Liberal Groups Ask FCC to Close Loophole Used by Senate GOP

Four liberal campaign finance groups are petitioning the Federal Communications Commission to close a loophole used by Senate Republicans to save millions on TV advertising, Politico reported Thursday.

Watchdogs End Citizens United Action Fund, the Campaign Legal Center, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and Public Citizen sent a letter to the FCC on Wednesday asking the agency to confirm its rules on lower advertising rates for legally qualified candidates only, not joint fundraising committees.

At issue is that Senate Republicans over the summer began using joint fundraising committees to run traditional campaign ads but with a fundraising tag at the end to garner lowest-unit charges (LUC) for the ad, according to Politico. The lower broadcast rates are reserved for legally qualified candidates.

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