DATA DESCRIPTION BOOKLET This booklet was designed to facilitate usage of the Federal Election Commission's summary data file on Non-Party political committees taken from the Final Report of the 1993-94 FEC Reports on Financial Activity for Party and Non-Party Political Committees. The summary file includes one record for each Non-Party committee, with the records arranged first by the type of organizations sponsoring the committee. All committees sponsored by corporations appear first, followed by all labor sponsored committees, those with no sponsoring organ- ization, committees of trade, membership, or health-related organizations, committees sponsored by cooperatives, and finally those committees sponsored by corporations without capital stock. It is important to note that this classifica- tion is derived from information supplied by the committees on their statements of organization. Substantive classifications will vary based on the research question being addressed. Within each type, records are arranged alphabetically by committee name. It is important that the limitations of the information on this file be understood. It includes financial activity reported as having taken place during the period from January 1, 1993 through December 31, 1994. Information appearing on reports covering this period which were received prior to August 30, 1995 has been included on the tape. While it is intended to give a complete picture of the financial activity which occurred during 1993-94, amendments to reports covering that period may have been filed after August 30, 1995. Available at the Commission for inspection are microfilmed copies of the original reports which show information as reported by the filers. The microfilmed public record is the official record of the Federal Election Commission. These files represent one of several tools which have been developed to summarize the vast quantity of data available on the microfilmed public record. FILE SPECIFICATIONS 1993-94 NON-PARTY RFA FILES Record No. of Length Records Summary File 476 4621 ATTRIBUTE DESCRIPTION LOCATION 1) Committee ID ID # assigned by Commission. The 1-9 first character is the letter "C" followed by eight numeric characters. 2) Committee Name of Committee 10-99 Name 3) Cmte Sig This column contains a code for the 100 special-interest-group classification of the committee. This indicates the organization with which the committee has reported being connected. In most cases, these sponsoring organizations cannot use treasury funds to directly make political contributions. The law does, however, permit them to pay the overhead costs of these committees. C= Committee is connected with a cor- poration. L= Committee is connected with a labor organization. T= Committee is connected with a trade, membership or health organization V= Committee is connected with a cooperative. W= Organization is associated with a corporation without capital stock. M= No Connected Organization reported. 4) Ending Cov- Ending coverage date of the last 101-106 erage Date financial document filed by the committee and included in the data. 5) Total Re- This column includes all receipts 107-116 ceipts reported by the committee. The value is found on Line 6c of each financial document filed by the committee. 6) Transfers This figure represents transfers in 117-126 from from non-party committees that are Affiliates affiliated with the reporting com- mittee. "Transfers" are exchanges of funds between affiliated politi- cal committees. "Affiliated" com- mittees are those committees which ATTRIBUTE DESCRIPTION LOCATION are established, financed, maintained, or controlled by the same corporation, labor organization, person, or group. These figures are found on the sche- dule that supports Line 12. 7) Contrib This figure represents contributions 127-136 from from party committees. The source Party for this value is the schedule that supports Line 11b. 8) Contrib from This value represents contributions 137-146 Non-Party from other non-party committees not affiliated with the reporting com- mittee. The source is the schedule that supports Line 11c. 9) Tot Individ- This column represents total indivi- 147-156 ual Contrib dual contributions reported by the committee. The value is found on line 11a. 10) $200-Up In- This figure represents the total of 157-166 div Contrib itemized individual contributions in amounts greater than or equal to $200. These contributions can be either monies given directly to the committee or earmarked through another committee, or they may be in-kind contributions of services, goods, or property. The source is the schedule that supports Line 11a. 11) In-Kind Con- This value represents the total amount 167-176 trib of in-kind contributions of services, goods, or property received by the com- mittee from other political committees. The source is the schedule that supports Line 11c. This value represents a sub- set of the total reported in Attribute 8. 12) Total Dis- This column represents all outgoing 177-186 bursements funds reported by the political com- mittee on Line 7. 13) Transfers to This figure represents transfers from 187-196 Affiliates the reporting committee to other affi- liated committees. "Transfers" are ATTRIBUTE DESCRIPTION LOCATION exchanges of funds between affiliated political committees. "Affiliated" committees are those committees which are established, financed, maintained, or controlled by the same corporation, labor organization, person, or group. The values are taken from the schedule that supports Line 20. 14) Contrib to This value represents contributions 197-206 Party by the reporting committee to party committees. The source is the sche- dule that supports Line 21. 15) Contrib to This column represents contributions 207-216 Non-Party by the reporting committee to other non-party committees that are not affiliated with the committee. The values are taken from the schedule that supports Line 21. 16) Indiv Con- This figure represents refunds of 217-226 trib Refund individual contributions made to the reporting committee. The source is the schedule that supports Line 26a. 17) Beginning This column represents the "cash on 227-236 Cash hand" of the reporting committee on January 1, 1993 (or its initial 1993 "cash on hand" if it registered after 1/1/93). The beginning cash balance is reported on Line 6b. If the com- mittee did not register until 1994, this value will be 0. 18) Ending Cash This value represents the most re- 237-246 cently reported 1994 "cash on hand." It is taken from Line 8. 19) Debts Owed This value represents the outstand- 247-256 To ing debts and obligations owed to the reporting committee. The figures are taken from Line 9 of the committee's latest report. 