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Advocacy Blog
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Waiting for the FEC
Yesterday during a Federal Election Commission (FEC) hearing, the commission was considering the issue of hybrid ads. BNA Money and Politics ($$) discusses yesterday's hearing in length and the wrangling of their possible rulemaking. A final rule has not been drafted with details still to be worked out, including how much of the cost of an ad could be taken on by a party and how much must be paid by the candidate or candidates named in the ad. However, the article also touches upon another subject the FEC is considering.
Another highly anticipated action is an expected FEC rulemaking or policy statement on TV and radio ads that mention federal candidates in the final weeks before an election. Corporate and union funding of such ads was banned under the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, but the Supreme Court recently carved out a major exception in its June 25 ruling in FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life Inc. The court ruled there is a First Amendment exception to the BCRA ad-funding restrictions for certain "grass roots" lobbying messages focusing on legislation or policy issues. The FEC is now expected to try to determine exactly which messages fit that exception, leading to a potentially explosive increase in the type of ads that the commission says pass muster.
Hopefully the FEC will use the Court's opinion to craft a rulemaking that may put off expected litigation and confusion before the 2008 election season is in full swing.
Posted by Amanda Adams
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