<div dir="ltr"><div><div>Laws come with sections of the code that create particular definitions of terms.  They can say basically, any time we say "car" in this statute, we mean a thing with wheels, such that it would include a truck, a bike, a Big Wheel, a trailer, a large toolbox, etc.  When you read statutes about a car, then, it's not the everyday layman's meaning of car.  They can define "pig" to mean "horse", I suppose.<br><br>FEC laws define a lot of common words/phrases to have particular legal meanings.  You think you know what a "committee" is, but when it's in FEC statutes, it only applies to very precise conditions that they have defined.<br><br></div>Yes, convention package purchases meet the FEC definition of "contribution" such that we report it to them.<br><br></div>-Alicia<br><br><div><div><br></div></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Apr 29, 2015 at 7:01 AM, Wes Benedict <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:wes.benedict@lp.org" target="_blank">wes.benedict@lp.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
  
    
  
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    I believe that the bylaw :<br>
    <b>"3. “Sustaining member” is any Party member who has given at
      least $25 to the Party in the prior
      twelve months, or who is a life member."</b><br>
    was added at the 2006 convention. I'm not certain, but I'm thinking
    maybe Geoff Neale and Dan Karlan were on the bylaws committee.<br>
    <br>
    You might want to ask our FEC consultant if the 2014 convention
    packages counted as a "contribution" to the Libertarian National
    Committee. <br>
    <br>
    Our 2014 convention registration form, approved by the APRC, said:<br>
    <blockquote type="cite">*Federal law requires political committees
      to report the name, address, occupation, and name of employer for
      each individual whose contributions aggregate in excess of $200 in
      a calendar year. Political contributions are not tax deductible.</blockquote>
    <br>
    And Mr. Craig's convention package gift or purchase or whatever you
    call it was reported to the FEC. <br>
    <br>
    <br>
    <div>Wes Benedict, Executive Director<br>
      <small><small>Libertarian National Committee, Inc.<br>
          <b>New address: 1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314</b><br>
          <a href="tel:%28202%29%20333-0008%20ext.%20232" value="+12023330008" target="_blank">(202) 333-0008 ext. 232</a>, <a href="mailto:wes.benedict@lp.org" target="_blank">wes.benedict@lp.org</a><br>
          <a href="http://facebook.com/libertarians" target="_blank">facebook.com/libertarians</a> @LPNational<br>
          Join the Libertarian Party at: <a href="http://lp.org/membership" target="_blank">http://lp.org/membership</a></small></small><br>
      <br>
    </div><div><div class="h5">
    <div>On 4/28/2015 11:52 PM, Tim Hagan wrote:<br>
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              <div dir="ltr"><span>I
                  will co-sponsor the Secretary's appeal. <br clear="none">
                  <br clear="none">
                  To me, the Bylaws' definition of sustaining member
                  could be ambiguous, depending on which definition of
                  "give" applies. One is "to present voluntarily and
                  without expecting compensation." Another is "to pay or
                  transfer possession to another in exchange for
                  something." Using the later would mean that those who
                  buy the LNC's surplus or leftover equipment could
                  count the payments to apply to being a sustaining
                  member. To me, counting any purchases, instead of
                  using the first definition I gave for "give", is not
                  logically the intent of the convention. The Bylaws
                  could be cleared up by changing "given" to "donated".
                  (Hint to the Bylaws Committee)<br clear="none">
                </span></div>
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                <span></span></div>
              <div dir="ltr"><span>Tim
                  Hagan</span></div>
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                      <hr size="1"> <font face="Arial" size="2"> <b><span style="font-weight:bold">From:</span></b>
                        Alicia Mattson <a href="mailto:agmattson@gmail.com" target="_blank"><agmattson@gmail.com></a><br clear="none">
                        <b><span style="font-weight:bold">To:</span></b>
                        lnc-business <a href="mailto:lnc-business@lp.org" target="_blank"><lnc-business@lp.org></a> <br clear="none">
                        <b><span style="font-weight:bold">Sent:</span></b>
                        Tuesday, April 28, 2015 3:09 PM<br clear="none">
                        <b><span style="font-weight:bold">Subject:</span></b>
                        [Lnc-business] requesting co-sponsors to appeal
                        Chair's ruling<br clear="none">
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                              <div>I
                                am requesting co-sponsors to appeal the
                                Chair's ruling that a person's purchase
                                of a convention package should count as
                                a gift for purposes of determining
                                sustaining membership.  Recall that the
                                motion for an appeal is phrased as a
                                motion to sustain/uphold the chair's
                                ruling, even though my already-stated
                                position is to not overturn it.<br clear="none">
                                <br clear="none">
                                Therefore I am seeking co-sponsors for
                                the following motion:<br clear="none">
                                <br clear="none">
                              </div>
                              <div style="margin-left:40px">To sustain the
                                Chair's ruling that a person's purchase
                                of a convention package in the prior
                                twelve months meets the requirement of
                                Bylaws Article 5.3 that a sustaining
                                member must have "<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial">given
                                  at least $25 to the Party in the prior
                                  twelve months".<br clear="none">
                                </span></div>
                              <br clear="none">
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                            I interpret Norm's previous statements as
                            his being willing to co-sponsor this motion
                            unless he tells me otherwise.  So two other
                            co-sponsors (or the chair) would be needed.<br clear="none">
                            <br clear="none">
                          </div>
                          -Alicia<br clear="none">
                          <br clear="none">
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                      <br clear="none">
                      _______________________________________________<br clear="none">
                      Lnc-business mailing list<br clear="none">
                      <a rel="nofollow" shape="rect" href="mailto:Lnc-business@hq.lp.org" target="_blank">Lnc-business@hq.lp.org</a><br clear="none">
                      <a rel="nofollow" shape="rect" href="http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org" target="_blank">http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org</a><br clear="none">
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      <pre>_______________________________________________
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</pre>
    </blockquote>
    <br>
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<br></blockquote></div><br></div>