State, District, and Local Party Committee Payment of Certain Salaries and Wages

Résumé

The Federal Election Commission is amending its rules to revise the method by which State, district and local party committees (collectively "State party committees") may pay salaries and wages of employees who spend 25 percent or less of their compensated time in a month on Federal election activity or activity in connection with Federal elections ("Federal-related activity" or "Federal-related activities"). These final rules implement the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Shays v. FEC, which held that the Commission had not provided an adequate explanation for its former rules under the Administrative Procedure Act. The Commission is also changing its requirements regarding the method State party committees use to pay for employees' fringe benefits and clarifying its rules regarding the use of funds raised in joint Federal and non-Federal fundraising events. Further information is provided in the Supplementary Information that follows.