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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 246 / Tuesday, December 28, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 2015 the 2015 Act,2 requires federal agencies, including the Commission, to adjust for inflation the civil monetary penalties within their jurisdiction according to prescribed formulas. A
civil monetary penalty is any penalty, fine, or other sanction that 1 is for a specific monetary amount or has a maximum amount under federal law;
and 2 that a federal agency assesses or enforces pursuant to an administrative proceeding or a civil action in federal court.3 Under the Federal Election Campaign Act, 52 U.S.C. 30101 through 45 FECA, the Commission may seek and assess civil monetary penalties for violations of FECA, the Presidential Election Campaign Fund Act, 26 U.S.C.
9001 through 13, and the Presidential Primary Matching Payment Account Act, 26 U.S.C. 9031 through 42.
The Inflation Adjustment Act requires federal agencies to adjust their civil penalties annually, and the adjustments must take effect no later than January 15
of every year.4 Pursuant to guidance issued by the Office of Management and Budget,5 the Commission is now adjusting its civil monetary penalties for 2022.6
The Commission must adjust for inflation its civil monetary penalties notwithstanding Section 553 of the Administrative Procedure Act APA.7 Thus, the APAs notice-andcomment and delayed effective date requirements in 5 U.S.C. 553b through d do not apply because Congress has specifically exempted agencies from these requirements.8
Furthermore, because the inflation adjustments made through these final rules are required by Congress and
involve no Commission discretion or policy judgments, these rules do not need to be submitted to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives or the President of the United States Senate under the Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801
et seq. Moreover, because the APAs notice-and-comment procedures do not apply to these final rules, the Commission is not required to conduct a regulatory flexibility analysis under 5
U.S.C. 603 or 604. See 5 U.S.C. 6012, 604a. Nor is the Commission required to submit these revisions for congressional review under FECA. See 5
U.S.C. 30111d1, 4 providing for congressional review when Commission prescribes a rule of law.
The new penalty amounts will apply to civil monetary penalties that are assessed after the date the increase takes effect, even if the associated violation predated the increase.9
Explanation and Justification The Inflation Adjustment Act requires the Commission to annually adjust its civil monetary penalties for inflation by applying a cost-of-living-adjustment COLA ratio.10 The COLA ratio is the percentage that the Consumer Price Index CPI 11 for the month of October preceding the date of the adjustment exceeds the CPI for October of the previous year.12 To calculate the adjusted penalty, the Commission must increase the most recent civil monetary penalty amount by the COLA ratio.13
According to the Office of Management and Budget, the COLA ratio for 2022 is 0.01622, or 1.622%; thus, to calculate the new penalties, the Commission must
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CFR
CFR
CFR
CFR
CFR

111.24a1
111.24a2i
111.24a2ii
111.24b
111.24b

2. 11 CFR 111.43, 111.44
Administrative Fines
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FECA authorizes the Commission to assess civil monetary penalties for 2 Public Law 11474, section 701, 129 Stat. 584, 599.
3 Inflation Adjustment Act section 32.
4 Inflation Adjustment Act section 4a.
5 See Inflation Adjustment Act 7a requiring OMB to issue guidance to agencies on implementing the inflation adjustments required under this Act; see also Memorandum from Shalanda D. Young, Acting Director, Office of Management and Budget, to Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies, M2207, Dec. 15,
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multiply the most recent civil monetary penalties in force by 1.06222.14
The Commission assesses two types of civil monetary penalties that must be adjusted for inflation. First are penalties that are either negotiated by the Commission or imposed by a court for violations of FECA, the Presidential Election Campaign Fund Act, or the Presidential Primary Matching Payment Account Act. These civil monetary penalties are set forth at 11 CFR 111.24.
Second are the civil monetary penalties assessed through the Commissions Administrative Fines Program for late filing or non-filing of certain reports required by FECA. See 52 U.S.C.
30109a4C authorizing Administrative Fines Program, 30104a requiring political committee treasurers to report receipts and disbursements within certain time periods. The penalty schedules for these civil monetary penalties are set out at 11 CFR
111.43 and 111.44.
1. 11

CFR 111.24Civil Penalties
FECA establishes the civil monetary penalties for violations of FECA and the other statutes within the Commissions jurisdiction. See 52 U.S.C. 30109a5, 6, 12. Commission regulations in 11
CFR 111.24 provide the current inflation-adjusted amount for each such civil monetary penalty. To calculate the adjusted civil monetary penalty, the Commission multiplies the most recent penalty amount by the COLA ratio and rounds that figure to the nearest dollar.
The actual adjustment to each civil monetary penalty is shown in the chart below.

Most recent civil penalty
Section
73639

$20,528
43,792
71,812
6,141
15,352

COLA
1.06222
1.06222
1.06222
1.06222
1.06222

New civil penalty 21,805
46,517
76,280
6,523
16,307

violations of the reporting requirements of 52 U.S.C. 30104a according to the penalty schedules established and published by the Commission. 52
U.S.C. 30109a4Ci. The
Commission has established two penalty schedules: The penalty schedule in 11 CFR 111.43a applies to reports that are not election sensitive, and the penalty schedule in 11 CFR

2021, https www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/
uploads/2021/12/M-22-07.pdf OMB
Memorandum.
6 Inflation Adjustment Act section 5.
7 Inflation Adjustment Act section 4b2.
8 See, e.g., Asiana Airlines v. FAA, 134 F.3d 393, 39699 D.C. Cir. 1998 finding APA notice and comment requirement not applicable where Congress clearly expressed intent to depart from normal APA procedures.
9 Inflation Adjustment Act section 6.

10 The COLA ratio must be applied to the most recent civil monetary penalties. Inflation Adjustment Act, section 4a; see also OMB
Memorandum at 2.
11 The Inflation Adjustment Act, section 3, uses the CPI for all-urban consumers published by the Department of Labor.
12 Inflation Adjustment Act, section 5b1.
13 Inflation Adjustment Act, section 5a, b1.
14 OMB Memorandum at 1.

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