On December 21, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) voted to drop exemptions for 501(c)(3) nonprofits to Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) rules that restrict electioneering communications. The new rule eliminates exemptions for television, radio and cable advertisements that mention a federal candidate 30 days before a primary or 60 days before a general election paid for by charities and religious organizations, as well as "public service announcements," (PSAs) which are aired for free. The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case challenging the constitutionality of the electioneering communications rule on Jan. 17. The Commission, which voted unanimously for the new rule, stated in the "Justification and Explanation" section that public comments submitted did not demonstrate "to a reasonable certainty" that the Internal Revenue Code's restriction on political activity by 501(c)(3) organizations is sufficiently compatible with BCRA to allow the exemption. The many public comments addressing this issue lacked consensus. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) also submitted comments making it clear that the tax code's phrase "promote or oppose candidates for Federal office" is not the same as BCRA's "promote, attack, support, oppose" (PASO) standard. Additionally, since no comments provided examples of broadcast ads by 501(c)(3) organizations that referred to a federal candidate or were aired during the 60/30 day blackout period, the Commission felt that the exemption was unnecessary. The Commission removed the language "for a fee" from the definition of restricted publicly distributed communications, which brings PSAs under the electioneering communication rule. Many nonprofits submitted comments noting that they run PSAs mentioning federal candidates and that these PSAs could be run mistakenly during the blackout period. The Commission addressed the concern, suggesting nonprofits provide broadcasters with expiration dates for PSAs or notices not to air such PSAs during blackout dates. The Commission made clear that it would not hold a charity responsible if an ad was run mistakenly. Background BCRA outlawed corporate, including nonprofit, and union funding for TV and radio messages mentioning federal candidates that are aired 60 days before a general election or 30 days before a primary; however, BCRA allowed the FEC latitude in creating necessary exemptions. In 2003 the FEC approved an exemption for 501(c)(3) organizations from the "electioneering communications" rule, because 501(c)(3) organizations are prohibited from electioneering under the Internal Revenue Code. The new rulemaking came in response to a federal court order to reconsider the exemption, after the court found that the FEC had not adequately justified it. The FEC appealed the ruling, but on Oct. 24 the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Columbia rejected the FEC's request for full court review of the decision. The new restrictions will apply to all advertising aired during the blackout period of the 2006 U.S. congressional election cycle. The FEC will also watch the U.S. Supreme Court, which will hear arguments on Jan. 17 in Wisconsin Right to Life vs. FEC, involving electioneering communications provisions under BCRA. The case was brought by a Wisconsin anti-abortion group arguing that its ads on judicial selection issues, aired before the 2004 elections and referencing Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), were grassroots lobbying and should be exempted from the electioneering communications provision. OMB Watch and other nonprofits have filed a friend of the court brief in support of Wisconsin Right to Life.