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D -- SURVEY FOR ELECTRONIC FILING SOL RFP97-1 DUE 072797 POC J. Pehrkon, C.O. (202)219-3600 Background Statement -- Survey of FEC Filers regarding Electronic Filing The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is seeking information from committees who file reports with the Commission regarding their desire and ability to submit financial disclosure reports electronically. A primary purpose of this study is to determine the range of computerization and types of hardware, software, staff expertise, and other materials currently used to maintain records and prepare reports. The FEC is interested in the attitudes of committee Treasurers regarding the desirability and feasibility of filing electronically. Section 1: Background In December, 1995 Congress passed PL 104-79, which required the Commission to permit voluntary electronic filing of disclosure reports for activity occurring after December 31, 1996. In order to accomplish this, the Commission has completed the following tasks; -promulgated regulations regarding electronic filing (including soliciting and receiving comments from committees and others involved in the process) -developed a filing format which defines the structure of an electronic filing. -developed an internal system to receive and process filings received on disk. -developed methods to disclose and disseminate information received electronically. During 1997, committees have the option of submitting their filings electronically on disk. These submissions will then be verified, stored and immediately made available to the public via the internet. The next phase of electronic filing (to be implemented in 1998) provides filing committees with software for electronic filing, allows for direct electronic submission of filings, and automatically updates various FEC processes used for disclosure and review of reports. Section 2: Project Objective In order to better serve the regulated community, the Commission is seeking additional information about the capabilities of filing committees vs. a vs. the electronic submission of reports. This includes both factual information about the equipment and methods currently used (or anticipated to be used) in preparation of FEC reports, as well as attitudes of the filing community toward the electronic filing process. The design of an effective electronic filing system is dependent first on meeting the requirements of filers with solutions that are appropriate for the existing and planned capabilities of these organizations. An effective system must also address the general views of committees about the benefits of filing electronically and, to the extent possible, mitigate any potential problems committees might see. This information will be used to shape future changes and enhancements of the electronic filing process in order to accommodate the needs of the regulated community and encourage the implementation of this new technology. Section 3 Nature of the Filing Community There are several factors that are important in characterizing the committees who file financial reports with the Commission and which may effect their capability or orientation toward electronic filing. First, committees with different purposes are required to report their financial activity. During 1995-96, a total of 8,112 committees filed at least one financial report with the FEC. The breakdown of these committees by type was as follows: US House of Representatives campaign committees -- 2,500 US Senate campaign committees -- 572 Presidential campaign committees -204 Political Party committees -- 485 Non-Party committees (PACs) -4,133 Other (miscellaneous) -218 A second factor which may be important is the longevity and institutionalization of the committees and their sponsors. Many of the committees who filed at least one report also terminated operations during 1995 or 1996. (Obviously, committees who have terminated will not be included in the sampling frame for the survey.) Similarly, many newly registered committees began operation during the cycle. The breakdown of committees during 1995-96 by type and filing status(new, ongoing, or terminated) is as follows: Valuesare -- New -- Ongoing -- Terminated House campaign committees -- 1,019 -- 801 -- 680 Senate campaign committees -- 221 -- 187 -- 164 Presidential campaign committees -- 112 -- 28 -- 60 Political Party committees -- 136 -- 272 -- 77 Non-Party committees (PACs) -- 576 -- 3,122 -- 435 Other (miscellaneous) -- 147 -- 70 -- 1 Finally, the financial size of the committees may have an impact on their interest in and ability to file electronically. The following table shows the distribution of committees by type separating those with receipts during 1995- 96 of $100,000 or more from those with lower levels of financial activity. Categories are; -- Less than $100,000 -- $100,000 or more House campaign committees -- 1,626 -- 874 Senate campaign committees -- 346 -- 224 Presidential campaign committees -- 164 -- 41 Political Party committees -- 311 -- 172 Non-Party committees (PACs) -- 3,343 -- 793 Other (miscellaneous) -- 171 -- 49 Section 4: Project Tasks Section 4.1 -- Research Design Describe in detail the techniques to be used in order to gain the required knowledge of the capabilities and attitudes of filing committees toward electronic filing. This design should explain why the proposed approach is best for obtaining the information required, and should include descriptions of the sampling process to be used (or a description of the general approach to identifying committees to be contacted), the