Federal Election Commission Main Page
Washington, DC 20463
June 10, 1996
CERTIFIED MAIL
RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
ADVISORY OPINION 1996-19
The Honorable James T. Walsh
United States House of Representatives
1330 Longworth House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515-3225
Dear Mr. Walsh:
This responds to your letters dated April 4, and April
30, 1996, requesting an advisory opinion concerning
application of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as
amended ("the Act"), and Commission regulations to the use
of campaign funds for travel expenses in connection with the
1996 Republican Convention.
You state that you were elected as a delegate, pledged
to Senator Dole, to the 1996 Republican National Convention.
The Convention will be held in San Diego from August 12 to
August 15, 1996. You plan to attend the convention in this
capacity, and your spouse and two children (ages 12 and 16)
will travel with you. You propose to use your campaign
funds, that is, funds of the Walsh for Congress Committee
("the Committee"), for all of your travel expenses, as well
as those of your wife and your two children, in order to
attend the convention.
At the convention, you intend to be active as a Dole
delegate. You expect that there will be a variety of
receptions during the convention hosted by organizations and
companies, some of which have facilities in your
Congressional district. You also "expect media events from
my home district to occur since they will have
representatives in attendance." Further, you anticipate
meeting with several constituents who are attending the
convention.1
You affirm that your wife and children are integral
parts of your campaign effort. They have always
participated in campaign parties and fund-raisers and have
spoken publicly on your behalf. You characterize them as
very sophisticated in the nuances of politics, and you rely
on them heavily. You state that they will be attending with
you and will act on your behalf at receptions, press
conferences, fundraising events and meetings (such as those
described above). You explain that they will gather
information and make contacts when two events occur at the
same time. Your family will generally support your
activities by co-hosting and possibly sponsoring receptions
for New York attendees to the Convention. In particular,
you plan to ask your children to act as your representatives
to the Young Republicans group at their convention function.
You also anticipate visiting a friend in Santa Barbara
prior to the Convention, if your schedule allows. If you
make the visit, you affirm that you would pay out-of-pocket
expenses for that portion of the trip, i.e., auto rental,
hotel and meals, from your personal funds.
Under the Act and Commission regulations, a candidate
and the candidate's committee have wide discretion in making
expenditures to influence the candidate's election, but may
not convert campaign funds to the personal use of the
candidate or any other person. 2 U.S.C. 431(9) and 439a;
11 CFR 113.1(g) and 113.2(d); see also Advisory Opinions
1996-9, 1995-47, 1995-46, 1995-42, and 1995-26. Commission
regulations provide guidance regarding what would be
considered personal use of campaign funds. Personal use is
defined as "any use of funds in a campaign account of a
present or former candidate to fulfill a commitment,
obligation or expense of any person that would exist
irrespective of the candidate's campaign or duties as a
Federal officeholder." 11 CFR 113.1(g). See Advisory
Opinions 1996-9, 1995-47, 1995-46, and 1995-42. Under 11
CFR 113.2(a)(2), excess campaign funds may be used to pay
any ordinary and necessary expenses incurred in connection
with one's duties as a holder of Federal office.
Commission regulations list a number of purposes that
would constitute personal use. 11 CFR 113.1(g)(1)(i).2
Where a specific use is not listed as personal use, the
Commission makes a determination on a case-by-case basis.
11 CFR 113.1(g)(1)(ii).3
Travel expenses, including subsistence expenses incurred
during travel, are among those expenses to be analyzed on a
case-by-case basis. If such travel involves both personal
activities and campaign or officeholder related activities,
the incremental expenses that result from personal
activities are personal use, unless the person benefiting
reimburses the campaign within thirty days for the amount of
those expenses. 11 CFR 113.1(g)(1)(ii)(C).
Your description of your activities at the convention
indicates that, throughout the convention, you and your wife
will engage in activities that are in furtherance of your
campaign for re-election. At events and other meetings, you
will attempt to maintain contacts and goodwill with persons
who will support your campaign through fundraising
assistance and contributions. In addition, you will attempt
to communicate with constituents with respect to your
campaign. You consider your wife's attendance at these
events and meetings, alongside you or in your place, to be
important, and you state that it will enhance your re-
election effort. The Commission concludes, therefore, that
the travel expenses for you and your wife in connection with
the convention are directly related to your campaign, and
Committee funds may be used for them.4 See Advisory Opinion
1995-47.5
A similar analysis holds for the travel expenses of
your two children. You represent that, like your wife, they
will play a significant role in the political receptions and
fundraising events that will be part of the convention,
mirroring the role they play in your campaign generally.
