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THE NEW SOFT MONEY

Citizens United, 527s, 501(c)s and the Rise of Super PACs

WHAT WE HOPE YOULL GET OUT OF THIS

Current

state of play in campaign finance rules to Follow the Unlimited Money tool

Introduction Guidance

on tracking super PACs and nonprofits to Sunlight Academy

Introduction

PRIOR TO CITIZENS UNITED

Outside

groups certainly spent money Some had as much impact as Super PACs

Swift Boat Vets Moveon.org Bush not on our side PVF: Ashleys Story NSP: Willie Horton

First

three done through 527 committees

AFTER CITIZENS UNITED.

Restrictions

lifted on express advocacy Groups that can spend unlimited funds

Super PACs (new!) Labor Unions (new!) Corporations (new!) 501(c)4s (new!) 501(c)6s (new!)

WHO DISCLOSES WHAT

Super

PACs:

C4s,

C6s, labor unions

Disclose all donors

Sometimes, though, donors are C4s C4s dont disclose their donors

Dont disclose donors* Disclose expenditures

Ad buys Phone banks, GOTV

Disclose expenditures
Ad buys (TV, radio, online) Phone banks, GOTV

Candidate supported or opposed UNLESS Run issue ads

Disclosed only within 30 days of a primary or 60 days of general Lists candidate mentioned

List candidate, state Who they support or oppose

THE OLD RULES ABOUT ISSUE ADS STILL APPLY

Under

Citizens United

Anyone can run express advocacy Vote for, vote against

Despite

that, most C4s

and C6s

Were running issue ads Mention federal candidates Tell Joe Smith you dont want higher taxes

THAT IS, UNTIL VAN HOLLEN V. FEC

Filed

by Rep. Chris Van Hollen Sued to require c4s, c6s to disclose Applies only to electioneering FEC says they will apply ruling retroactively Nonprofits turning to express advocacy

FIRST TO COMPLY WAS MAYOR BLOOMBERGS

GUN CONTROL GROUP

A NOTE ON ELECTIONEERING
There

is a ton of spending that does NOT show up in FEC files The only way to track it is to go to the public files the FCC requires broadcasters to maintain Sunlight is part of a coalition of groups trying to get these forms online

HERES WHAT ONE LOOKS LIKE (THERE IS NO STANDARD FORMAT)

FCC REQUIRES SOME STATIONS TO POST

THESE ONLINE
New

FCC rule Top 50 markets Top 4 stations Must post political file Started 8/2 Leaves a lot of the country uncovered

RED AREAS ARENT COVERED BY THE RULE

QUICK PLUG
If

you want more information on our FCC project Sign up at PoliticalAdSleuth.com Wed be thrilled to have your help You can also email us for more info
kkiely@sunlightfoundation.com

Politicaladsleuth.com
ballison@sunlightfoundation.com

SO WHAT DATA IS AVAILABLE?

THERES LOTS, AND SUNLIGHT MAKES IT AVAILABLE IN MULTIPLE FORMATS

Our

tracker shows
All Super PACs All independent expenditures All federal candidates & races with IE spending All electioneering communications And much much more!

PROVIDES SUMMARIES FOR CANDIDATES

How

much spent
IEs Electioneering

Links

to other

data

Comparison to other candidates Candidate profile on Influence Explorer

DATA PULLED STRAIGHT FROM THE FEC,

AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD
Download

Independent expenditures Donors to a super PAC or all super PACs Donors and Expenditures by state Donors and expenditures by race

GET TO RAW FEC FILINGS FROM THE SITE

Helps

you

Find out what kind of group it is Find its address, treasurer, etc. See more details than we provide All data from the FEC files is available for download from our site

LETS TAKE A LOOK AT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Committee

type

E Means it only does issue ads Note that all filings are electioneering communications Note no filings on or after 3/30/2012

FEC HAS A COMPLETE LIST OF THESE

COMMITTEE CODES

NOTE THAT THE CHAMBER HASNT BEEN NAPPING

GROUPS THAT MAKE INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES BUT ARENT COMMITTEES

LETS TAKE A LOOK AT A SUPER PAC

Committee

type O Means its a super PAC We have an address (Sacramento? For Hoosiers?) We have a treasurers name Forms filed include statement of organization, quarterly report, etc.