20) Debts Owed This figure represents the outstan- 257-266 By ding debts and obligations owed by ATTRIBUTE DESCRIPTION LOCATION the committee. The values are taken from Line 10 of the committee's la- test report. 21) Total In- This column represents the total in- 267-276 Kind Contrib kind contributions made by the re- to Candi- porting committee to candidates. In- dates kind contributions are donations of services, goods, or property (e.g., the use of office space or equipment). They are valued at the ordinary market price and are reported on Line 21. 22) Total 1993 This column represents the total 277-286 Contrib contributions made by the reporting committee to Presidential, Senatorial, or House campaign committees during the calendar year 1993. This value is taken from the schedules that support Line 21. 23) Total For This figure represents the total inde- 287-296 pendent expenditures made by the re- porting committee in favor of candi- dates. Independent expenditures are expenditures made without consulta- tion with the candidate. The source is the schedule that supports Line 22. 24) Total Agn This value represents that total inde- 297-306 pendent expenditures made by the re- porting committee against Presidential, Senate, or House candidates. The fig- ure comes from the schedule that sup- ports Line 22. 25) Pres Dem This column represents total contribu- 307-316 Cont tions made by the committee to Demo- cratic Presidential candidates. Con- tributions are donations of money or in-kind contributions of services, goods, or property. The source is the schedule that supports Line 21. 26) Pres Rep This value represents total contribu- 317-326 Cont tions made by the committee to Repub- lican Presidential candidates. Con- tributions are donations of money or ATTRIBUTE DESCRIPTION LOCATION in-kind contributions of services, goods or property. The source is the schedule that supports Line 21. 27) Pres Oth This value represents total contribu- 327-336 Cont tions made by the committee to Pre- sidential candidates of parties other than Republican or Democratic. Con- tributions are donations of money or in-kind contributions of services, goods, or property. The source is the schedule that supports Line 21. 28) Sen Dem This column represents total contri- 337-346 Cont butions made by the committee to Dem- ocratic Senate candidates. Contribu- tions are donations of money or in- kind contributions of services, goods, or property. The source is the sche- dule that supports Line 21. 29) Sen Rep This figure represents total contri- 347-356 Cont butions made by the committee to Re- publican Senate candidates. Contri- butions are donations of money or in-kind contributions of services, goods, or property. The source is the schedule that supports Line 21. 30) Sen Oth This value represents total contribu- 357-366 Cont tions made by the committee to Senate candidates of parties other than Re- publican or Democratic. Contributions are donations of money or in-kind con- tributions of services, goods, or pro- perty. The source is the schedule that supports Line 21. 31) Hse Dem This column represents total contribu- 367-376 Cont tions made by the committee to Demo- cratic House candidates. Contributions are donations of money or in-kind con- tributions of services, goods, or pro- perty. The source is the schedule that supports Line 21. 32) Hse Rep This figure represents total contribu- 377-386 Cont tions made by the committee to Repub- lican House candidates. Contributions ATTRIBUTE DESCRIPTION LOCATION are donations of money or in-kind con- tributions of services, goods, or pro- perty. The source is the schedule that supports Line 21. 33) Hse Oth This value represents total contribu- 387-396 Cont tions made by the committee to House candidates of parties other than Re- publican or Democratic. Contributions are donations of money or in-kind con- tributions of services, goods, or pro- perty. The source is the schedule that supports Line 21. 34) Sen Inc This column represents total contribu- 397-406 Cont tions made by the committee to Senate candidates who have been identified as incumbents. Incumbents are those who have held a Senate seat at any time during the 103rd Congress. The amounts are as reported on the sche- dules supporting Line 21. 35) Sen Chl This figure represents total contri- 407-416 Cont butions made by the committee to Sen- ate candidates who have been identi- fied as challengers or other. (Other includes all candidates not identified as incumbents, challengers, or open- seat candidates. E.g., those who par- ticipated in an open seat contest in a previous cycle who are repaying debts for that campaign but did not run in 1993-94. The values come from the schedules that support Line 21. 36) Sen Opn This column represents total contribu- 417-426 Cont tions made by the committee to Senate candidates who have been identified as open-seat candidates. Open seat candidates are those who were seeking election in 1993 or 1994 to a seat where the incumbent was not seeking reelection. The amounts are reported on the schedules that support Line 21. 37) Hse Inc This column represents total contribu- 427-436 Cont tions made by the committee to House candidates who have been identified ATTRIBUTE DESCRIPTION LOCATION as incumbents. Incumbents are those who have held a House seat at any time during the 102nd Congress. The amounts are as reported on the sche- dules supporting Line 21. 38) Hse Chl This figure represents total contribu- 437-446 Cont tions made by the committee to House candidates who have been identified as challengers or other. (Other in- cludes all candidates not identified as incumbents, challengers, or open- seat candidates.) The values come from the schedules that support Line 21. 39) Hse Opn This column represents total contribu- 447-456 Cont tions made by the committee to House candidates who have been identified as open-seat candidates. Open seat can- didates are those who were seeking election in 1993 or 1994 to a seat where the incumbent was not seeking reelection. The amounts are reported on the schedules that support Line 21. 40) Non-Federal Transfers to the committee from the 457-466 Transfers non-federal part of the organization to pay for its component of shared federal/ non-federal activities, eg. administra- tive expenses. The non-federal share of joint activities by non-party committees is based on the share of all candidate contributions by the committee which went to candidates for state or local offices. 41) Non-federal The total expenditures made by the 467-476 Expenditures committee to pay for the non-federal components of joint federal/non- federal activities. The non-federal component of joint activities by non- party committees is based on the share of all candidate contributions by the committee which went to candidates for state or local office.