THE FEDERAL ELECTION 

COMMISSION 

1325 K Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20463 

Volume 4, Number 6 

POLICY 

STATEMENTS 

VACATING PAST POLICY 

PRONOUNCEMENTS 

On April 19, 1978 the Commission published in the 

Federal Register a notice announcing the Commission's 

decision to vacate certain policy pronouncements published 

between June 1975 and January 1977. The policy materials 

(including policy statements and interim guidelines, among 

others) had appeared in the Federal Register and the 

Record at various times during 1975-1977. They were used 

by the Commission as a means "of expressing the Commission's interpretation and intended application of selected 

provisions of the Act" before the Commission's regulations 

were prescribed on April 13, 1977. Because the policy 

materials were intended to be only interim pronouncements, in the notice they are vacated and declared to have 

"no continuing legal effect." Much of the subject matter of 

these pol icy materials was included in the regulations 

prescribed by the Commission. Any Advisory Opinion 

which contains an interpretation of the Act or Commission 

regulations which was originally set forth in a policy state· 

ment continues to be valid. 

Advisory Opinions will continue to be summarized each 

month in the Record (see, OPINIONS). In addition, under 

the heading INFORMATION, the Record will summarize 

other new documents, such as notices clarifying reporting 

procedures or charts on party expenditure limits. [This 

differs from 800 LINE articles which, in response to 

questions frequently posed, summarize relevant sections 

of the Act and regulations.] 

The following chart lists all policy pronouncements vacated 

by the Commission, together with the Federal Register 

notice number, p1,1blication date and citation. Also noted 

are pertinent Advisory Opinions (AO). IG = Interim Guideline. PS =Policy Statement. 

Notice 

Number Subject 

1975-1 IG: Reports 

Publication 

Date 

6/2/75 

1975-3 I G: Reports and Registra· 6/16/75 

tion (Addendum) 

1975-4 Advisory Opinion 6/24/75 

Request Procedure 

1975-6 IG: Multicandidate Com- 6/26/75 

mittee 

1975-9 IG: Complaint Procedure 7/7/75 

1975-19 PS: Pre-1 975 Campaign 8/5/75 

Debts 

1975-20 IG: Reporting Debts and 8/5/75 

Obligations 

1975-22 IG: Records Maintained 8/11/75 

by Candidate for Matching 

Funds 

1975-34 IG: New Hampshire 9/3/75 

Senate Election 

1975-36 IG : Disbursement Proce- 9/3/75 

dures for Public Financing 

1975-40 IG: Presidential Primary 9/9/75 

Matching Funds ·· 

Supplemental 

1975-47 IG: Tennessee Special 

Election 

9/22/75 

1975-53 IG: October 10 Quarterly 9/29/75 

Report 

June 

Cita

40 FR 

40 FR 

40 FR 

40 FR 

40 FR 

40 FR 

40 FR 

40 FR 

40 FR 

40 FR 

40 FR 

40 FR 

40 FR 

con
Notice Publication 

Number Subject Date 

1975-58 IG: Presidential Primary 10/9175 

Matching Funds 

1975-91 IG : January 31 Annual 12117/75 

Report of Receipts and 

Expenditures 

1976-30 PS: Payment of Delegates' 6116/76 

Travel and Subsistence 

During National Nominating 

Convention (See AO 1975-12 

at 40 FA 55596) 

Unpub- Funding of Presidential (8130176) 

lished Debates Sponsored by 

League of Women Voter. 

1976-46 PS: Contributions to Poli- 1016176 

tical Committee Making 

Independent Expenditures 

on Behalf of Clearly ldentified Candidate (See Commission's Response to 

AOR 1976-20) 

1976-50 PS: Family Member Con- 1016176 

tribution Limits in Light of 

Buckley v. Valeo and 1976 

Amendments to FECA 

(See AO 1976-26, 1976-74 

and 1977-15) 

1976-56 PS: Application of Calen- 10118/76 

dar Year Limitation Provisions of FECA to 1976 

Federal Election Activity 

1976-57 Filing of FEC Form 7 1011 B/76 

1976-73 PS: Application of Contri- 1112177 

bution Limits to Contributions Made After General 

Election to Retire Debts 

Incurred with Respect to 

1976 Electidn(s) 

(See Commission's Responses 

to AOR 1976-101,1976-103. 

