Wanna try your LUC with the FEC?
The Rep. Kit Bond (R-MO) controversy is alive and well in Washington. At issue is whether or not broadcast stations should have charged him lowest unit charge (LUC) in his contest with Democratic challenger Nancy Farmer (10/14/04 RBR #201) after he broadcast an ad without the necessary disclaimer. The Farmer campaign charged that made him ineligible for LUC, and any such price offerings from broadcasters should have been declared an illegal campaign contribution, with broadcasters vulnerable to liability.
Gregg Skall of Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice (WCSR), who is representing the Missouri Broadcasters Association, is arguing that there is nothing in the law supporting that claim. "There is nothing in the Communications Act or the FCC regulations that set a floor for broadcaster charges to political candidates," he said in a letter to FEC Associate General Counsel Rosemary C. Smith. "Section 315 sets a LUC price ceiling during the 45 and 60-day periods preceding primary and general elections, but there is nowhere to be found in the law a price below which a broadcaster may not go for a political advertiser. Indeed, broadcasters are frequently exhorted to offer time to political candidates for free, and many often do!" The only caveat is that all candidates be treated equally.
Should Bond have been punished for his error? Skall said, "Congress easily could have prohibited broadcasters from accepting advertising from a noncomplying candidate at LUC, or any other amount, had it so stated in the legislation. This, it did not do."
Skall also argues that broadcasters should not be forced into the role of policing advertisements, and if there is a problem with an ad, it is the candidate's problem, not the broadcaster's.
Skall told RBR, "The issue is whether broadcasters who continue to provide LUC to candidates who continue to provide LUC to candidates who may have lost their entitlement to LUC for erroneous stand-by-your-ad disclaimers should now endure criminal or civil liability for failure to raise the rate and/or re-bill these candidate for more money."
Skall is suggesting that interested broadcasters - - who he suggest are all those who do not wish to be hit with illegal campaign contribution charges in such instances - - read the General Counsel Advisory Opinion here (fec.gov/agenda/2004/mtgdoc04-113.pdf) and comment either here (lnorton@fec.gov) or here (bdeutsch@fec.gov).
Are you reading this from a forwarded email?
