(a) General rule. Separate segregated funds and nonconnected committees that make disbursements in connection with federal and non-federal elections shall make those disbursements either entirely from funds subject to the prohibitions and limitations of the Act, or from accounts established pursuant to 11 CFR 102.5. Separate segregated funds and nonconnected committees that have established separate federal and non-federal accounts under 11 CFR 102.5 (a)(1)(i), or that make federal and non-federal disbursements from a single account under 11 CFR 102.5(a)(1)(ii), shall allocate their federal and non-federal expenses according to paragraphs (c), (d), and (f) of this section. For purposes of this section, “nonconnected committee” includes any committee which conducts activities in connection with an election, but which is not a party committee, an authorized committee of any candidate for federal election, or a separate segregated fund.
(b) Payments for administrative expenses, voter drives and certain public communications -
(1) Costs to be allocated. Separate segregated funds and nonconnected committees that make disbursements in connection with Federal and non-Federal elections shall allocate expenses for the following categories of activity in accordance with paragraphs (c) or (d) of this section:
(i) Administrative expenses including rent, utilities, office supplies, and salaries not attributable to a clearly identified candidate, except that for a separate segregated fund such expenses may be paid instead by its connected organization;
(ii) The direct costs of a fundraising program or event including disbursements for solicitation of funds and for planning and administration of actual fundraising events, where Federal and non-Federal funds are collected through such program or event, except that for a separate segregated fund such expenses may be paid instead by its connected organization;
(iii) Generic voter drives including voter identification, voter registration, and get-out-the-vote drives, or any other activities that urge the general public to register, vote or support candidates of a particular party or associated with a particular issue, without mentioning a specific candidate; and
(iv) Public communications that refer to a political party, but do not refer to any clearly identified Federal or non-Federal candidate;
(2) Costs not subject to allocation. Separate segregated funds and nonconnected committees that make disbursements for the following categories of activity shall pay for those activities in accordance with paragraph (f) of this section:
(i) Voter drives, including voter identification, voter registration, and get-out-the-vote drives, in which the printed materials or scripted messages refer to, or the written instructions direct the separate segregated fund's or nonconnected committee's employee or volunteer to refer to:
(A) One or more clearly identified Federal candidates, but do not refer to any clearly identified non-Federal candidates; or
(B) One or more clearly identified Federal candidates and also refer to candidates of a particular party or associated with a particular issue, but do not refer to any clearly identified non-Federal candidates;
(ii) Voter drives, including voter identification, voter registration, and get-out-the-vote drives, in which the printed materials or scripted messages refer to, or the written instructions direct the separate segregated fund's or nonconnected committee's employee or volunteer to refer to:
(A) One or more clearly identified non-Federal candidates, but do not refer to any clearly identified Federal candidates; or
(B) One or more clearly identified non-Federal candidates and also refer to candidates of a particular party or associated with a particular issue, but do not refer to any clearly identified Federal candidates;
(iii) Public communications that refer to one or more clearly identified Federal candidates, regardless of whether there is reference to a political party, but do not refer to any clearly identified non-Federal candidates; and
(iv) Public communications that refer to a political party, and refer to one or more clearly identified non-Federal candidates, but do not refer to any clearly identified Federal candidates.
(c) [Reserved]
(d) Method for allocating direct costs of fundraising.
(1) If federal and non-federal funds are collected by one committee through a joint activity, that committee shall allocate its direct costs of fundraising, as described in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, according to the funds received method. Under this method, the committee shall allocate its fundraising costs based on the ratio of funds received into its federal account to its total receipts from each fundraising program or event. This ratio shall be estimated prior to each such program or event based upon the committee's reasonable prediction of its federal and non-federal revenue from that program or event, and shall be noted in the committee's report for the period in which the first disbursement for such program or event occurred, submitted pursuant to 11 CFR 104.5. Any disbursements for fundraising costs made prior to the actual program or event shall be allocated according to this estimated ratio.
