11 CFR 116.5 – Advances by committee staff and other individuals
(a) Scope. This section applies to individuals who are not acting as commercial vendors. Individuals who are acting as commercial vendors shall follow the requirements of 11 CFR 116.3 and 116.4.
Terms Used In 11 CFR 116.5
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
(b) Treatment as contributions. The payment by an individual from his or her personal funds, including a personal credit card, for the costs incurred in providing goods or services to, or obtaining goods or services that are used by or on behalf of, a candidate or a political committee is a contribution unless the payment is exempted from the definition of contribution under 11 CFR 100.79. If the payment is not exempted under 11 CFR 100.79, it shall be considered a contribution by the individual unless—
(1) The payment is for the individual’s transportation expenses incurred while traveling on behalf of a candidate or political committee of a political party or for usual and normal subsistence expenses incurred by an individual, other than a volunteer, while traveling on behalf of a candidate or political committee of a political party; and
(2) The individual is reimbursed within sixty days after the closing date of the billing statement on which the charges first appear if the payment was made using a personal credit card, or within thirty days after the date on which the expenses were incurred if a personal credit card was not used. For purposes of this section, the closing date shall be the date indicated on the billing statement which serves as the cutoff date for determining which charges are included on that billing statement. In addition, “subsistence expenses” include only expenditures for personal living expenses related to a particular individual traveling on committee business, such as food or lodging.
(c) Treatment as debts. A political committee shall treat the obligation arising from a payment described in paragraph (b) of this section as an outstanding debt until reimbursed.
(d) Settlement or forgiveness of the debt. The individual and the political committee may agree to the total forgiveness of the debt (See 11 CFR 116.8) or a settlement of the debt for less than the entire amount owed (See 11 CFR 116.7), provided that the requirements of 11 CFR 116.7 or 116.8, as appropriate, including the submission of the information specified in these sections and Commission review, are satisfied. The provisions of this part shall not be construed to require the individual to forgive or settle the debt for less than the entire amount owed.
(e) Reporting. The political committee shall continue to report the obligation arising from the payment as a debt in accordance with 11 CFR 104.3(d) and 104.11 until the Commission has completed a review of the debt settlement plan pursuant to 11 CFR 116.7(f) or until the Commission has completed a review of the request to forgive the debt pursuant to 11 CFR 116.8, or until the political committee pays the debt, whichever occurs first.