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1 [1] (December 30, 2019)

handle is hein.crs/govbgxv0001 and id is 1 raw text is: F. December 30, 2019 Campaign Finance Law: Disclosure and Disclaimer Requirements for Political Campaign Advertising Federal campaign finance law sets forth disclosure and disclaimer requirements for certain types of political campaign advertisements. The term disclosure refers to periodic reporting to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) of funds received and spent, and the term disclaimer refers to an attribution statement that appears on a campaign-related communication. Generally, the Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of such requirements, determining that they serve the governmental interests of informing the electorate, deterring corruption or its appearance, and facilitating enforcement of the law. This In Focus surveys current law establishing disclosure and disclaimer requirements and discusses pertinent constitutional considerations for legislation, should Congress decide to enhance or modify such requirements. Under the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), political committees, which include candidate committees and political action committees (PACs), must register with the FEC and comply with disclosure requirements. Political committees are required to file periodic reports that disclose the total amount of all contributions they receive, and the identity, address, occupation, and employer of any person who contributes more than $200 during a calendar year. In addition, entities other than political committees-such as labor unions and corporations, including incorporated tax- exempt Section 501 (c)(4) organizations-making independent expenditures or electioneering communications generally must disclose information to the FEC, including the identity of certain donors over specific dollar thresholds. FECA generally defines an independent expenditure as funds spent on a communication expressly advocating for the election or defeat of a candidate and an electioneering communication as a broadcast, cable, or satellite communication during preelection periods that refers to a candidate, but does not call for election or defeat. These requirements have been the subject of litigation, as discussed below. The FEC is required to make these reports publicly available on the internet within 48 hours of receipt, or within 24 hours if the report is filed electronically, and available for public inspection in its offices. Generally, FECA requires organizations making independent expenditures that aggregate more than $250 in a calendar year to disclose, on a quarterly basis, (1) whether an independent expenditure supports or opposes a candidate, (2) under penalty of perjury, certification as to whether it was made independently of a campaign, and (3) the identity of each person who contributed more than S200 to the organization for the purpose of furthering an independent expenditure. In addition, up to 20 days before an election, an organization must file a report each time it spends at least $10,000 on independent expenditures relating to that election, within 48 hours of incurring the cost of the expenditure. Less than 20 days before an election, an organization must file a report each time it spends at least $1,000 on independent expenditures relating to that election, within 24 hours of incurring the cost. Until a recent court ruling, the donor disclosure regulation promulgated under FECA generally applied only to those donors who contributed money specifically for the purpose of furthering the reported independent expenditure. As a result, unless a donation to an organization was made specifically for the purpose of funding a particular, reported independent expenditure, the FEC did not require an organization to disclose the donor's identity. This purpose requirement or exception for donor disclosure, however, was successfully challenged in court. In 2018, a federal district court invalidated the regulation, holding that it requires significantly less disclosure than the statute mandates by not requiring nonpolitical committee organizations to report donors unless there is a direct link or specific intent by the donor to spend the donation for the independent expenditure. Hence, this ruling requires groups making independent expenditures to disclose more of their donors than was required under the invalidated regulation. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) v. FEC, 316 F. Supp. 3d 349, 394 (D.D.C. 2018), stay denied sub nom, Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies v. CREW, 139 S. Ct. 50 (2018). Once an organization has paid for electioneering communications aggregating over $10,000 during a calendar year, FECA requires the organization to file disclosure of such payments and then requires subsequent filings each time the organization makes such payments aggregating more than $ 10,000 since the last filing. In such filings, the law requires an organization to disclose certain information, including the identity and principal place of business of the organization making the payment for the electioneering communication, the amount of each payment over $200, and the names of candidates identified in the communication. In certain circumstances, organizations that pay for electioneering communications may also be required to disclose their donors. FECA requires the organization to disclose its donors who contributed at least $1,000, but N.:0 z:&X2$ p\w -- , gnom goo mppm qq\ M , q 'M I 11LIANJILiM,