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.

As the 2002 election cycle approaches, nonprofits wanting to know whether their public statements are unregulated issue advocacy or regulated electioneering ("express advocacy") will have to consult a map for the answers. The reason is that federal appeals courts in different parts of the country have issued contradictory rulings on whether or not the Federal Election Commission's (FEC) definition of what constitutes "express advocacy" is constitutional.