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Mar 2, 2007 -- Legal Center Weekly Report: March 2, 2007 527 Group Progress For America Voter Fund To Pay $750,000 Fine to FEC
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) announced this week that Progress For America Voter Fund (PFA-VF) has agreed to pay the agency a $750,000 fine—the third largest in the FEC's history—as part of a settlement to resolve a complaint filed against the group in 2004 by the Campaign Legal Center, together with Democracy 21 and the Center for Responsive Politics.
Campaign Legal Center FEC Program Director Paul S. Ryan stated , "The Campaign Legal Center is pleased that the FEC agreed with our position that PFA-VF violated federal campaign finance laws by raising and spending more than $30 million to influence the 2004 presidential election, but without registering as a federal 'political committee' and complying with the contribution limits and disclosure requirements that apply to political committees."
This week, the FEC adopted Advisory Opinion 2007-3 at the request of Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) and his presidential campaign committee, advising that Sen. Obama and his committee may raise funds for the 2008 presidential general election, while retaining eligibility to opt-in to the general election public financing program at a later date. Sen. Obama explained in his Advisory Opinion Request that, in the event he receives the Democratic Party's nomination, he would consider participating in the public financing program if his Republican opponent agreed to do the same.
Shortly after the Commission's adoption of the Advisory Opinion, the presidential exploratory committee of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) published a statement that, should Sen. McCain win the Republican presidential nomination, he will agree to accept public financing in the general election, if the Democratic nominee agrees to do the same.
Last week, the Legal Center joined Democracy 21 in filing comments with the FEC advising the Commission that, while we support Sen. Obama's policy goal of preserving the public financing system, we believe that the law does not permit the statutory interpretation set forth in the Obama request.
Last month, Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Russ Feingold (D-WI) filed court papers seeking to participate as amici curiae ("friends of the court") in the "Shays III" lawsuit brought by Reps. Christopher Shays (R-CT) and Marty Meehan (D-MA). The case challenges FEC regulations pertaining to "coordinated communications," federal candidate and officeholder solicitation at state party fundraising events, and "federal election activity."
Last week, the FEC filed an opposition to the motion stating the Senators' brief was untimely. Disputing the FEC's claim of untimelyness, McCain and Feingold filed a reply brief asking the court to again consider their motion to participate as amici curiae.
On Tuesday, February 27, 2007, the federal district court presiding over the consolidated cases, Green Party of Connecticut v. Garfield and Association of CT Lobbyists v. Garfield, granted a motion to intervene filed by Connecticut Common Cause, Connecticut Citizens Action Group, and several former candidates for Connecticut office. The court's ruling will allow these intervening parties to participate in the legal defense of Connecticut's recently-enacted campaign finance law. This landmark law provides for the full public financing of campaigns for Connecticut state office, and restricts contributions by lobbyists and state contractors to state candidates.
The Campaign Legal Center is serving as co-counsel for the intervening defendants with the Brennan Center, Democracy 21, Donald J. Simon of Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse, Endreson & Perry, and the law firms, WilmerHale and Hogan & Hartson L.L.P.
The Campaign Legal Center sent a letter to all members of House and Senate this week urging them to join as a sponsor of the Presidential Funding Act of 2007. With the letter, the Legal Center sent a comparison of the current system and the Presidential Funding Act of 2007, which has been introduced in the House (H.R. 776) and Senate (S. 436), to modify the system in time for the 2012 presidential election.
The presidential public financing system has played a vital role in every presidential election since 1976 and has admirably served candidates from each party for more than 30 years, ranging from Ronald Reagan to Bill Clinton. The system is too important to the health of our democracy to let fade away.
This week, Campaign Legal Center Executive Director J. Gerald Hebert participated as a panelist at a symposium entitled "Lines in the Sand and the 2003 Congressional Redistricting in Texas." The symposium was sponsored by the University of Texas Law School.
Legal Center Blog Highlights
Each week, the Campaign Legal Center staff posts blog entries on its site, www.clcblog.org . Click to read this week's entry: " Drain the Swamp Before More End Up Like Ney ," or " Side-by-Side Comparison of Proposed and Current Presidential Public Financing Systems " or to sign up for blog updates, click here .
To read a variety of this week's editorials and articles on a variety of Campaign Legal Center issues, please click here. |