(2) No later than the date 60 days after each fundraising program or event from which both federal and non-federal funds are collected, the committee shall adjust the allocation ratio for that program or event to reflect the actual ratio of funds received. If the non-federal account has paid more than its allocable share, the committee shall transfer funds from its federal to its non-federal account, as necessary, to reflect the adjusted allocation ratio. If the federal account has paid more than its allocable share, the committee shall make any transfers of funds from its non-federal to its federal account to reflect the adjusted allocation ratio within the 60-day time period established by this paragraph. The committee shall make note of any such adjustments and transfers in its report for any period in which a transfer was made, and shall also report the date of the fundraising program or event which serves as the basis for the transfer. In the case of a telemarketing or direct mail campaign, the “date” for purposes of this paragraph is the last day of the telemarketing campaign, or the day on which the final direct mail solicitations are mailed.
(e) Payment of allocable expenses by committees with separate federal and non-federal accounts -
(1) Payment options. Nonconnected committees and separate segregated funds that have established separate federal and non-federal accounts under 11 CFR 102.5 (a)(1)(i) shall pay the expenses of joint federal and non-federal activities described in paragraph (b) of this section according to either paragraph (e)(1)(i) or (ii), as follows:
(i) Payment by federal account; transfers from non-federal account to federal account. The committee shall pay the entire amount of an allocable expense from its federal account and shall transfer funds from its non-federal account to its federal account solely to cover the non-federal share of that allocable expense.
(ii) Payment by separate allocation account; transfers from federal and non-federal accounts to allocation account.
(A) The committee shall establish a separate allocation account into which funds from its federal and non-federal accounts shall be deposited solely for the purpose of paying the allocable expenses of joint federal and non-federal activities. Once a committee has established an allocation account for this purpose, all allocable expenses shall be paid from that account for as long as the account is maintained.
(B) The committee shall transfer funds from its federal and non-federal accounts to its allocation account in amounts proportionate to the federal or non-federal share of each allocable expense.
(C) No funds contained in the allocation account may be transferred to any other account maintained by the committee.
(2) Timing of transfers between accounts.
(i) Under either payment option described in paragraphs (e)(1) (i) or (ii) of this section, the committee shall transfer funds from its non-federal account or from its federal and non-federal accounts to its separate allocation account following determination of the final cost of each joint federal and non-federal activity, or in advance of such determination if advance payment is required by the vendor and if such payment is based on a reasonable estimate of the activity's final cost as determined by the committee and the vendor(s) involved.
(ii) Funds transferred from a committee's non-federal account to its federal account or its allocation account are subject to the following requirements:
(A) For each such transfer, the committee must itemize in its reports the allocable activities for which the tranferred funds are intended to pay, as required by 11 CFR 104.10(b)(3); and
(B) Except as provided in paragraph (d)(2) of this section, such funds may not be transferred more than 10 days before or more than 60 days after the payments for which they are designated are made.
(iii) Any portion of a transfer from a committee's non-federal account to its federal account or its allocation account that does not meet the requirements of paragraph (e)(2)(ii) of this section shall be presumed to be a loan or contribution from the non-federal account to a federal account, in violation of the Act.
(3) Reporting transfers of funds and allocated disbursements. A political committee that transfers funds between accounts and pays allocable expenses according to this section shall report each such transfer and disbursement pursuant to 11 CFR 104.10(b).
(f) [Reserved]
On November 30, 2009, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ordered that paragraphs (c) and (f) of § 106.6 are vacated. See Final Order, EMILY's List v. FEC, No. 05-0049 (D.D.C. Nov. 30, 2009).
[55 FR 26071, June 26, 1990, as amended at 57 FR 8993, Mar. 13, 1992; 69 FR 68067, Nov. 23, 2004; 74 FR 68662, Dec. 29, 2009; 75 FR 13224, Mar. 19, 2010; 81 FR 34863, June 1, 2016]