Also see AO 1977-11,1977-24, 

1977-29 and 1977-48) 

Citation 

40 FA 47691 

40 FA 58617 

41 FA 24513 

None 

41 FA 44130 

41 FA 44131 

41 FA 45954 

41 FA 45957 

42 FA 2624 

OPINIONS 

PENDING ADVISORY OPINION REQUESTS 

The following chart lists pending Advisory Opini

Requests (AOR's), with a brief description of the subje

matter, the date the requests were made public and th

number of pages of each request. The full text of ea

AOR is available to the public in the Commission's Offi

of Public Records. 

Date Made 

AOR Subject Public 

1978-24 Preemption of State law. 4114/78 

1978-25 Definition of "election." 4114178 

1978-26 Solicitation of stock- 4120/78 

holders by corporate PAC. 

1978-27 Definition of "executive 4125/78 

personnel." 

ADVISORY OPINIONS: SUMMARIES 

Number 

of Pages 

4 

2 

3 

Designated as AO's, Advisory Opinions discuss the app

cation of the Act or Commission's regulations to specif

factual situations. Any qualified person requesting 

Advisory Opinion who in good faith acts in accordan

with the opinion will not be subject to any sanctions und

the Act. The opinion may also be relied on by any oth

person involved in a specific transaction which is indisti

guishable in all material aspects from the activity discusse

in the Advisory Opinion. Anyone seeking guidance for the

own activity should consult the full text of an Adviso

Opinion and not rely only on the summary given here. 

AO 1976-79: Solicitation of 

Corporate "Members" 

Because the Articles of Incorporation of the National Rig

to Work Committee (N RWC). a nonprofit corporation, pr

clude it from having members, neither NRWC nor i

separate segregated fund, the Employee Rights Campaig

Committee (ERCC), may solicit contributions from indiv

duals other than the administrative or executive personn

(and their families) of N RWC. Although ERCC stated th

it believes " ... it may solicit supporters of N RWC's goals 

'members' ... ," the Commission determined that the fa

that NRWC has no members ", .. is dispositive of the issu

raised." (Length: 3 pages) 

The RECORD is published by the Federal Election Commission, 1325 K Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20463. 

Commissioners are: Thomas E. Harris, Chairman; Joan D. Aikens, Vice-Chairman; William L. Springer; Neil Staebler; 

Vernon W. Thomson; Robert 0 . Tiernan; J.S. Kimmitt, Secretary of the Senate, Ex Officio; Edmund L. Henshaw, Jr., 

Clerk of the House of Representatives, Ex Officio. 

For more information, call 523-4068 or toll free 800-424-9530. 

2 
AO 1977-37: Contribution Collection Systems 

The National Education Association Political Action Committee (NEAPAC) may not use two proposed systems as 

alternatives to the collection of political funds through the 

reverse check-off procedure. The reverse check·off procedure is a collection system which requires an individual to 

make a payment to a political fund in addition to his/her 

union dues or fees. If the individual does not wish to contribute to the political fund, he/she must submit a written 

request for a refund. 

System I proposed cash options which would not require 

that a political contribution be included with the dues 

payment if the individual paid his/her dues in cash. In some 

local affiliates the cash option would require that the individual pay hi;/her dues in a lump sum (annual cash payment option). In other locals, an individual could pay 

his/her dues in installments. The number of installments 

would vary from State-to-State, but would in no case be 

less than three (installment cash payment option). 

If an individual utilizes the cash payment options to avoid 

the reverse check-off procedure, he/she would lose the 

convenience of paying his/her dues through payroll deduction. Additionally, the annual cash payment option is not 

permissible in that a lump sum payment would be financially burdensome and would not provide an acceptable 

alternative to the use of the reverse check·off procedure 

itself. A four-vote majority of the Commission did not 

express an opinion as to the specific use of the installment cash payment option. 

System II (premembership reimbursement option) required 

the deduction of political funds from the paychecks of all 

individuals who authorized payroll deduction. However, 

upon a written submission, NEA would return the political 

funds at or before the beginning of the membership year 

(usually September 1 ), rather than after that time as under 

the reverse check-off procedure. 

The premembership reimbursement option merely alters 

the timing of the reimbursement and does not relieve the 

unlawful aspects of the reverse check-off procedure. Chairman Thomas Harris issued an opinion dissenting from the 

majority's conclusions on the premembership reimbursement system. 

