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###### Federal Election Commission

          - 11 CFR Part 104 
          - [Notice 2006—23] 

# AGENCY:

Federal Election Commission. 

# ACTION:

Statement of Policy. 

# SUMMARY:

Political committees and other persons required to file campaign finance reports with the FEC must itemize certain disbursements and, for each itemized disbursement, must provide information including a brief description of the purpose of the disbursement. The “purpose of disbursement” entry, when considered along with the identity of the disbursement recipient, must be sufficiently specific to make the purpose of the disbursement clear. The guidance below includes a non-exhaustive list of “purpose of disbursement” entries that are generally acceptable, and a non-exhaustive list of terms that are generally not acceptable. 

# DATES:

Effective as of January 9, 2007. 

# FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Richard T. Ewell, Attorney, 999 E Street, NW., Washington, DC 20463, (202) 694-1650 or (800) 424-9530, or Debbie Chacona, Branch Chief, Party/Non-Party Branch, Reports Analysis Division, 999 E Street, NW., Washington, DC 20463, (202) 694-1130 or (800) 424-9530. 

# SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

                    Political committees and other persons required to file campaign finance reports with the FEC must itemize certain disbursements and, for each itemized disbursement, must provide the full name and address of the recipient, the date the disbursement was made, and a brief statement or description of why the disbursement was made.                     *See*2 U.S.C. 434(b); 11 CFR 104.3(b)(3) and (4), 104.10(b)(4), 104.17(b)(3) and 300.36(b)(2)(iii). The “purpose of disbursement” entry, when considered along with the identity of the disbursement recipient, must be sufficiently specific to make the purpose of the disbursement clear. 11 CFR 104.3(b)(3)(i)(B) and (4)(i)(A). The Commission's regulation requiring a description of the purpose of each itemized disbursement includes examples of descriptions that are acceptable (                    *e.g.*, “dinner expenses,” “salary,” “travel expenses”) and examples that are unacceptable (                    *e.g.*, “advance,” “miscellaneous”). Neither list is exhaustive.                 

The Commission solicited comments on a draft of this policy statement on November 2, 2006. Two comments were received. After reviewing the comments received, the Commission has decided to publish the policy statement with one change. As suggested by a commenter, the Commission has added “Consulting-Political” to the examples of generally insufficient descriptions. In light of this change, the Commission has also added examples of descriptions that would be generally sufficient, such as “Consulting-Media,” “Consulting-Fundraising,” “Consulting-Polling,” “Consulting-Legal” and “Consulting-Get-Out-The-Vote.” 

                    The Commission recognizes that the “purpose of disbursement” entries, when linked to information provided about the recipient of the payment, may provide sufficient disclosure. For example, a disbursement to an office supply vendor for the stated purpose of “Supplies” provides adequate and acceptable disclosure, while a disbursement to a committee staff member for the same purpose of “Supplies” would likely trigger a                           ( print page 888)                        request for a more complete description of the purpose of the disbursement. In the former case, it is obvious to the reader what type of supplies were purchased, while in the latter case, it is not.                 

                    As a rule of thumb, filers should consider the following question: “Could a person not associated with the committee easily discern why the disbursement was made when reading the name of the recipient and the purpose?” For example, a person not associated with the committee could not easily discern the purpose of a disbursement made to a vendor for “Consulting” (unless the vendor's name makes the purpose clear,                     *e.g.*, Smith Fundraising Consulting, Inc.). As discussed above, however, if the committee were to provide additional detail with respect to the type of consulting the vendor provided (                    *e.g.*, “Fundraising Consulting”), an unassociated person would have no difficultly discerning the purpose of the disbursement.                 

All information on campaign finance reports submitted to the FEC, including the entries for “purpose of disbursement,” are reviewed by analysts in the Reports Analysis Division (RAD). Some campaign finance reports, particularly those filed by presidential campaign committees accepting public funding, are also reviewed by auditors in the Audit Division. In practice, the RAD analysts and the auditors often encounter “purpose of disbursement” entries that are not listed in the examples contained in 11 CFR 104.3(b)(3) and (4), and receive questions from filers regarding acceptable descriptions. Therefore, in order to provide further guidance to filers and to encourage consistency between filers, the Commission is publishing lists of additional generally acceptable and generally unacceptable descriptions. 