basic method of contacting committees to be used, number and type of follow-up contacts proposed, and the interview schedule or other device proposed to obtain the information. The Commission is particularly concerned that we understand the perspective of members of Congress on this issue. For that reason, we will require that the campaign committees of all 535 sitting members be included in the survey. The proposal should describe the general approach. After award there will be consultation with Commission staff, leading to the completion of the research design, to be delivered to and agreed upon by the Commission prior to the start of the research. Special emphasis should be given to ensuring that information is received from the individuals in the organization who are actually responsible for doing the work of preparing and submitting FEC reports. Section 4.2 -- Survey Instrument -- Specific information to be developed from the survey 4.2.1 The range and distribution of our filers in terms of use of computers in maintaining records and reporting to the FEC What proportion of the filing community has no access to computers and or electronic recordkeeping systems? What proportion of the filing community has fully automated systems for recordkeeping and reporting (i.e. generating the paper reports required previously), and what are the various forms these systems take (e.g. how many have purchased software designed specifically for this purpose, how many have developed independent systems written specifically for this purpose). How many use off the shelf spreadsheets for recordkeeping, how many use off the shelf database software, or other systems which allow for some automation but also require manual processes to complete reports? 4.2.2 Specific elements in computerization The number of committees who use computers in keeping books and preparing reports, broken down into at least the following subgroups; Those who use -internally created programs -special software purchased for this purpose -other off the shelf programs (e.g. spreadsheets, databases, quicken, etc.) Length of experience with the various methods, and levels of satisfaction with them. Range of use of different operating systems and hardware configurations. What proportion of committees uses "Intel" based systems vs. Apple MacIntosh or other configurations; and what proportion uses DOS based applications, Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows NT, UNIX, etc. Degree of sophistication in the use of these systems -- i.e. are they doing things by rote with explicit instructions at each step, or are they making changes to the basic system and manipulating lots of parameters in order to do their work. -How prevalent is some form of computerized communications capability, e.g. modem, internet -How do they use their communication tools with other entities for similar purposes -Do they have existing plans to change/upgrade their systems -Are they interested in FEC provided software that only applied to FEC required information and reporting -Would they use FEC provided software if it required maintaining information not required to be itemized in reports? (e.g. in order to automate contributor information, all contributions should be entered into the system, not just those which exceed the $200 threshold for itemization) 4.2.3 We are also interested in filers' attitudes toward electronic filing Are they interested in filing reports electronically? Do they think submitting their reports electronically would be advantageous? What specific benefits do they anticipate? Are there aspects of electronic filing they think are disadvantages (and if so, what are they). Finally, we would like committees to have an open ended opportunity to offer suggestions about the process that might encourage their participation Section 5: Deliverables The contractor shall produce the following deliverables: Deliverable 1: Research Design -- due 7 days after contract award Deliverable 2: Survey instrument -- due 14 days after contract award Deliverable 3: Survey responses (ASCII file containing committee information and responses -- due 56 days after contract award Deliverable 4: Draft report summarizing findings and drawing conclusions based on survey responses -- due 56 days after contract award Deliverable 5: Final report incorporating Commission comments and/or questions resulting from the draft report. Comments will be incorporated into the body of the document, not presented as an addendum. due 70 days after contract award Due at FEC within the following calendar days following award: 001 -- 7 002 -- 14 003 -- 56 004 -- 56 005 -- 70 FAR 52.212-1, 52, 52,212-4, and 52-212-5 apply. Offerors must include a completed copy of the 52-212-3 provision with the offer. FAR 52.212-2 applies. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers: technical, price, and past performance. Offers are due NLT Noon, June 27, 1997 in Rm. 808 and must be placed in the C.O. acceptance box. For information contact R. Biersack at (202) -- 2193730. Due at FEC within the following calendar days following award: 001 -- 7 002 -- 14 003 -- 56 004 -- 56 005 -- 70 FAR 52.212-1, 52, 52,212-4, and 52-212-5 apply. Offerors must include a completed copy of the 52-212-3 provision with the offer. FAR 52.212-2 applies. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers: technical, price, and past performance. Offers are due NLT Noon, June 27, 1997 in Rm. 808 and must be placed in the C.O. acceptance box. For information contact R. Biersack at (202) -- 2193730. (0161)

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