22 $2,081,527.27

Dan Quayle(R) $2,102,525.00 $1,044,399.87

Availability of FEC

Information, a New Brochure

The FEC recently published

Availability of FEC Information, a

new brochure that identifies the

specific information available from

the Commission and describes the

methods for obtaining the information. An easy-to-read chart, located

at the back of the brochure, combines this information, allowing

readers to determine, at a glance,

how to obtain the information they

need. The brochure serves as the

agency’s official guide on electronic

freedom of information, required

under 5 U.S.C. §552(g).

The FEC makes available materials that fall within five general

categories:

• Campaign finance data;

• Official legal documents;

• Summaries of federal election laws

Publications

Committee pursuant to 26 U.S.C.

§9038(a). (Section 9038(a) of Title

26 requires the agency to audit any

Presidential committee that accepts

public matching funds.)

On July 30, 1999, the FEC had

determined that the Committee had

satisfied the eligibility requirements

of 26 U.S.C. §9033 to receive

Presidential primary matching

funds. Mrs. Dole withdrew from the

Presidential race on October 20,

1999.

Buchanan Eligible for

Matching Funds in Seeking

Reform Party Nomination

On December 16, 1999, the FEC

determined that Patrick J. Buchanan,

who qualified for matching funds as

a Republican candidate in September 1999, remained eligible for

matching payments even though he

had changed parties and now sought

the Reform Party nomination. Mr.

Buchanan had submitted a revised

letter of candidate agreements and

certifications indicating that he was

seeking the Reform Party nomination. Mr. Buchanan announced his

party switch in October and made

his first matching payment submission as a Reform Party candidate in

December 1999.

 (continued on page 8)
Federal Election Commission RECORD February 2000

8

• Travel expense reimbursement

• Catering costs

The regulations further state that

the following examples do not meet

this requirement.

• Advance

• Election day expenses *

• Other expenses

• Expenses

• Expense reimbursement

• Miscellaneous

• Outside services

• Get-out-the-vote *

• Voter registration

Refunds and Loan Repayments

If the disbursement is a “loan

repayment,” “contribution refund”

or other similar category of disbursement (other than an operating

expenditure), the name of the

category of disbursement (i.e., “loan

repayment,” etc.) is sufficient to

meet the requirement for reporting

the purpose of the expenditure. See

back of Schedule B of Form 3.

Contributions to Candidates

For disbursements that are

contributions to federal candidates

or authorized committees, the

“purpose of disbursement” box must

include the name of the candidate

and office sought (including state

and Congressional district, where

applicable) and the aggregate yearto-date total of contributions made

to that candidate or committee. See

back of Schedule B of Form 3.

When itemizing a contribution or

loan to a candidate committee, the

contributor must specify the election

for which the payment was made by

checking the appropriate category in

the election designation box. 11

FEC Submits Budget

Request for 2001

The FEC submitted its budget

request for the 2001 fiscal year to

the Office of Management and

Budget (OMB) and to Congress,

seeking $41,323,000 and a total of

356 personnel—an increase over the

current FY 2000 budget of just

under 8 percent in funding and four

additional staff members. Subsequently, on December 16, 1999, the

FEC reached an agreement with the

OMB for an FY 2001 budget

request of $40,500,000 and 352 fulltime employees (FTE), $823,000

less than, and 4 FTE fewer than, the

FEC’s original request. This

agreement was reached with the

understanding that the Commission,

as a concurrent submission agency,

could pursue with Congress the four

additional FTE and the funding for

them. Thus, when the Commission

submits its revised request to

Budget

 (continued on page 10)

800 Line

“Purpose” of Disbursement

When reporting disbursements, a

political committee is required to

disclose the “purpose” of the

expenditure, that is, a brief statement or description of why the

disbursement was made. 11 CFR

104.3(b)(4).

Operating Expenditures

Commission regulations (11 CFR

104.3(b)(4)(i)(A)) provide that the

following examples meet the

requirement for reporting the

purpose of an expenditure.

• Dinner expenses

• Media

• Salary

• Polling

• Travel

• Party fees

• Phone banks

• Travel expenses

*

 Acceptable alternatives to “election

day expenses” and “get-out-the-vote”

include “exit polling,” “door-to-door

get-out-the-vote,” “get-out-the-vote

phone calls” and “driving voters to the

polls.”

CFR 104.3(b)(3)(v).

Independent Expenditures

Committees making independent

expenditures must state the purpose

of the expenditure, for example,

radio, television or newspaper.

An independent expenditure is an

expenditure for a communication,

such as a newspaper, TV or direct

mail advertisement, that:

• Expressly advocates the election or

defeat of a clearly identified

federal candidate; and

• Is not made in coordination,

consultation, or cooperation with,

or at the request or suggestion of a

candidate, agent of a candidate, or

candidate’s committee. 100.16.

and cases;

• Information pertaining to Commissioners and FEC operations; and

• Election administration documents.

Most of these materials are

available free to the public without a

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

request or other paperwork.

For a free copy of the brochure,

call the FEC’s Faxline at 202/501-

3414 and request document 534.

Alternatively, you may access the

brochure on the FEC’s Web site at

http://www.fec.gov/pages/

availfec.htm. Bulk supplies of the

brochure are available by calling

800/424-9530 (press 1) or 202/694-

1100.