Neither System I nor System II adequately deals with the 

prohibition against soliciting nonmembers of the union, 

specifically agency fee payers. Thus, the proposed systems 

could not be utilized in any manner to solicit contributions 

from any person other than members of NEA or their 

families. 2 U.S.C. §441 b(b)(4)(A)(ii). (Length, including 

dissenting opinion, 10 pages) 

AO 1978-7: Contribution From an Estate 

The Jim Guy Tucker for Senate Campaign Committee must 

report the portion of a partnership contribution allocable 

3 

to two decedents' estates as " .. . contributions from 

living beneficiaries of those estates according to 

interest in the estate under relevant testamentary and 

instruments." The contributions may be al located in 

manner only if such beneficiaries can make a "kno

and voluntary decision to contribute" and the contrib

is otherwise legal under the Act. In the alternative

contribution may be allocated by the partnership am

only the living partners in accordance with the Com

sion's regulations at 11 CF R 110.1 (e). (Length: 3 p

AO 1978·1?.: Multicandidate Committee 

Friends of C:>'1gressman Henry A. Waxman (the Com

tee), a politicat ::ommittee, may operate as a multicand

committee for purposes of the contribution limits, 

vided: 

-- The Committee qualifies as a multicandidate comm

under the Act (2 U.S.C. §441 a(a)(4)); and 

-- Congressman Waxman does not authorize the Com

tee in writing to solicit or receive contributions o

behalf. 

Even though Congressman Waxman will assist in fundra

efforts for the Committee and will participate in the 

tion of candidates to receive contributions, if the two 

ditions above are met, the Committee " ... will not be 

sidered one of [Congressman Waxman's] authorized 

mittees and contributors to the Committee will n

regarded as making contributions with respect to Con

man Waxman's 1978 House campaign." Once qualifi

a multicandidate committee, the Committee may 

contributions up to $5,000 per candidate, per elec

(Length: 3 pages) 

AO 1978-15: Candidate Participation 

in Charity Drive 

Vic Fazio, a candidate for the U.S. House of Repres

tives, may participate as Honorary Chairman in a fun

ing campaign for the Sacramento unit of the Ame

Cancer Society. The costs of the publicity and broc

used in connection with the drive would not be consi

a contribution to or an expenditure on behalf o

Fazio's candidacy because the major purpose of the dr

not to influence the nomination or election of a cand

to Federal office and, additionally, because: 

-- Mr. Fazio agreed to participate as chairman befo

became a candidate for Federal office; 

.. Mr. Fazio " ... presumably will not control or hav

role in deciding the distribution to be made of broc

and letters bearing his picture and name"; 

.. The brochures and letters will not contain any refe

to Mr. Fazio's candidacy for Federal office. 

Commission approval of the opinion was also condit

on an assumption that all other activities in conne

with the drive will not involve solicitation or acceptan

cont
contributions in connection with Mr. Fazio's campaign or 

communications expressly advocating his election (or the 

defeat of any other candidate). (Length: 3 pages) 

AO 1978-16: Payroll Deduction Program 

The Wl'>irlpool Corr.oration's political action committee 

(WP,L,C) may use an open-ended payroll deduction program 

for its e:<ecutive and adm:nistrative personnel to make contributions to WPAC. The employee's signed authorizati on 

wi ll not, in itself, be considered a contribution because: 

1. The authorization may be terminated at any time; and 

2. No certain total amount may be identified. 

The authorization does not constitute a contract, promise 

or agreement (2 U.S.C. §431 (e){2); 11 CFR 100.4(a)(3)). 

Thus, it is not reported as a debt owed to WPAC. WPAC 

must, however, disclose (on FEC Form 3) each contribution made when the payroll deduction is actually made and 

the proceeds are remitted to WPAC. Contributions from 

one donor aggregating in excess of $1 00 during a calendar 

year must be itemized. 

