Run Date: 05/05/2002 COMMITTEE MASTER FILE 1996 Federal Election Commission 999 E Street, NW Washington, DC 20463 DATA DESCRIPTION Commitee Master File 1996 The compressed file should be downloaded as binary and exploded using PKUNZIP or any compression software that will explode compressed files. Summary: This file contains one record for each committee registered with the Federal Election Commission. This includes federal political action committees and party committees, campaign committees for presidential, house and senate candidates, as well as groups or organizations who are spending money for or against candidates for federal office. The file contains basic information about the committees. The ID number the Commission assigned to the committee is first, along with the name of the committee, the sponsor, where appropriate, the treasurer's name and the committee's address. The file also includes information about what type of committee is being described, along with the candidate's ID number if it is a campaign committee. Universe: All committees registered with the Federal Election Commission. B. Tape Specifications and Data Format The Committee Master information has been stored on tape in the following manner: Standard Labels ODD Parity EBCDIC Record Length: 284 9 Track Block Length: 3976 1600 BPI Records/Block: 14 Total Records: 11223 The variables have been formatted in the following ways: Variable Columns Desc Committee Identification 1-9 9s Committee Name 10-99 9s Treasurer's Name 100-137 38s Street One 138-171 34s Street Two 172-205 34s City or Town 206-223 18s State 224-225 2s Zip Code 226-230 5s Committee Designation 231-231 1s Committee Type 232-232 1s Committee Party 233-235 3s Filing Frequency 236-236 1s Interest Group Category 237-237 1s Connected Organiz's Name 238-275 38s Candidate Identification 276-284 9s VARIABLE DOCUMENTATION Committee Identification Columns 1-9 String A 9-character alpha-numeric code assigned to a committee by the Federal Election Commission. The committee ID for a specific committee always remains the same. --------- Committee Name Columns 10-99 String Reported name of a committee. --------- Treasurer's Name Columns 100-137 String The officially registered treasurer for the committee. --------- Street One Columns 138-171 String --------- Street Two Columns 172-205 String --------- City or Town Columns 206-223 String --------- State Columns 224-225 String --------- U.S. Postal ZIP Code Columns 226-230 String Note: Street, City, State, and ZIP Code information are taken from the Statement of Organization (FEC Form 1). --------- Committee Designation Columns 231-231 String The committee designation code indicates if a committee is part of a campaign or not part of a campaign. Committees with designations 'A' and 'P' are part of a candidate's campaign effort. Committees with a 'U' designation are not part of a candidate's campaign. Committees with a missing designation are unauthorized. Committees with a 'J' designation may be part of a candidate's campaign. These joint fund raising committees may include combinations of candidates, parties, and non-parties. When candidates join a joint fund raising committee the committee is part of that candidate's campaign. --------- Committee Type Columns 232-232 String The committee type code indicates the type of committee. Communication (C) costs are made by organizations (corporations, unions, etc.) and are communications directly to their members or appropriate employees. These committees can either support a clearly identified candidate or oppose a candidate. Delegate (D) committees are organized for the purpose of influencing the selection of delegates to Presidential nominating conventions. The term includes a group of delegates, a group of individuals seeking to become delegates, and a group of individuals supporting delegates. House (H) Independent (I) expenditures are expenditures for a communication which expressly advocates the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate and which is not made with the cooperation or prior consent of, or in consultation with or at the request or suggestion of, any candidate or authorized committee or agent of a candidate. These are individuals or groups not otherwise registered as political committees who undertake independent expenditures. Non-Party non-Qualified (N) committees are separate segregated funds and nonconnected committees that have not qualified as multi-candidate committees. A non-qualified committee may contribute up to $1,000 per candidate per election. Presidential (P) Qualified non-party (Q) committees