Publications

(continued from page 7)
February 2000 Federal Election Commission RECORD

9

Date Subject Intended Audience

Roundtable Schedule

February 23 Soliciting Funds For • Corporate/Labor/

9:30 - 11 a.m. Corporate/Labor/Trade Trade Association

NEW DATE PACs Using Newsletters PAC staff

and Web Sites • Lawyers and

(Code #200) Consultants to Above

Outreach

FEC February Roundtable

The FEC’s February roundtable

has sold out. Those registered for

the roundtable should note that the

date of the session has been changed

to February 23. If you would like to

be placed on the waiting list for this

roundtable, please call the FEC at

the numbers listed below.

There will be no roundtable

sessions in March or April due to

FEC conferences held in the beginning of those months. Dates and

topics for future roundtables will be

announced in upcoming issues of

the Record.

FEC roundtable sessions are

limited to 12 participants per

session. Registration is $25 and will

be accepted on a first-come, firstserved basis. Please call the FEC

before registering or sending money

to be sure that openings remain in

the session of your choice. Prepayment is required. The registration

form is available at the FEC’s Web

site—http://www.fec.gov—and

from Faxline, the FEC’s automated

fax system (202/501-3413, request

document 590). For more information, call 800/424-9530 or 202/694-

1100. Filled!

Waiting List

Only

Candidate Conference

Date: February10-11, 2000

Location: Washington, DC

(Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill)

Registration: $265

Regional Conference (includes

candidate, corporate/labor and

party workshops)

Date: March 8-10, 2000

Location: Miami, FL

(Sheraton Biscayne Bay)

Registration: $240

Corporate and Labor

Conference

Date: April 6-7, 2000

Location: Washington, DC

(Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill)

Registration: To be determined

Membership and Trade

Association Conference

Date: May 16-17, 2000

Location: Washington, DC

(Hilton Crystal City)

Registration: To be determined

FEC Conference Schedule

 The FEC will continue its series of conferences through May. See below for

details. To register for any conference, call Sylvester Management at 800/246-

7277 or send an e-mail to tsylvester@worldnet.att.net. For program

information, call the FEC’s Information Division at 800/424-9530 or 202/694-

1100. A regularly updated schedule for the conferences and a downloadable

invitation/registration form appear at the FEC’s Web site. Go to http://

www.fec.gov/pages/infosvc.htm for the latest information.

Change of Address

Political Committees

 Treasurers of registered political committees

automatically receive the Record. A change of

address by a political committee (or any change to

information disclosed on the Statement of

Organization) must, by law, be made in writing on

FEC Form 1 or by letter. The treasurer must sign the

amendment and file it with the Secretary of the

Senate or the FEC (as appropriate) and with the

appropriate state office.

Other Subscribers

 Record subscribers who are not registered

political committees should include the following

information when requesting a change of address:

• Subscription number (located on the upper left

corner of the mailing label);

• Subscriber’s name;

• Old address; and

• New address.

 Subscribers (other than political committees) may

correct their addresses by phone as well as by mail.
Federal Election Commission RECORD February 2000

10

The first number in each citation

refers to the “number” (month) of

the 2000 Record issue in which the

article appeared. The second

number, following the colon,

indicates the page number in that

issue. For example, “1:4” means

that the article is in the January

issue on page 4.

Advisory Opinions

1999-24: Web site sponsored by

LLC featuring information on

candidates, 1:17

1999-29: Fundraising exemption

from state limits for direct mailing

by Presidential committee, 1:19

1999-30: Application of allocation

ratio in state with single house

legislature, 1:20

1999-31: Application of one-third

rule to prizes and premiums used

in connection with payroll

deduction, 1:21

1999-34: Use of campaign funds to

finance charity event, 2:2

1999-35: Soliciting for SSF through

electronic deduction system, 2:4

Compliance

MUR 4322 and 4650: Violations by

candidate, campaign committees,

treasurer and relative, 2:1

Court Cases

_____ v. FEC

– DSCC, 1:2

Other

– Fireman v. USA, 1:13

– Mariani v. USA, 1:3

Regulations

Coordination, 1:14

Reports

Reports due in 2000, 1:5

State Filing Waiver, 1:2; 2:5

Index

Congress, it will seek a funding

level of $40,960,000 and 356 FTE.

Current fiscal year funding for the

FEC is $38,278,000.

In its agreement, the Commission

said that a funding level of $40.5

million for FY2001 would enable it

to:

• Maintain a timely and enhanced

campaign finance disclosure

program.

• Ensure that significant efforts are

made to enforce the disclosure and

limitation provisions of the Federal

Election Campaign Act.

• Complete the 2000 Presidential

audits within two years of the

election.

• Conduct 40 to 45 “for cause”

audits as opposed to 20 to 25 in

previous election cycles.

• Complete the revision of the

Voting System Standards and

conduct a national conference of

election officials to introduce the

new standards.

• Develop and maintain enhanced

computer capabilities, including

implementation of a mandatory

electronic filing program; expansion of the FEC’s Web site;

reengineering of the disclosure

imaging system; implementation of

the state filing waiver initiative;

and implementation of a case

management system.

• Continue its progress on implementation of the

PricewaterhouseCoopers audit

recommendations.

Budget

(continued from page 8)
February 2000 Federal Election Commission RECORD

11
FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION

999 E Street, NW

Washington, DC 20463

Official Business

Penalty for Private Use, $300

Bulk Rate Mail

Postage and Fees Paid

Federal Election Commission

Permit Number G-31

Printed on recycled paper

Federal Election Commission RECORD February 2000