Federal Election Commission begins spellings out new political ad restrictions

<br>WASHINGTON (AP) _ Jay Leno and David Letterman still will be able to joke about federal political candidates in the weeks before an election. The Federal Election Commission says comments like theirs

Thursday, September 26th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Jay Leno and David Letterman still will be able to joke about federal political candidates in the weeks before an election. The Federal Election Commission says comments like theirs are not covered by the new campaign finance law.

The law, which takes effect Nov. 6, prohibits special interest groups from airing ads identifying federal candidates within one month of a primary or two months of a general election.

In its first vote spelling out how those restrictions will be applied, the FEC agreed 6-0 on Thursday to exempt some types of programming that broadcasters are not paid to air. Commissioner Karl Sandstrom said the move would keep public service announcements, late night comedy monologues and talk shows that mention or feature federal candidates from falling under the new law's restrictions.

Commission lawyers said the exemption wouldn't automatically keep those kinds of programming from being considered a campaign contribution. That would be considered case by case, they said.

The political ad restrictions are among the most contentious features of the new law. The law's sponsors say many groups have used phony ``issue ads'' to evade a ban on the use of union or corporate money to influence federal elections and avoid revealing where they get their funding. Issue ads may mention federal candidates but cannot directly call for their election or defeat.

Several groups, including the AFL-CIO, National Rifle Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, contend the ad restrictions violate constitutional free-speech rights and are suing to try to overturn the law.

The FEC also was considering other exemptions to the law's restrictions, including ads that:

_Refer to a bill or law by its popular name, if that includes the name of a federal candidate, as long as that is the ad's only reference to the candidate.

_Urge support for or opposition to legislation and urge people to call their member of Congress about it.

_Refer to a clearly identified federal candidate but are promoting tourism or a ballot measure.

_Are run by charities and private foundations urging viewers to contact their members of Congress on key issues.

Commission lawyers advised that the FEC might not have the authority to provide such exemptions. But sponsors of the new law, including Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Russ Feingold, D-Wis., challenged that advice in a letter to the commission Wednesday. They said the commission should consider exempting legitimate issue ads.

In addition to the ad restrictions, the new law also prohibits national party committees from raising unlimited donations from corporations, labor unions and others, and directs the FEC to create new rules spelling out the extent to which political parties, candidates and groups can coordinate their campaign activities with each other.