are separate segregated funds and nonconnected committees that qualify as multi-candidate committees. They qualify as multi-candidate committees if all of the following conditions are met. The committee must be registered for 6 months, have received contributions from more than 50 people, and has made contributions to at least 5 federal candidates. A qualified committee may contribute up to $5,000 per candidate per election. Senate (S) Non-Qualified Party (X) Qualified Party Committee (Y) National Party Organization (Non-Federal Account) (Z) are committees established by national party organizations to raise funds outside the limits and prohibitions of the Federal Election Campaign Act. These funds can be used in nonfederal elections and may be used as a portion of the cost of administrative, generic, and fundraising expenses for the party. --------- Committee Party Columns 233-235 String The reported party with which the committee is associated. --------- Filing Frequency Columns 236-236 String How often a committee files with the Federal Election Commission. Administratively terminated committees (A) are those committees that are no longer active but have not taken the initiative to terminate. Under certain conditions the Commission takes the action of terminating the reporting requirements for these committees. These inactive committees are identified periodically. Terminated committees (T) have declared that they are no longer active in federal elections and meet other requirements for terminating their reporting requirements. --------- Interest Group Category Columns 237-237 String Interest Group Category only applies to committee types N and Q. This is a categorization of the sponsoring (or connected) organization for the committee and is provided on the statement of organization. It indicates that the sponsor is a Corporation, a Labor organization, etc. --------- Connected Organization's Name Columns 238-275 String The reported name of the committee's sponsor. --------- Candidate Identification Columns 276-284 String The reported candidate identification of the recipient of a contribution from this committee. STATE VALUES DESIG. ABREV. COUNT STATE NAME ----------------------------------------- AK 56 ALASKA ----------------------------------------- AL 158 ALABAMA ----------------------------------------- AR 96 ARKANSAS ----------------------------------------- AS 4 AMERICAN SAMOA ----------------------------------------- AZ 137 ARIZONA ----------------------------------------- CA 1264 CALIFORNIA ----------------------------------------- CO 148 COLORADO ----------------------------------------- CT 153 CONNECTICUT ----------------------------------------- DC 857 DIST OF COLUMBIA ----------------------------------------- DE 46 DELAWARE ----------------------------------------- FL 401 FLORIDA ----------------------------------------- GA 245 GEORGIA ----------------------------------------- GU 2 GUAM ----------------------------------------- HI 55 HAWAII ----------------------------------------- IA 117 IOWA ----------------------------------------- ID 54 IDAHO ----------------------------------------- IL 504 ILLINOIS ----------------------------------------- IN 204 INDIANA ----------------------------------------- KS 93 KANSAS ----------------------------------------- KY 97 KENTUCKY ----------------------------------------- LA 133 LOUISIANA ----------------------------------------- MA 204 MASSACHUSETTS ----------------------------------------- MD 296 MARYLAND ----------------------------------------- ME 60 MAINE ----------------------------------------- MI 357 MICHIGAN ----------------------------------------- MN 215 MINNESOTA ----------------------------------------- MO 247 MISSOURI ----------------------------------------- MS 121 MISSISSIPPI ----------------------------------------- MT 47 MONTANA ----------------------------------------- NC 224 NORTH CAROLINA ----------------------------------------- ND 30 NORTH DAKOTA ----------------------------------------- NE 68 NEBRASKA ----------------------------------------- NH 80 NEW HAMPSHIRE ----------------------------------------- NJ 290 NEW JERSEY ----------------------------------------- NM 53 NEW MEXICO ----------------------------------------- NV 91 NEVADA ----------------------------------------- NY 587 NEW YORK ----------------------------------------- OH 365 OHIO ----------------------------------------- OK 138 OKLAHOMA ----------------------------------------- OR 168 OREGON ----------------------------------------- PA 480 PENNSYLVANIA ----------------------------------------- PR 5 PUERTO RICO ----------------------------------------- RI 54 RHODE ISLAND ----------------------------------------- SC 98 SOUTH CAROLINA ----------------------------------------- SD 37 SOUTH DAKOTA ----------------------------------------- TN 202 TENNESSEE ----------------------------------------- TX 641 TEXAS ----------------------------------------- UT 91 UTAH ----------------------------------------- VA 525 VIRGINIA ----------------------------------------- VI 11 VIRGIN ISLANDS ----------------------------------------- VT 26 VERMONT ----------------------------------------- WA 206 WASHINGTON ----------------------------------------- WI 187 WISCONSIN ----------------------------------------- WV 44 WEST VIRGINIA ----------------------------------------- WY 47 WYOMING ----------------------------------------- ZZ 11 FOREIGN COUNTRY PARTY COUNT DESCRIPTION --------------------------------------------- AIP 2 AMERICAN INDEPENDENT PARTY --------------------------------------------- AMP 4 AMERICAN PARTY --------------------------------------------- CIT 1 CITIZENS --------------------------------------------- COM 1 COMMUNIST PARTY --------------------------------------------- CRV 5 CONSERVATIVE PARTY --------------------------------------------- CST 3 CONSTITUTIONAL --------------------------------------------- DEM 1859 DEMOCRAT PARTY --------------------------------------------- DFL 12 DEMOCRAT FARM LABOR --------------------------------------------- GRE 1 GREEN PARTY --------------------------------------------- IND 203 INDEPENDENT --------------------------------------------- LAB 1 LABOR --------------------------------------------- LBR 1 LABOR PARTY --------------------------------------------- LIB 73 LIBERTARIAN --------------------------------------------- NLP 2 NATURAL LAW PARTY --------------------------------------------- NNE 67 NONE --------------------------------------------- OTH 1 OTHER --------------------------------------------- REF 22 REFORM PARTY --------------------------------------------- REP 1819 REPUBLICAN PARTY --------------------------------------------- RTL 1 RIGHT TO LIFE --------------------------------------------- SOC 2 SOCIALIST --------------------------------------------- SWP 6 SOCIALIST WORKERS PARTY --------------------------------------------- TX 10 TAXPAYERS --------------------------------------------- UNK 409 UNKNOWN COMTE. DESIG. DESIG COUNT DESCRIPTION ---------------------------------------------------------- A 505 AUTHORIZED BY A CANDIDATE ---------------------------------------------------------- J 118 JOINT FUND RAISER ---------------------------------------------------------- P 4824 PRINCIPAL CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE OF A CANDIDATE ---------------------------------------------------------- U 2852 UNAUTHORIZED COMTE. TYPE DESIG. TYPE COUNT DESCRIPTION ---------------------------------------------------------- C 225 COMMUNICATION COST ---------------------------------------------------------- D 80 DELEGATE ---------------------------------------------------------- H 3848 HOUSE ---------------------------------------------------------- I 368 INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURE(PERSON OR GROUP, NOT A COMMITTEE) ---------------------------------------------------------- N 1521 NON-PARTY NON-QUALIFIED ---------------------------------------------------------- P 578 PRESIDENTIAL ---------------------------------------------------------- Q 3006 QUALIFIED NON-PARTY(SEE 2USC SECT.441(A)(4)) ---------------------------------------------------------- S 921 SENATE ---------------------------------------------------------- X 171 NON-QUALIFIED PARTY ---------------------------------------------------------- Y 418 QUALIFIED PARTY(SEE 2USC SECT.441(A)(4)) ---------------------------------------------------------- Z 87 NATIONAL PARTY ORGANIZATION. NON FED ACCT. FILING FREQUENCY DESIG. FF COUNT DESCRIPTION --------------------------------------- A 1196 ADMINISTRATIVELY TERMINATED --------------------------------------- M 798 MONTHLY --------------------------------------- Q 7384 QUARTERLY --------------------------------------- T 1845 TERMINATED SPECIAL INTEREST GRP DESIG. (Applies only to Committee Type N and Q) SIG COUNT DESCRIPTION -------------------------------------- C 1840 CORPORATION -------------------------------------- L 397 LABOR -------------------------------------- M 519 NON-CONNECTED -------------------------------------- T 902 TRADE/MEMBERSHIP/HEALTH -------------------------------------- V 45 COOPERATIVE -------------------------------------- W 134 CORP. W/O CAPITAL STOCK