Advisory Opinions

Your campaign security may be bad, but the FEC approved some new tools to help. Jack and Adrienne discuss a recent advisory opinion from the FEC where they exempted Microsoft's AccountGuard from being considered an in-kind donation. Microsoft rolled out a suite of security features for free to political campaigns, PACs, parties and other political entities who are Office 365 customers. Normally, this would be considered an in-kind donation and campaigns would need to disclose it. To the surprise of many, the FEC exempted Microsoft. In this episode, the hosts discuss what's available from Microsoft and some free tools that Google provides to improve your security. The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are those of the hosts and do no necessarily reflect the policies or positions of CMDI, or any other agency, organization, employer, or company.

The world of campaign finance issues has been active in the past couple of weeks, and there are updates to two legal cases mentioned in the episode #14. Jack and Adrienne discuss recent news from CREW vs. FEC and Americans for Prosperity vs. Becerra. They also provide an update on the Senate e-file bill, which President Trump signed this afternoon. For the latest information on the FEC's response to the Senate e-file change, please see CMDI's blog. The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are those of the hosts and do no necessarily reflect the policies or positions of CMDI, or any other agency, organization, employer, or company.

This summer, there have been two big changes for 501(c)4 organizations, one from the IRS and one from the US Courts. First, the IRS announced they would no longer collect the Schedule B portion of 990 forms for 501(c)4 organizations. This eliminates the requirement to submit the names and addresses of major donors. Secondly, a DC Circuit Court judge ruled that 501(c)4 organizations must disclose the names of donors who contribute more than $200 towards an independent expenditure. The hosts of Advisory Opinions discuss what these two changes mean for 501(c)4 organizations.

Raffles and bingo games are popular fundraisers for churches and nonprofits, but do they work on political campaigns? In this episode of Advisory Opinions, the two hosts discuss the problems and pitfalls that campaigns can get into with these fundraising events, highlight examples in Florida, Kansas and Michigan, and examine the different state laws surrounding games of chance in politics.

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Recently, Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) was accused of lying on FEC forms tracking travel reimbursement. How did his campaign show that this was a dirty political attack? He kept his receipts! Jack and Adrienne discuss why it's important to keep those receipts, log those miles, and file timely reports for travel reimbursements. They also go over some of the common pitfalls campaigns makes and tips to make tracking easier. Lastly, they discuss how the Senate is closer than ever before in passing e-filing for FEC reports.