Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT) and Rep. Marty Meehan (D-MA) have agreed to a colloquy on the House floor during debate of their campaign finance reform bill that will address protections for nonpartisan issue advocacy. The colloquy, proposed by OMB Watch and Independent Sector, will make it clear that the Federal Election Commission should use the authority granted in the bill to conduct a rulemaking on exemptions allowing nonpartisan issue advocacy broadcasts during election cycles. The FEC would be required to act within 90 days of the effective date of the new law. From our perspective this deals with concerns about infringement on nonpartisan nonprofit advocacy. The real focus will be on FEC rules if the bill is enacted. Thus, for nonprofits that had reservations about the bill because of restrictions on issue advocacy, we believe the issue is no longer of concern. We appreciate the good work of Independent Sector in helping to get this colloquy language. We will post a copy on our web site as soon as it becomes available. For background on campaign finance, click here