Rulemaking Petition: Requiring Reporting of Exchanges of Email Lists
| Published date | 28 August 2019 |
| Citation | 84 FR 45116 |
| Record Number | 2019-18511 |
| Section | Proposed rules |
| Court | Federal Election Commission |
Federal Register, Volume 84 Issue 167 (Wednesday, August 28, 2019)
[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 167 (Wednesday, August 28, 2019)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 45116]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-18511]
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Proposed Rules
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 167 / Wednesday, August 28, 2019 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 45116]]
FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION
11 CFR Part 104
[Notice 2019-13]
Rulemaking Petition: Requiring Reporting of Exchanges of Email
Lists
AGENCY: Federal Election Commission.
ACTION: Rulemaking Petition: Notification of availability.
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SUMMARY: On June 28, 2019, the Federal Election Commission received a
Petition for Rulemaking asking the Commission to amend its existing
regulation requiring political committees to report receipts and
disbursements to specify that the regulation also applies to the
receipt and disbursement of a mailing list or other valuable list, even
if such a list is received or disbursed as part of an equal-value
exchange. The Commission seeks comments on the petition.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before October 28, 2019.
ADDRESSES: All comments must be in writing. Commenters are encouraged
to submit comments electronically via the Commission's website at
http://sers.fec.gov/fosers/, reference REG 2019-03. Alternatively,
commenters may submit comments in paper form, addressed to the Federal
Election Commission, Attn.: Esther Gyory, Acting Assistant General
Counsel, 1050 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20463.
Each commenter must provide, at a minimum, his or her first name,
last name, city, and state. All properly submitted comments, including
attachments, will become part of the public record, and the Commission
will make comments available for public viewing on the Commission's
website and in the Commission's Public Records Office. Accordingly,
commenters should not provide in their comments any information that
they do not wish to make public, such as a home street address,
personal email address, date of birth, phone number, social security
number, or driver's license number, or any information that is
restricted from disclosure, such as trade secrets or commercial or
financial information that is privileged or confidential.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Esther Gyory, Acting Assistant
General Counsel, or Mr. Tony Buckley, Attorney, Office of the General
Counsel, 1050 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20463, (202) 694-1650 or
(800) 424-9530.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 28, 2019, the Commission received a
Petition for Rulemaking from the Campaign Legal Center (``Petition'').
The Petition asks the Commission to amend 11 CFR 104.3 to clarify that
``a political committee's receipt or disbursement of a membership or
other valuable list must be reported, even when the list was received
or disbursed as part of a purported equal-value list swap.'' Petition
at 5.
The Federal Election Campaign Act, 52 U.S.C. 30101-45 (the
``Act''), and Commission regulations require a political committee to
report its receipts and disbursements. 52 U.S.C. 30104(a); 11 CFR
104.3(a) (reporting of receipts), (b) (reporting of disbursements). The
Act lists specific categories of receipts and disbursements that must
be reported, such as contributions, expenditures, and transfers to and
from other political committees, as well as ``other forms of
receipts,'' 52 U.S.C. 30104(b)(2)(J), and ``any other disbursements,''
52 U.S.C. 30104(b)(4)(G), (b)(4)(H)(v). Political committees must also
report the total amount of all receipts and all disbursements. 52
U.S.C. 30104(b)(2), (b)(4). The Commission's regulations implementing
these statutory provisions require that political committees report
contributions, expenditures, and other specified categories of receipts
and disbursements, as well as ``other receipts'' and ``other
disbursements.'' 11 CFR 104.3(a)(2)(viii), (b)(1)(ix), (b)(2)(vi).
In several advisory opinions, the Commission has determined that an
exchange of equally valued mailing lists between political committees
would not result in a contribution or an expenditure, and therefore,
would not be reportable under the Act. Advisory Opinion 1982-41
(Dellums) at 2; see also Advisory Opinion 2002-14 (Libertarian National
Committee) at 5 (concluding that exchanges of mailing lists of equal
value would not be reportable event because ``no `contribution,
donation, or transfer of funds or any other thing of value' takes
place'').
The Petition argues that the Commission has improperly narrowed the
scope of committees' disclosure obligations ``for lists that are
received or disbursed as part of a purported equal-value exchange.''
Petition at 3. The Petition requests that the Commission amend 11 CFR
104.3 ``to clarify that a political committee's receipt or disbursement
of a membership or other valuable list must be reported, even when the
list was received or disbursed as part of a purported equal-value list
swap.'' Petition at 5.
The Commission seeks comments on the Petition. The public may
inspect the Petition on the Commission's website at http://sers.fec.gov/fosers/, or in the Commission's Public Records Office,
1050 First Street NE, 12th Floor, Washington, DC 20463, Monday through
Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Commission will not consider the Petition's merits until after
the comment period closes. If the Commission decides that the Petition
has merit, it may begin a rulemaking proceeding. The Commission will
announce any action that it takes in the Federal Register.
Dated: August 22, 2019.
On behalf of the Commission.
Ellen L. Weintraub,
Chair, Federal Election Commission.
[FR Doc. 2019-18511 Filed 8-27-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6715-01-P