The Commission noted, however, that authori zation of a 

payroll deduction to a committee would constitute a contributio n if the executive or administrative employee 

making the authorization " .. . specified . . . that it would 

be effective over a definite period of time . ... " The committee's obligation to itemize such a contribution on it's 

report would arise from the authorization itself if the total 

amount of the promised contribution (by itself or when 

aggregated with other contributions by the same donor) 

exceeded $100 during a calendar year. (Length : 3 pages) 

AO 1978-17: Solicitations by Trade Association 

The National Cable Television Association (NCTA) may 

conduct solicitations for its separate segregated fund 

(CABLEPAC) on the exhibit floor at its annual convention 

provided certain conditions are met. NCTA may set up a 

booth for the purpose of selling T-shirts, caps and buttons 

to raise fu nds for CAB LEPAC provided that: 

-- Only persons who may be properly solicited by NCTA 

under the Act and Commission's regulations (2 U.S.C. 

§441 b, 11 CFR 114.8) will purchase the items in the 

booth, thus making a contribution to CABLEPAC; 

-- Existence of the booth will not be p ublicized prior to or 

during the convention; 

-- Signs will be posted on the booth itself to inform potential contributors of the restrictions on who may contribute; 

4 

-- Funds from persons who are employed by nonmember 

corporations of NCT A or by member corporations who 

have not given the requisite approval will not be accepted; 

-- CABLEPAC maintains records of.each purchase including the amount and type of purchase and the company 

affiliatio n of each purchaser. 

At the same convention, NCTA may orally seek to obtain 

permission for solicitations from member corporations who 

have not given such permission, provided " ... the actual 

request for approval is made in writing" in accordance with 

the Commission's regulations at 11 CFR 114.8(d)(3)

Approval to conduct solicitations must also be made in 

writing before such sol icitations may be made. (Length

5 pages) 

AO 1978-18: Distribution of Publication to 

Members of Congress 

The Chamber of Commerce may distribute a single copy o

its publication " How They Voted" to each Member of Con

gress. Because the publication will be distributed to al

Members, without regard to their status 'as a candidate fo

Federal office, and because the limited distribution show

" ... no evident purpose to influence Federal elections ... ,

the costs of the publication will not constitute a prohibited 

use of corporate treasury funds (2 U.S.C. §441 b). The dis

tributi on of the publication to other nonmembers of the 

Chamber, however, would constitute an unlawful use o

corporate funds since the publication was fi nanced from 

the treasury funds of the Chamber. 

Vice Chairman Joan D. Aikens filed a dissenting opinion

(Length, including the dissenting opinion, 9 pages) 

AO 1978-19: Contributions to Two Committees 

for the Same Candidate 

Congressman Donald Fraser may regard contributions to 

the Minnesota Fraser Committee (Senate 1) as separate 

and disti nct from contributions made to the Fraser Senate 

Committee (Senate 2). The Senate 1 committee supported 

the Congressman's campaign for the U.S. Senate for the 

term ending in 1984, while the Senate 2 committee is cur

rently supporting the Congressman's campaign for the U.S

Senate for the term ending in 1982. The election for both 

the 1982 and 1984 Senate seats will be held in Novembe

1978. 

Because the Senate 1 committee is now terminated and 

because it's efforts were for a separate Federal office, con

tributions to it "need not be aggregated with those made to 

the 'new' Senate 2 committee ... . " Contributions to the 

two committees would have to be aggregated only if contri

butions made to the Senate 1 committee were transferred

directly or indirectly, to the Senate 2 committee under 2 

U.S.C. §441a(a)(5)(C). Such contributions transferred 

from the Senate 1 committee would have to be attributed 

to the original donors, and aggregated for purposes of deter

mining the $100 disclosure threshol d and for contribution 

limitation purposes. (Length : 3 pages) 
ADVISORY OPINION 

REQUESTS WITHDRAWN 

Since January 1, 1978, the following Advisory Opinion 

Requests (AOR's) have been withdrawn from Commission 

consideration by the requestor: 

Date 

AOR Subject Withdrawn 

1977-28 Establishment and activities of 1/4/78 

political committee. 

1977-33 Payment of interest on personal 1/4/78 

loan by candidate. 

1977-34 Acceptance of earmarked con- 3/24/78 

tribvtions by corporate PAC. 

1977-55 Payment of candidate expenses 1/26/78 

by party committee. 

Beginning with this issue, the Record wil l periodically list 

those AOR's withdrawn or disposed of in a manner other 

than the issuance of an Advisory Opinion . 

