FEC to Issue Rulemaking

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) announced that it will work on a rulemaking given the Supreme Court decision in Wisconsin Right to Life v. FEC. The Court found that the ads in question were genuine issue ads, as opposed to electioneering ads that advocated for the election or defeat of candidates. The FEC plans to issue a proposed regulation in August and request comments with a public hearing in October, and a vote on a final rule by the end of November. If this timeline is kept, a rule will be set for the primaries in early 2008. The Court's majority opinion has made the FEC's job of drafting a rule pretty easy. For more information, see the FEC press release. 'The FEC intends to make clear how we are interpreting this exemption before mid-December, when the electioneering communication timeframes for the 2008 campaign will begin.' said FEC Chairman Robert Lenhard. 'We believe it is critical to have a clear rule in place in time for the Presidential primaries and caucuses in early 2008.'
back to Blog