FIRST COMES A LETTER

Page

one: Boiler plate letter saying theyre a super PAC All super PACs file this

MOVING ON TO PAGE TWO

Address

of committee Email & website (if there is oneoften there is) Treasurers name

MOVING ON TO PAGE THREE

Tells

you what kind of committee it is Tells you if it supports one or multiple candidates

MOVING ON TO PAGE FOUR

Gives

you the phone number of the treasurer With a lot of these shadowy groups, thats going to be your first point of contact Sometimes they list two or three individuals

AND HERES A 24-48 HOUR NOTICE

Candidate

name Amount spent Race, and whether they supported or opposed named candidate Also can see who made the ad buy

ALL ACCESSIBLE THROUGH FOLLOW THE UNLIMITED MONEY

ALSO HAS A PAGE FOR ORGANIZATIONAL DONORS (COMPANIES, NONPROFITS, UNIONS, ETC.)

YOU CAN ALSO SIGN UP FOR ALERTS FOR

LATEST FILINGS

PROVIDED VIA SCOUT, SUNLIGHTS TOOL

FOR TRACKING GOVERNMENT ACTIVITY

AND GET A GOOD OVERVIEW OF TRENDS IN

SPENDING AT A GLANCE

SO WHAT DO YOU DO ABOUT THE 501CS?

Heres

a recent electioneering communication Run by a group called Freedom Path Lets dig deeper

WE TELL YOU THEYRE NOT A SUPER PAC

When

its a super PAC, we tell you When its not, we leave that space blank So what kind of group is Freedom Path?

FIRST CLUE
Go

to the FEC filings Its a type E committee Its a group (other than PACs) making electioneering communications (Note: its also made independent expenditures)

LETS LOOK AT A FILING

We

get an address The custodian of records (who looks like she does FEC compliance for a living) You also get the date the ad ran

ON PAGE TWO
Lists

of people sharing control Plus their addresses And employer/ occupation

NOTE THAT WE CAN LOOK THESE PEOPLE UP IN OPENSECRETS.ORG

Using

main search on home page Bensing a revolver Bensing a lobbyist Bensing working for four PACs

WE CAN SEE HE USED TO WORK FOR JOHN ENSIGN

Now

works for SBC Strategic Consulting Used to work for November Inc., another lobbying firm

INTERESTS HE REPRESENTS
Oooh,

Ultimate Fighting Championship! State of Nevada Other companies

AND THE PACS HE SERVES AS

TREASURER

Freedom

Path Action Network sounds a lot like Freedom Path Check to see if there are super PACs with names similar to the group youre looking at

BACK TO THE FEC DISCLOSURE

Money

spent What theyre buying Federal candidates mentioned Yellow: Whos being paid

Note that with ad buys, most of the money will go to TV, radio, etc.

GOOGLING FREEDOM PATH

In

this case, were lucky They have a page telling us theyre a c4 So we know what it is and whos behind it What we dont know is who contributes Always worth pointing which groups dont disclose donors

IRS SOI HAS A LIST OF ALL TAX EXEMPT ORGS

Organized

by state and region Has c3s, c4s, c5s, c6sc25s Lists income, expenditures and assets from most recent 990 Has address of group & contact name

FOR NEW GROUPS

Some

501c4s and c6s will be created in the weeks to come They wont have 990s available Check on their status with the IRS by calling 1-877-829-5500 It can be a ten to fifteen minute wait You can also contact Jim Willis at SOI for help on exempt org data james.n.willis@irs.gov

ONE LAST TIP ON NONPROFITS

West

Virginia Sec. of State site Requires charities to file lots of info No donors but you do get

Annual audits Info-packed registration forms Budgets Affiliates

ONE LAST THING

Sunlight

builds tons of tools We have on-staff expertise in investigative journalism We dig into disclosures all the time We regularly train journalists at conferences, through webinars We are putting our knowledge, experience and techniques online, available 24/7

INTRODUCING SUNLIGHT ACADEMY

training.sunlightfoundation.com

 Thanks

for participating Key contacts:

Communications director Gabriela Schneider gab@sunlightfoundation.com (202) 742-1520 ext. 235 Communications manager Liz Bartolomeo liz@sunlightfoundation.com (202) 742-2520 ext 226 Managing editor Kathy Kiely kkiely@sunlightfoundation.com (202) 742-1520 ext 245 Editorial director Bill Allison ballison@sunlightfoundation.com (202) 742-1520 ext 224