COMPLIANCE 

FEC PUBLISHES NAMES OF NON FILERS 

The Commission is required by the Federal Election 

Campaign Act to publish the names of candidates and political committees who fail to file required reports of receipts 

and expenditures. Prior to publishing names of nonfilers, 

the Commission sends notices to the candidates and committees reminding them of their reporting obligations and 

urging compliance. 

In an election year, candidates and committees must file 

reports quarterly (April 10, July 10, October 1 0). pre- and 

post-election (primary and general) and, in most cases, at 

the year's end (January 31 ). (Under certain circumstances, 

quarterly reports may be waived.) Political committees 

which make contributions or expenditures in more than 

one State may, upon request to and approval by the Commission, file monthly reports by the 20th of the month. 

These monthly reports must be filed each month regardless of the level of activity by the committee, except for 

the months of November, December and January . In lieu 

of these monthly reports, the committee files pre- and 

post-general election reports and a year-end report. 

Under Commission procedures, at least two notices are 

sent to candidates and committees who fai l to file required 

reports. If a candidate or committee does not file the 

required report(s) following receipt of these notices, the 

name of that "nonfiler" is made public. In addition to 

publishing the names of nonfilers, the Commission has the 

authority to take further enforcement action under the 

5 

statute, including civil court enforcement and imposition 

civil fines. The following list summarizes Commiss

publication of nonfilers in recent weeks: 

Publication 

Date 

4/ 10/78 

4 /29/78 

4/29/78 

5/4/78 

5/4/78 

5/6/78 

5/6/78 

Report Not 

Filed 

February 

(Monthly) 

North Carolina 

(Pre-primary) 

Indiana 

(Pre-primary) 

March (Monthly) 

Texas 

(Pre-primary) 

Nebraska 

(Pre-primary) 

West Virginia 

(Pre-primary) 

AUDITS 

FEC AUDIT POLICY 

Number 

Nonfiler

2 

6 

12 

5 

On April 6, 1978, the Commission approved a new a

policy establishing priorities for audits to be conduc

during the remainder of Fiscal Year 1978 (after May 

1978) and during Fiscal Year 1979. For a summary of 

FEC's previous audit policy and priorities, see t he Rec

June 1977, p. 6 and September 1977, p. 6. 

In the report approved on April 6, first priority will 

given to referral audits approved by the Commission. Th

include candidates and committees, referred by the Rep

Analysis Division or the Office of General Counsel, wh

reports and statements indicate a need for assistance 

improving reporting or recordkeeping systems. 

A second priority will be placed on national and S

party committees. The Commission will audit three m

party national committees, 13 affiliates of the nati

party committees, nine national party congressi

campaign committees, and approximately 60 State p

committees. 

As a third priority, the Commission will audit non-p

and local party committees as follows: 

-- All committees which received or expended $500,00

more in calendar year 1976 or 1977; 

contin
Fifty percent of the committees which received or 

expended between $250,000 and $499,999 in calendar 

year 1976 or 1977; 

·· Twenty committees which received or expended less 

than $250,000 in calendar year 1976 or 1977; 

.. Approximately 25 committees consisting of 1) commit· 

tees, not included above, which received or expended in 

excess of $250,000 during 1978, and 2) any committees 

in any of the above categories which request an audit. 

AUDITS RELEASED TO THE PUBLIC 

The Federal Election Campaign Act requires the Commission " ... to make from t ime to time audits and field 

investigations with respect to reports and statements filed 

under the [Act]." (For the audit policy used to determine 

these audits, see the· Record, June 1977, p. 6 and September 1977, p. 6.) The Commission is also required to conduct audits of all campaigns of Presidential candidates who 

received public funds. Once an audit is completed and an 

audit report is approved by the Commission, the report is 

made public and is available in the Office of Public Records 

or the Press Office at the Commission. Beginning with this 

l_ssue, the Record will l ist c~mpleted audits, together with 

the release date. The following is a list of all audits released 

as of January 1978, in ch ronological order. (Notations in 

parenthesis indicate Congressional candidate's State and 

district.) 