The Commission notes, in particular, that they may represent
you before certain constituencies such as the Young
Republicans. Under these circumstances, the Commission
concludes that campaign funds may also be used to pay the
travel expenses of your two children.
You indicate in your request that you may also visit a
friend in Santa Barbara prior to the Convention, if your
schedule allows. The regulations note that in "mixed use"
situations, those incremental portions of the travel
expenses relating to non-campaign or officeholder events
will be considered personal use, unless the person
benefiting from such use makes reimbursement to the campaign
as described in section 113.1(g)(1)(ii). You have indicated
your intention to use your personal funds to pay for such
travel and related expenses. The Commission notes that
section 113.1(g)(1)(ii) would also apply to "mixed use"
travel expenses involving your spouse and children as well.
Therefore, your travel expenses as well as those of
your wife and two children (as well as the related meals and
lodging expenses) to attend the 1996 Republican Convention
may be paid for with campaign funds from Walsh for Congress
Committee. Payments for these expenses should be reported
as operating expenditures by the Committee, with the purpose
noted. 11 CFR 104.3(b)(2)(i) and (b)(4)(i). See Advisory
Opinion 1995-47.
The Commission expresses no opinion regarding the
application of any rules of the U.S. House of
Representatives or any tax ramifications of the proposed
activity, because those issues are not within its
jurisdiction.
This response constitutes an advisory opinion
concerning the application of the Act, or regulations
prescribed by the Commission, to the specific transaction or
activity set forth in your request. See 2 U.S.C. 437f.
Sincerely,
(signed)
Lee Ann Elliott
Chairman
Enclosures (AOs 1996-9, 1995-47, 1995-46, 1995-42, and 1995-
26)
_______________________________
1 You explain that these are your reasonable expectations.
However, the specifics of many of these events and
activities will become clearer as the time of the Convention
approaches.
2 Under section 113.1(g)(1)(i), personal use includes, but
is not limited to, funds used for the following purposes:
household food items; funeral, cremation or burial expenses;
clothing; tuition payments not associated with training
campaign staff; mortgage, rent or utility payments for the
personal residence of a candidate; tickets to non-campaign
or non-officeholder entertainment; dues, fees or gratuities
to nonpolitical organizations, unless related to a specific
fundraising event; and salary payments to family members,
unless paid for bona fide, campaign-related services.
3 In explaining the application of the case-by-case
approach, the Commission:
reaffirm[ed] its long-standing opinion that
candidates have wide discretion over the use of
campaign funds. If the candidate can reasonably
show that the expenses at issue resulted from
campaign or officeholder activities, the
Commission will not consider the use to be
personal use.
Explanation and Justification, Commission Regulations on
Personal Use of Campaign Funds, 60 Fed. Reg. 7862, 7867
(February 9, 1995).
4 The Commission notes that you discuss the possibility of
you and your wife attending events that involve meeting with
your constituents. Under section 113.2 (a)(1), the costs of
travel by a Federal officeholder and an accompanying spouse
to participate in a function directly connected to bona fide
official responsibilities would be considered ordinary and
necessary expenses incurred in connection with your duties
as a holder of Federal office. The expenses to attend such
events, as they apply to both you and your wife, could be
paid from campaign funds without constituting personal use
of such funds. See 11 CFR 113.2(a)(1).
5 The circumstances of your request are similar to those in
Advisory Opinion 1995-47, where the Commission concluded
that the expenses of the wife of a delegate to the 1996
Democratic Convention could be paid with campaign funds.
The Commission based its conclusion, in part, on the
"inherently political nature of the national nominating
convention of a political party," the role of the wife in
the delegate's ongoing Congressional re-election campaign,
and the benefit of various convention contacts to that
campaign. In addition, with respect to your own travel
expenses, the Commission's regulations covering delegate
activity indicate that such costs would be for the purpose
of influencing a Federal election and, hence, not a personal
use. See 11 CFR 110.14(c) and (e). See Advisory Opinion
1995-47