OMB Watch filed comments October 11 2002 in a Federal Election Commission rulemaking that will define when communications with a federal candidate, campaign, or party, may turn an expenditure into an in-kind campaign contribution. Since corporations, including nonprofits, are prohibited from making contributions to federal candidates, this definition could impact any group that communicates with the public about issues and interacts with public officials or community leaders that are also federal candidates.

Our comments ask the FEC to exclude grassroots communications that ask people to contact state, local or national officials urging them to take action in their official capacity from the rules, if they do not refer to the election or an officials’ status or qualifications as a federal candidate. We also ask that any public communications, including republication of materials from candidates, their committees or political parties, that meet the FEC’s criteria for nonpartisan candidate debates and forums or voter registration education drives, be exempt from the rule. The full text of OMB Watch comments are available in a downloadable file. A description of the proposed rule is on our website.