Washington, DC – The Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee today released the following statement after the Federal Election Commission agreed the party committees may establish convention committees that can raise federal funds under separate limits, solely to finance expenses for their 2016 nominating conventions. Convention expenses would have previously have been paid for with federal funds:

“We appreciate the FEC’s recognition that, as the party convention committees adjust to the loss of public funding, they have authority to raise funds that will help pay the costs of their national conventions.  This is an important, if modest, first step for the parties in continuing to meet their historic responsibility to conduct conventions, which play such a vital role in our democratic process.”