Tucked into coronavirus relief legislation passed unanimously by the Senate on Wednesday evening was a little-noticed provision that guarantees more taxpayer money will be spent in the coming months on radio, digital, and direct-mail ads promoting members of Congress ahead of their re-election contests.
Language in that legislation codifies a carve-out for official communications by senators and congressmen that, while not overtly political, serves to boost legislators’ profiles and hype their accomplishments with constituents.
Known as “franked” communications and paid for through official congressional office budgets, such mail pieces, digital ads, and broadcast spots are designed to keep constituents apprised of their representatives’ work. Franked mass communication is usually banned within three months of primary or general elections. But the House Administration Committee has the authority to waive that restriction if it feels official congressional communications can “address threats to life safety.”
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It did so in light of the coronavirus outbreak, and now Congress is poised to enshrine that “life safety” exemption in law. So if you’ve seen and heard more from your member of Congress on the airwaves, in your Facebook feed, or plastered across direct mail pieces in your mailbox, don’t expect that outreach to let up.
Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN), the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, has not run a single broadcast ad for his re-election campaign this cycle. But his congressional office has shelled out for a number of radio spots.
Late last year, Emmer’s office bought radio ads focusing on his work on veterans and infrastructure issues, according to documents filed with the Federal Communications Commission. On March 9, his office reported taking out radio ad time designed to help constituents get access to federal benefits.
Then a few days later, Emmer’s office bought its first coronavirus ad. FCC filings don’t provide a detailed rundown of its contents, but they do indicate it pertained to public-health resources designed to address the spread of the virus.
That’s generally the sort of communication that House rules on franked mail, and the language in the Senate bill passed on Wednesday, are designed to encourage—information shared with constituents about important public-health matters in Washington. And even absent a waiver of the election-year restrictions on franked communications, the primary date in Emmer’s district is not until August, meaning his ads would not have fallen within the 90-day “blackout” period during which members can’t send such communications. Emmer doesn’t have a primary opponent anyway, and he’s not facing a competitive general-election fight.
None of that can be said about Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL), another member who’s used his office budget to air coronavirus ads. He is considered to be one of the most vulnerable GOP incumbents in the country. He also happens to be the top Republican on the House Administration Committee.
The committee waived blackout rules for franked communications on March 2. Four days later, Davis’ district director reached out to a Bloomington, Illinois, radio station to request airtime for a coronavirus-related ad. Davis’ office asked that it begin airing on March 10, a week before the primary date in the district (Davis didn’t have a primary challenger, but that doesn’t affect normal franking blackout restrictions).
“Note that this is a non-political, government advertisement and should be treated as such on your end,” the Davis staffer advised. The disclaimer on the ad, he said, should read, “Paid for by official funds authorized by the House of Representatives.”
That prompted some confusion from the radio station, which told Davis’ office that it would need to submit disclosure paperwork required of “political” ads. “We have double checked with our legal counsel and they have double checked with outside counsel. This is considered a political ad,” the station wrote. “It cannot run on our stations without the proper NAB form and sponsorship ID.”
It appears that that station ended up rejecting the ad. But it appears Davis’ office was able to get it on the air on a separate station in nearby Tuscola. It aired from March 10 through March 16, the day before the primary date in Davis’ district.
There’s an ethical dilemma to franked communications such as these broadcast ads. Members of Congress need to be able to communicate with constituents about important legislative matters and the services available to them, and rarely is that ever as important as it is during a national crisis such as the coronavirus outbreak.
But the outbreak happens to be taking place in the heart of an election year. And it can be very difficult to draw a line between communications designed simply to keep constituents informed, and more self-serving efforts to plug a member of Congress’ accomplishments, and raise his or her profile, right before voters go to the polls.
That’s why the blackout restrictions were instituted in the first place. It may well be better to err on the side of allowing questionable mailers during a time when constituent communication is so important. But don’t be surprised when members of Congress take advantage of the loosening of those rules to use taxpayer monies in an effort to position themselves for reelection.
It’s difficult to track just how many members have used franked mail privileges to send literal mail pieces. Those mailers are only accessible to the public on a computer in the basement of the Capitol complex, and self-quarantine guidelines precluded your humble PAY DIRT correspondent from plumbing that database.
But a number of members have brought their franking operations into the 21st century, and used their social-media pages to air those sorts of official congressional communications. Reps. Liz Cheney (R-WY), Rob Wittman (R-VA), Jim Hagedorn (R-MN), Ed Case (D-HI), Brian Mast (R-FL), Josh Harder (D-CA), John Carter (R-TX), and Carol Miller (R-WV) have all used their official office budgets to purchase Facebook ads touting their work on the coronavirus situation.
Most of those ads are purely informative. But they often help to build a social-media and email list that members can use for future communications from their office, expanding the reach of any future franked outreach, and more generally serve to keep the sponsoring member’s name in his or her constituents' Facebook feeds.
Earlier this week, voters around the country began receiving mailers from Donald Trump’s White House. “PRESIDENT TRUMP’S CORONAVIRUS GUIDELINES FOR AMERICA,” blared text across the front of the mail piece. In the bottom right-hand corner sit logos for both the White House and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The mailer is an official government communication, paid for with taxpayer dollars. And indeed, few can fault the White House for attempting to widely share public-health information amid a viral pandemic.
Nonetheless, the mail piece’s resemblance to a piece of campaign literature was unmistakable, given the amount of space on the postcard devoted to Trump personally. The president is in a tough re-election race, after all, and surely knows that his response to the pandemic could be the single most important factor for many voters in November.
But there are no franking restrictions on how the president can communicate with the American people. And as long as this pandemic lasts, there could be scant few on members of Congress either.
