[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 208 (Friday, October 28, 2022)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 65178]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-23362]


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FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION

11 CFR Part 110

[Notice 2022-19]


Rulemaking Petition: Conduit Reporting Threshold

AGENCY: Federal Election Commission.

ACTION: Rulemaking petition: notification of availability.

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SUMMARY: On August 22, 2022, the Federal Election Commission received a 
Petition for Rulemaking asking the Commission to amend its existing 
regulations regarding the threshold amount at which conduits forwarding 
contributions to political committees must identify the contributors to 
the recipient political committees and the Commission. The petitioner 
requests that the Commission establish an itemization threshold equal 
to the contribution amount at which political committees must report 
the identification of contributors.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before December 27, 2022.

ADDRESSES: All comments must be in writing. Commenters may submit 
comments electronically via the Commission's website at http://sers.fec.gov/fosers/, reference REG 2022-05.
    Each commenter must provide, at a minimum, his or her first name, 
last name, city, and state. All properly submitted comments, including 
attachments, will become part of the public record, and the Commission 
will make comments available for public viewing on the Commission's 
website and in the Commission's Public Records Office. Accordingly, 
commenters should not provide in their comments any information that 
they do not wish to make public, such as a home street address, 
personal email address, date of birth, phone number, social security 
number, or driver's license number, or any information that is 
restricted from disclosure, such as trade secrets or commercial or 
financial information that is privileged or confidential.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Amy Rothstein, Assistant General 
Counsel, or Mr. Tony Buckley, Attorney, Office of the General Counsel, 
at [email protected], or at (202) 694-1650 or (800) 424-9530.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 22, 2022, the Commission received 
a Petition for Rulemaking (``Petition'') from WinRed, ``a non-connected 
political action committee (``PAC'') registered with the FEC that 
largely operates as an intermediary through which donors may make 
earmarked contributions to the political committees of the donors' 
choosing.'' Petition at 1. The Petition asks the Commission to amend 
its regulations at 11 CFR 110.6 to include an itemization threshold 
consistent with 11 CFR 104.3(a)(4) for reports of earmarked 
contributions filed by conduit political committees.
    The Petition notes that the Federal Election Campaign Act and 
Commission regulations require each treasurer of a political committee 
to file reports of receipts and disbursements which disclose, inter 
alia, ``the identification of each person (other than a political 
committee) who makes a contribution to the reporting committee during 
the reporting period, whose contribution or contributions have an 
aggregate amount or value in excess of $200 . . . together with the 
date and amount of any such contribution . . . .'' Petition at 2 
(citing 52 U.S.C. 30104(b)(3)). The Petition further notes that 
Congress set the reporting threshold ``in excess of $200'' to 
``simplify reporting requirements for candidates and committees'' and 
to ``reduce the marginal intrusion on personal privacy resulting from 
disclosure of individual contributions.'' Petition at 2-3.
    Commission regulations require a conduit to report to the 
Commission and to the recipient candidate or authorized committee, the 
name and mailing address of each contributor. See 11 CFR 
110.6(c)(1)(i), (iv)(A). Commission regulations do not specify a 
threshold below which a conduit need not report the source information.
    The Petition asserts that most of the contributions made through 
WinRed are for less than $25, with many as low as one dollar, and that 
current Commission regulations require that every single receipt must 
be itemized, since the $200 itemization threshold applicable to reports 
filed by the recipients of earmarked contributions is not similarly in 
effect for conduit PAC reports. Petition at 5. According to the 
Petition, ``this leads to the incongruous result whereby the name and 
address information of small-dollar donors who make earmarked 
contributions is disclosed on conduit PAC reports but that information 
is not subsequently included on the reports of the recipients of those 
same earmarked contributions.'' Id. The Petition argues that this 
``lack of consistency in how the itemization threshold applies to 
conduit PAC reports and reports of recipient committees defeats the 
threshold's underlying purposes--namely, easing administrative burdens 
related to reporting and protecting the privacy interests of small-
dollar donors.'' Id.
    The Commission seeks comment on the Petition. The public may 
inspect the Petition on the Commission's website at http://sers.fec.gov/fosers/.
    The Commission will not consider the Petition's merits until after 
the comment period closes. If the Commission decides that the Petition 
has merit, it may begin a rulemaking proceeding. The Commission will 
announce any action that it takes in the Federal Register.

    Dated: October 21, 2022.

    On behalf of the Commission.
Allen Dickerson,
Chairman, Federal Election Commission.
[FR Doc. 2022-23362 Filed 10-27-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6715-01-P