According to today's <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49016-2002Oct18.html"></a>Washington Post, Congress has passed the amendment to Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code.  Here is the <a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/quer
y/D?c107:3:./temp/~c1072P2auC::"></a>text of the bill as received in the Senate on the day before adjournment.  The bill was passed by unanimous consent in the Senate without amendment. Principal provisions of the bill:
  *  State & local party committees and state and local candidates' committees are no longer required to file notification of formation (this is retroactive to the adoption of the notification requirement in 2000).
  *  Any committee that must report expenditures and receipts to a state body is exempt from filing reports and annual returns with the IRS unless a federal candidate or office holder has some involvement with the committee.  (This is grossly simplified. 
 There are lots of if, ands, & buts.) (Also retroactive.)
  *  Reports of contributions must be filed electronically and the IRS must make the data available on the Internet.

Ed Still
www.votelaw.com