Criteria and Guidelines

The President and the Executive Director must approve chapter requests for ACEP to collect PAC money on dues billings.

Request Process.
The requesting chapter must forward to the Chapter Services Manager:

1. Written request to add this solicitation to chapter members' dues statements;
2. Copy of the PAC statement of organization;
3. Copy of the PAC bylaws;
4. Signed and notarized Hold Harmless Agreement signed by the Chapter President and Chapter PAC Treasurer.

The College President and Executive Director will have a reasonable time period, generally within 90 days from receipt of the request and all required documents, to approve or disapprove the chapter's request or to notify the chapter of any additional issues that need to be addressed. National ACEP will, at its expense, obtain a legal opinion on the advisability of including the requested PAC collection on the dues statement. If the legal opinion indicates significant issues exist regarding ACEP collecting PAC funds for the requesting chapter, the Executive Director shall notify the chapter of the issues identified in the legal opinion and will submit the request and legal opinion to the ACEP Board of Directors for a decision.

Appeal Process.
In the event the chapter's request is denied by the Board of Directors, the chapter may provide written notice to the Executive Director of its intention to appeal the board's decision within thirty (30) calendar days of the chapter's receipt of written notice of the board's action and the reasons for the denial. Within sixty (60) days of written notification of the board's action, the chapter shall submit in writing the basis for its appeal of the board's decision. If the chapter chooses to retain legal counsel to submit a legal opinion to support its position, the chapter shall bear the expense of such legal representation. The attorney retained by the chapter to provide such a legal opinion should have specific expertise in the campaign election laws of the state in question. ACEP's attorney will be available to work with the chapter's attorney on the outstanding issues and present additional information to the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors will, after reviewing the position of the chapter and the advice of ACEP's attorney, make a final determination on the request.

Annual Review Process.
Once approved, to continue this service the chapter must provide ACEP with the following information annually:

1. An updated enclosure for the dues billing describing the PAC, its activities, and the suggested voluntary contribution by September 30.

2. A PAC Collection Form (provided by ACEP) signed by the Chapter President and Treasurer and the PAC Treasurer. The form must include:

   1. The amount of the voluntary contribution for the upcoming year; and
   2. A statement that the PAC is in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.

3. If the chapter fails to provide the above information by September 30, ACEP will cease to collect funds on behalf of the PAC, effective with the next billing cycle. Prior to the September 30 deadline, the chapter will receive a reminder from ACEP that the information will be due on said date.

4. Upon receipt of the information in Item 2 above, national ACEP will, at its expense, obtain a written opinion from an attorney with expertise in state campaign finance law confirming that there have been no substantive changes in state law that would affect the advisability of national ACEP providing this service for the chapter PAC.

5. If the annual legal review reveals that there are changes in state law that make collection of chapter PAC funds prohibitive and the ACEP Board of Directors decides to cease this service to any chapter, national ACEP will notify the chapter, in writing, that ACEP will cease to collect funds on behalf of the chapter PAC and the reasons for the termination of this service. ACEP will provide in such written notice the effective date when the PAC donation will be deleted from the dues statement. The appeal process detailed above will apply to board decisions to discontinue the collection of PAC funds for a chapter.

6. Once the PAC donation is included on the dues statement, the amount cannot be changed until the enclosure for the billing statement and the PAC collection form are received and legal review completed for the next calendar year.

Receipt and Reporting of PAC Funds.
All PAC donations received by ACEP will be sent to the chapter. It is the responsibility of the chapter PAC officers to ensure that PAC donation limits and documentation and reporting requirements are adhered to in compliance with the laws of that state.

Special Costs.
Any special costs that must be incurred beyond the cost of ACEP's normal operations to ensure compliance with the laws or regulations of a particular state will be borne by the chapter. ACEP will provide to the chapter in writing an estimate of the additional costs, and the chapter will notify ACEP in writing within thirty (30) days of such notice of its commitment to be responsible for the additional costs in order to initiate or continue ACEP's collection and processing of its PAC's funds. The College, however, will bear the cost for its own legal expenses, as noted in Items 4 and 6. Nothing in this section shall require national ACEP to change its established procedures to accommodate the collection needs of a single chapter.

This document replaces the Chapter PAC Collection Criteria and Guidelines
Adopted by the Board of Directors April 25-26, 1985.

Adopted by the Board of Directors
DATE ADOPTED: January 16-18, 2000

 

 Chapter PAC Collection Form