FEC begins work of crafting campaign-finance rules

By The Associated Press

05.13.02

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WASHINGTON — A new battle over the nation's campaign-finance law is beginning as the Federal Election Commission writes rules to enforce it.

Political strategists are keeping a close eye on the commission's work. Also keeping tabs are campaign-finance watchdog groups who want to overhaul the FEC itself, skeptical that the three-Democrat, three-Republican commission will aggressively carry out the new law.

"I think there's going to be a lot of pressure on the commission to narrow down what Congress is trying to do in this law or to open new loopholes," said Don Simon, an attorney for Common Cause, which plans to release its FEC proposal this week. "I think the key test for the commission is going to be whether it resists that kind of pressure."

The FEC started its work in earnest on May 9 by discussing a proposed rule on the cornerstone of the new law, banning national political parties and federal officeholders from raising unlimited campaign cash known as soft money from unions, businesses and others.

Providing an early example of the level of detail the commission is debating, one of the key questions it identified is whether it should include the words "soft money" — a catch phrase during congressional debate over the legislation — in its rules.

"It's not a sign of dithering to come," FEC Chairman David Mason, a Republican, said after the meeting. "The reason has to do with what the reach of the federal regulations is going to be."

The commission must spell out exactly what type of political spending the law bans. Other issues include:

• How state and local party committees, who can still collect soft money if state law allows it, should report that.
• What get-out-the-vote and other party-building activities they should be able to spend soft money on.
• What degree of separation there should be between those who can still collect soft money and those who can't. The law complicates that question by allowing members of Congress to be featured speakers at events where soft money is raised, even though they can't raise it themselves.

The commission plans hearings next month on the proposed soft-money rule. The FEC will then turn its attention to the law's restrictions on election-period ads; coordination between candidates, parties and outside groups; and other areas of the law.

"This is a philosophical debate about very highly contested matters," said Commissioner Danny McDonald, a Democrat. "Everyone in this room knows what these issues are in one sense: You're going to have a narrow construction of the act or a broader construction of the act."

Mason and the FEC's Democratic vice chairman, Karl Sandstrom, dismissed critics' contention that commissioners are too interested in protecting their parties' interests to aggressively enforce the new law.

"I've never been pressured on any case by anybody other than pressured to do law in the best way," Sandstrom said in an interview. "My character doesn't flow from my party registration."

The commission's work comes as several groups challenge the law in court, including the Republican National Committee, the AFL-CIO, California Democratic and Republican parties, the National Rifle Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

If upheld, the new law will take effect after the November election.

Democratic National Committee attorney Joe Sandler predicted that even if the U.S. Supreme Court upholds the law, it won't end the court challenges. Groups will turn their attention to the FEC's enforcement of the rules it is writing now, he said.

Sandler, who sat next to an RNC attorney during the commission meeting on May 9, said he wants clarity from the commission.

"I think there are things in the law that are so far-reaching that the commissioners' interpretation and implementation is critical," said Sandler, adding that he supports the "bright-line tests" sought by some commissioners. "Assuming the bright lines are drawn in the right place."

Update

Supporters, foes of campaign-finance law seek to sway regulators
Issue discussed at hearing is how and to whom FEC should apply law's ban on raising, spending of soft money.  06.05.02

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GOP, state parties join fight against campaign-finance law
Republican National Committee's lawsuit argues soft-money ban unfairly imposes greater restrictions on political parties' speech than that of other groups.  05.08.02

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