The Commission does not intend to request that a committee provide additional information about a purpose of disbursement entry if the committee uses those descriptions listed below as providing sufficient detail. However, if a committee uses a description that is listed as lacking sufficient detail, a RAD analyst may review the report more closely but the Commission would not automatically take any particular action. In most instances, the Commission will merely contact the reporting committee and the committee may then amend its report. In the rare circumstances in which the Commission deems it necessary to pursue the matter further, the Commission will conduct a separate review of the sufficiency of the description of purpose to determine whether it meets the requirements of 11 CFR 104.3(b). 

                    Any future revisions to these lists will be posted on the Commission's Web site at                     *http://www.fec.gov/​law/​policy.shtml*. Committees with questions can contact either their assigned RAD analyst (phone: (800) 424-9530 (press 5)) or the FEC Information Division (phone: (800) 424-9530 (press 6); e-mail:                     *info@fec.gov*).                 

*Descriptions of purpose that provide sufficient detail:*
    - “Salary” for a disbursement to a staff member.
    - “Media” for a disbursement to a television or radio communication company.
    - “Polling” for a disbursement to a research/communications company.
    - “Travel,” “Travel Expenses,” or “Travel Expense Reimbursement” for a disbursement to a staff member.
    - “Printing” for a disbursement to a printing company.
    - “Phone Banks” for a disbursement to a vendor providing phone bank services.
    - “Dinner Expense” for a disbursement to a restaurant.
    - “Catering Cost” for a disbursement to a hotel or restaurant where a fundraiser was held.
    - “Party Fees” or “Party Annual Dues” for a disbursement to a National Party Committee for their annual dues.
    - “Exit Polling,” “Door-to-Door Get-Out-the-Vote,” “Get-Out-the-Vote Phone Calls,” or “Driving Voters to the Polls” to individuals or vendors contracted for get-out-the-vote or voter registration activity.
    - “Supplies” for a disbursement to an office supply vendor.
    - “Consultant-Media,” “Consultant-Fundraising,” “Consultant-Get-Out-The-Vote,” “Consultant-Legal,” or “Consultant-Polling” for a disbursement to a consultant or consulting company.

Descriptions of purposes that generally lack sufficient detail: 

Administrative Expenses 

Admin. 

Advance 

Bonus 

Bounty 

Campaign Expense 

Campaign Material 

Charges 

Collateral 

Collateral Materials 

Commission 

                    Compensation (                    *other than committee staff*)                 

Consultant 

Consultant-Political 

Consulting 

Consulting Non-FEA 

Consulting Service 

Contract 

Contract Labor 

Contractual Services 

Convention Expenses 

Convention Services 

Costs 

Delegate 

Delegate Expenses 

Design 

Discount Fees 

Election Day Expense 

Entertainment 

Event 

Event Expense 

Event Reimbursement 

                    Event Supplies (                    *if to an individual*)                 

Expenses 

Expense Reimbursement 

Fees 

                    Fundraising (                    *if to an individual*)                 

Fundraising Event 

                    Fundraising Expense (                    *if to an individual*)                 

                    Fundraising Fees (                    *if to an individual*)                 

                    Fundraising Supplies (                    *if to an individual*)                 

General Advice 

General Consulting 

Generic Campaign Activity 

Generic Consulting 

Get-Out-The-Vote or GOTV 

GOTV Expenses 

GOTV Labor 

Invoice 

Labor 

Literature 

                    Meeting (                    *if to an individual*)                 

                    Meeting Expenses (                    *if to an individual*)                 

                    Meeting Supplies (                    *if to an individual*)                 

Miscellaneous or Misc. 

Miscellaneous Expense 

                    Office Expense (                    *if to an individual*)                 

Office Services 

Outside Services 

Operating Expenses 

Other Expenses 

Production 

Professional Fees 

Professional Fees—Consulting 

Professional Services 

Promotional Material 

Publication 

Push Card 

Reimbursement 

Rendered Service 

Services 

Services Rendered 

State Convention 

                    Supplies (                    *if to an individual*)                 

Voter Bounty 

Voter Contact 

Voter Drive 

Voter Identification or Voter ID 

Voter Registration 

Worker 

                    This                     **Federal Register**                     notice represents a general statement of policy                           ( print page 889)                        announcing the general course of action that the Commission intends to follow. This policy statement does not constitute an agency regulation requiring notice of proposed rulemaking, opportunities for public participation, prior publication, and delay in effective date under 5 U.S.C. 553 of the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”). As such, it does not bind the Commission or any member of the general public. The provisions of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, which apply when notice and comment are required by the APA or another statute, are not applicable.                 

Dated: December 27, 2006. 

Robert D. Lenhard, 

Vice Chairman,  Federal Election Commission.

 [FR Doc. E7-65 Filed 1-8-07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6715-01-P