Date Made 

Audit Public 

1. United Federation Teachers Committee 10/5/76 

on Political Education 

2. Vo ice of Teachers for Education Com- 10/5/76 

mittee on Political Education 

3. The Sanford for President Committee 10/14/76 

4. United Steelworkers of America 10/28/76 

Pol itical Action Fund 

5. United Technologies Corporation 3/24/77 

Polit ical Action Committee 

6. Trust for Special Political Agricultural 7/12/77 

Community Education 

7. Church for President Committee, Inc. 7/ 18/77 

8. The Pro-Life Action Committee·· 8/24/77 

McCormack 

9. The Bentsen in '76 Committee 8/29/77 

10. Brown for President Committee 9/28/77 

11 . Democratic Congressional Campaign 12/12/77 

Committee 

12. 

13. 

14. 

15. 

16. 

17. 

18. 

19. 

20. 

21 . 

22. 

6 

Date M

Audit Publ

Democratic National Congressional 12/ 12/

Committee 

Jamie Whitten/Committee to Re-Elect 12/ 13/ 

Jamie Whitten (MS/01) 

Richardson Preyer/Preyer for Congress 12/14/

Committee (NC/06) 

Citizens Committee for the Democratic 12/20/ 

National Convention, Inc. 

1976 Democratic National Convention 12/20/

Committee, Inc. 

Dave Obey/Citizens for Dave Obey 1/5/78 

(WS/07) 

Frank Savino/Savino for Congress 1/5/78 

(WS/07) 

Ray Roberts/ Ray Roberts Campaign 1/19/7

Committee (TX/04) 

Frank Glenn/Glenn for Congress Com- 1/19/7

mittee (TX/04) 

Jack Brooks/Jack Brooks Campaign 1/19/7

Committee (TX/09) 

Henry M. Jackson/The Jackson for 1/ 25/7

President Committee 

FEC PUBLIC APPEARANCES 

In keeping with its objective of making informa

tion available to the public, the Federal Election 

Commission regularly accepts invitations for its repre

sentatives to address public gatherings on the subjec

of campaign finance laws and the Commission itself

This regular column lists scheduled Commission 

appearances, detailing the name of the sponsoring 

organization, the location of the event and the Com

mission's representative. 

6/ 13 American Law Institute ·· American Bar 

Association 

Committee on Continuing Professional 

Education 

Chicago, Illinois 

Jan Baran, Executive Assistant to 

Commissioner Joan Aikens 
STATISTICS 

REPORTS ON FINANCIAL ACTIVITY 

OF PARTY AND NON-PARTY 

POLITICAL COMMITTEES 

On April 9, 1978, the F EC released its latest study of 

campa ign finance activity of political committees during 

1977-1978. The study is an update of studies released 

earlier this year. (See the Record, March 1978, p. 8 and 

April 1978, p. 6.) Volume I contains information on the 

following: 

Individual national arid congressional political committees (Democratic and Republican); 

-- State and local Democratic and Republican committees 

by State totals; and 

- Non-party political committees by six categories (corporation, labor organization, etc.). 

Volume II presents figures for each individual State and 

local major party political committee, while Volume Ill 

presents figures for each non-party committee. This study 

is based on reports filed by the committees and contains 

figures covering the fol lowing reporting periods: 

-- January 1, 1977, through February 28, 1978, for com· 

mittees filing monthly; or 

-- January 1, 1977, through December 31, 1977, for com· 

mittees filing quarterly. 

Information for the non-party political committees includes 

the number of committees, adjusted receipts, adjusted disbursements, contributions to Federal candidates, latest 

cash-on-hand, and debts owed by and to the committee. 

Figures showed that the 1,492 non-party committees 

raised a total of $33.2 million and spent $21.3 million, 

including $3.9 million in contributions to Federal candi· 

dates. Cash·on-hand at the end of the period covered was 

approximately $23 million. 

The figures for the 35 national and congressional party 

committees and the 563 State and local committees included the same information as that for the non-party committees. The party committees raised $47.2 million, spent 

$43.8 million (including $.95 million in contributions to 

Federal candidates) and showed cash-on-hand of approximately $12 million. 

The study also includes breakdowns of contributions by 

category of candidate (Presidential, House, Senate). by 

candidate's party and by incumbent/nonincumbent status. 

To request copies of the study, contact the Office of 

Public Records: 202/523-4181 or toll-free 800/424-9530. 

Purchase price, payable in advance: Volume I, Sum

Tables, $15.00; Volume II, State and Local Party De

Tables, $30.00; Volume Ill, Non·Party Detailed T

$60.00. 

