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Mar 31, 2006 -- Legal Center Weekly Report: March 31, 2006
On March 29, 2006, U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan granted partial summary judgment to plaintiffs in Shays and Meehan v. FEC (Shays II). In this suit, Congressmen Shays and Meehan challenged the failure of the FEC to regulate 527's as political committees subject to the requirements of federal campaign finance laws. The Legal Center represents U.S. Senators John McCain and Russ Feingold in this case as amici curiae .
In its 34-page ruling, the Court found that the FEC had "failed to present a reasoned explanation" for its decision in 2004 not to issue rules to require section 527 organizations to register as federal political committees when they spend money to influence federal campaigns. The FEC claimed it was not required to issue such a rule, but instead could enforce the political committee requirement by case-by-case enforcement actions. Judge Sullivan rejected that claim, however, and said, "judging from the FEC's track record in the 2004 election, case-by-case adjudication appears to have been a total failure." Judge Sullivan remanded the matter back to the FEC "either to articulate its reasoning for its decision to proceed by case-by-case adjudication or to promulgate a rule if necessary."
To read the opinion, click here.
On Wednesday, March 29, the Senate passed a much-anticipated bill on lobbying reform. The bill passed overwhelmingly in a 90-8 vote. While the Campaign Legal Center has been very active in advocating for needed changes in the nation's lobbying laws, the bill passed this week does not address some of the issues the Legal Center and other reform groups have identified as the most meaningful and effective. In response to the Senate's action the Legal Center, Common Cause, Democracy 21, League of Women Voters, Public Citizen, and U.S. PIRG issued a scorecard measuring the passed bill against the six benchmarks for lobbying reform the groups outlined earlier this year.
Click here to read the group's statement and scorecard.
Click here to read the group's Six Benchmarks for Lobbying Reform.
On Monday, March 27, the Federal Election Commission adopted a new rule on "Internet Communications," concluding a rulemaking begun in April 2005 (NPRM 2005-10). The rulemaking was compelled by the 2004 U.S. District Court decision in Shays v. FEC, ordering the agency to re-visit 15 of the regulations it promulgated to implement the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002. The court held in 2004 that the agency's 2002 decision to grant all activity on the Internet a flat exemption from the definition of "public communication" would "severely undermine [the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974's] purposes" and "permit rampant circumvention of the campaign finance laws and foster corruption or the appearance of corruption."
The Legal Center filed written comments in the rulemaking, and Legal Center President Trevor Potter testified at FEC's Internet rulemaking hearing last year—urging the Commission to both protect the free speech rights of bloggers and other individual Internet users, and prevent the return of corrupting soft money to federal elections through the Internet loophole opened by the Commission in its 2002 regulation.
The regulation adopted by the FEC this week strikes the right balance in advancing these goals. The regulation makes clear that bloggers and other individuals communicating on their own Web sites are not covered by the campaign finance laws. The regulation also makes clear that federal candidates and political parties buying campaign ads on the Internet to influence federal elections must comply with federal campaign finance laws and cannot use soft money to fund such ads
In related news, House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) issued a statement Wednesday, saying that in light of the recent FEC action on internet regulations, floor action on H.R. 1606 will be postponed. The Legal Center has worked closely with Common Cause, Democracy 21, the League of Women Voters, Public Citizen and U.S. PIRG to oppose this piece of legislation and will continue to oppose if it returns to the calendar later this year.
Click here to read the Legal Center and other reform groups' statement on the rulemaking.
Click here to read Majority Leader Boehner's statement.
On March 26, 2006, intervener-defendants Senator John McCain and Representatives Tammy Baldwin, Christopher Shays, and Martin Meehan filed a memorandum in WRTL v. FEC , (No. 94-1260 (D.D.C.) supporting the FEC's Proposal for Discovery and for summary judgment briefing. The FEC proposed to the three-judge court that the parties be permitted to take discovery through July 10, 2006. The Legal Center supported the FEC's request, noting that this case is an as-applied challenge to the electioneering communications provisions of BCRA and as such warrants a fully developed factual record. This case is on remand from the United States Supreme Court, which held that as applied challenges to the electioneering communications were not foreclosed by the Court's decision in McConnell . The Legal Center is serving co-counsel for the intervenor-defendants.
Legal Center to Co-Sponsor Redistricting Reform Conference
On April 3-5, 2006, the Campaign Legal Center will co-sponsor a redistricting reform conference with the Council for Excellence in Government and the League of Women Voters. The Conference, which will be held at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, is entitled "Building A National Redistricting Reform Movement". The purpose of the conference is to examine strategies that have been used in states where redistricting reform has been attempted or implemented. The goal of the conference will be to meld the principles adopted at a redistricting reform conference held last year (sponsored by the Legal Center and the Council for Excellence in Government) with suitable strategies for implementing those principles in the various states.
To review a copy of the redistricting reform principles adopted at the 2005 conference, click here.
To read a variety of this week's editorials and articles on campaign finance , please click here. |
