Late yesterday, the Federal Election Commission continued its work on text message campaign contributions by clarifying in Advisory Opinion 2012-26 that political campaigns, not wireless companies, would be responsible for certifying that donors comply with contribution and disclosure requirements.  While the FEC approved text message donations, which Public Campaign and other groups support to help enhance the role of small donors, in June, wireless companies have been dragging their feet over how to implement certain parts of this practice.

In Advisory Opinion Request 2012-28, CTIA (The Wireless Association), which controls short codes necessary for political campaigns to establish text message contributions, reserves the right to decline providing this service to congressional candidates, but it could be just another excuse to delay implementation.  Stay tuned to see how the FEC proceeds and to see if text message donations can be implemented in time for the 2012 elections.