I have somewhat of an ethical dilemma here at work that I am indirectly related to. I work for a private law firm, of which several partners are politically active. One of the partners has been using a significant amount of labor (secretaries, interns, etc.) to work on mailings and other small clerical activities for a large political campaign.
I have no idea whether the hours put into this are being billed, whether they’re being reported, or whether they even need to be reported.
Does anyone have any information on the requirements or regulations on political fundraising/campaigning? I’m not even sure what I’m looking for.
I do quite a lot of work for my boss relating to his political campaign-support activities - mailings, correspondence with his candidate, fundraiser event planning, etc. We are somewhat different in that my firm doesn’t use a billable-hour system to account for our time. But as far as having to report it to someone, i.e., as though it were a type of contribution, I don’t think is required. My CFO is the straightest arrow in the book, and if there were any filing requirement or regulation that required it to be reported, I am sure he would have informed me of that by now.
If either of your firms is working for a federal campaign, the hours most definitely must be reported, and the cash value of your work will count against the partners’ contribution limits. See FEC regulations on contributions (cash and in-kind) by partnerships. For a state or local campaign, state or local laws will apply.