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Advocacy Blog
Friday, August 31, 2007
District Court Rules FEC Can Continue to Regulate 527s On a Case-by-Case Basis, Not through a Forced Rulemaking
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) will continue to regulate independent 527 political groups on a case-by-case basis. A federal judge ruled in favor of the FEC in a lawsuit brought by Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT) and then-Rep. Martin Meehan (D-MA) and campaign reform groups asking that the FEC be forced to write a rule requiring that groups registered with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as a political organization under section 527 also register with the FEC as a federal political committee. The groups that called brought the lawsuit may now appeal the case and call on Congress to pass 527 reform legislation. The Court determined that the FEC's February 2007 explanation for their approach to enforcing 527s is sufficient. Citing fines the FEC has placed on 527 groups, the judge said, "the case-by-case approach can be at least somewhat effective."
The Center for Competitive Politics chairman responded to the Court's decision; "Forced rulemaking by the FEC would have turned thousands of citizens' organizations into highly regulated 'political committees.'" While OMB Watch opposes one-size-fits-all regulation of 527 groups, the case-by-case approach has its own problems. It is time consuming, complex, does not provide clear guidance and will only become more problematic if more cases and 527 groups appear in the coming 2008 Presidential election, leaving many groups facing legal questions. As Bob Bauer precisely comments; "Contrary to the views of reform critics, no better outcome was ever possible, nor more quickly: the law remains a riddle, and the FEC has chosen to leave it that way."
According to the FEC press release; "In reaching this decision Judge Emmet G. Sullivan agreed with the Commission that judgments about whether the major purpose of an organization is influencing federal elections are complex and therefore the FEC's decision not to draft a general rule but rather to consider this question on a case by case basis is within the agency's discretion. The Court also noted that "the FEC has successfully brought enforcement actions against 527 groups since the [Court's] 2006 opinion. . ."
Posted by Amanda Adams
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