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Politics : WHO IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT IN 2004 -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Raymond Duray who wrote (10178)	2/18/2004 9:14:46 PM
From: Glenn Petersen	Respond to of 10965

FEC takes modest step toward restricting 527s hillnews.com By Alexander Bolton The Federal Election Commission (FEC) today approved by a 4-2 vote an advisory opinion that would limit how much soft money certain 527 fundraising organizations could spend on federal elections. However, the commission made clear that the opinion was narrowly tailored for Americans for a Better Country, the GOP-allied group that asked for the opinion. Commissioners said they would not issue broader regulations for soft money fundraising groups until next month when they initiate a more formal rulemaking process. Yesterday's advisory opinion applies to 527 groups that have a federal component and are registered with the commission. For example, Americans Coming Together, one of the biggest liberal 527s with a projected budget of $98 million, would be substantially affected by the opinion because it has a federal component. But Clinton advisor Harold Ickes' Media Fund, with a budget of $95 million, has no such federal component and is untouched by the opinion, said an campaign finance experts who filed comments with the commission. The commission's advisory opinion stated that registered 527s must use hard money -- which may only be raised in small increments -- to pay for activities that only affect federal candidates. Activities by such groups that affect federal and non-federal candidates may be paid for by a mixture of hard and soft money. Yesterday's opinion by the commission was significantly more narrow than an opinion drafted by the agency¹s general counsel, which some observers interpreted to affect all 527s and even tax exempt groups such as 501(c)3 charities and 501(c)4 political advocacy groups, such as the National Rifle Association. Surprisingly, one GOP-appointed commissioner joined three Democratic-appointed commissioners to approve the framework for yesterday's opinion. Democratic commissioners had been expected to oppose regulation of 527 groups because the party will rely heavily on these entities to make up for a funding disparity with Republicans this year. FEC chairman Bradley Smith, a GOP-appointee, favored an opinion that was comparatively more deregulatory than the one adopted yesterday. Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie praised the FEC for "uphold[ing] the new law of the land." "Today's ruling effectively shuts down illicit 527 groups that operate in the shadows of using unregulated soft money to influence federal elections," Gillespie said. But campaign finance reformers say the commission deferred crucial questions about how these groups may operate. Democracy 21, a campaign finance reform group that has submitted comments to the FEC on 527s, said the agency deferred key questions: * Can a section 527 group whose principal purpose is to influence federal elections use soft money entirely, or almost entirely, to pay for ads that "promote, support, attack or oppose" a federal candidate? * Can a section 527 group whose principal purpose is to influence federal elections use soft money entirely, or almost entirely, to pay for partisan voter mobilization efforts aimed at influencing federal elections? * Can a corporation or labor union barred from directly or indirectly making expenditures for partisan voter mobilization efforts aimed at the public and in connection with a federal election make contributions to a section 527 group to be spent by the group on such activities?