UPDATE OF MULTICANDIDATE 

COMMITTEE INDEX 

The Commission publishes each month an update 

Multicandidate Committee Index. For a summary 

contents of the Index, see the Record, February 1978

The update is available on the last day of each m

Copies of the Index, the current update or any past u

are avai lable through the Office of Pub I ic Records 

phone 202/523-4181 or toll-free 800/424-9530. Th

chase price is 10 cents per page, payable in advance 

THE LAW 

IN THE COURTS 

NATIONAL CONSERVATIVE POLITICAL 

ACTION COMMITTEE, et al., v. FEDERAL 

ELECTION COMMISSION, et al. 

On February 15, 1978, the National Conservative P

Action Committee (NCPAC) filed suit against the F

Election Commission challenging the legality of t he 

mission's regulation ( 11 CF R 110.1 (g)(1)) and the 

mission's Advisory Opinion 1978-1 which provid

the contribution limitations (2 U.S.C. §441 a) do no

to pre-1975 campaign debts. In the case of AO 1978

Commission allowed the Democratic National Com

to retire pre-1975 debts without regard to the contr

limitations. 

7 

On April 28, 1978, the Court granted the Comm

motion to dismiss with respect to AO 1978-1 and 

summary judgment with respect to 11 CFR 110.1 

The Court cited the following reasons: 

-- The Court lacks jurisdiction with respect to the 

ties of the DNC because NCPAC did not use the 

tori ly established compliance procedures (2 

§437g) prior to filing suit in District Court. 

- AO 1978-1 and its effect on NCPAC does not 

an issue "ripe for review" by the Court. 

- Nothing in the Act or legislative history of the A

vides for the extension of the contribution li

pre·1975 election debts. 

-- The regulation does not "deny equal protection 

laws to persons and entities subject to the co

tion limitations .... " 

-- The regulations were promulgated in accordan

the Administrative Procedures Act. 
LITIGATION STATUS INFORMATION 

The following is a list of new litigation involving the 

Commission, together with the date the suit was filed, the 

Court involved, the Docket Number and a brief description 

of the major issue(s) involved in the case. Persons seeking 

additional information on a particular case should contact 

the Court where the suit is filed, or the Commission. 

FEC v. Ronald Wayne Evans, U.S. District Court for the 

Eastern District of Michigan, Docket No. 78-10034, 

February 16, 1978. 

The Commission all eges that Ronald Wayne 

Evans failed to file required reports of receipts 

and expenditures in connection with the 1976 

election. 

FEC v. Milton Weinsten, et al., U.S. District Court for the 

Southern District of New York, Docket No. 78CIV 932, 

March 2, 1978. 

The Commission alleges that Mi lton Weinsten 

and the Winfield Manufacturing Company made 

illegal contributions in connection with Federal 

elections. 

FEDERAL REGISTER 

NOTICES 

The followi ng list identifies all FEC documents appearing in the Federal Register between April 13, 1978 and May 

15,1978. 

Federal Register 

Notice Title Publication Date Citation 

19784 Vacating Past Com- 4/19/78 43 FR 16547 

mission Pol icy 

Pronouncements 

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION 

1325 K STREET, NW 

WASHINGTON , DC 20463 

OFFICIAL BUSINESS 

8 

PUBLICATIONS 

CASSETTE VERSION OF 

CAMPAIGN GUIDE 

The FEC recently acquired an audio cassette version 

the Campaign Guide for Congressional Candidates 

Their Committees. For further information, contact 

Office of Public Communications-· telephone 202/5

4068 or toll-free 800/424-9530. 

REPORTS 

NEW FEC FORM 5 

On April 6, 1978, the Commission approved a rev

FEC Form 5 (Report of Independent Expenditures or C

tributions by Persons). This form must be filed by any i

vidual or person, other than a political committee, who: 

1. Makes an independent expenditure in an aggreg

amount in excess of $100 during a calendar year; or 

2. Makes a contribution in an aggregate amount in exc

of $1 00 to another person (other than a pol itical c

mittee) for the puroose of making an independent 

penditure. 

The form must be signed by the person filing the rep

and must be notarized. The newly revised form is de

nated in the upper left-hand corner as: FEC Form 

March 1978. Requests for copies of the form or questi

about it should be addressed to the Office of Public C

munications telephone 202/523-4068 or toll-f

800/424-9530. 

POSTAGE AND FEES PAID