On Oct. 14, the Federal Election Commission’s (FEC) general counsel wrote to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) asking that PACs and political parties be exempt from new rules (which take effect in January 2005) that require advance permission before sending “unsolicited fax advertisements.” The FEC letter noted that the Telecommunications Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) defines an “unsolicited fax advertisement” as commercial speech only, and that political fundraising should be exempt on First Amendment grounds.

Mobile, Ala., appears to be the testing ground for new restrictions on energy information. Inquiries into a proposed natural gas plant will test if policies meant to increase security will actually compromise the public’s safety.

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has scheduled an all-day workshop on peer review for Nov. 18. The workshop is an effort to foster greater dialog on the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) recent draft bulletin proposing uniform standards for peer review throughout the federal government. According to a draft agenda, the speakers are predominately regulators and academics, with a few public interest groups and others also represented (though not all speakers have been confirmed). It has been reported that almost 80 people have already registered to participate in the workshop.

The president's request for $87 billion seems to be on the way to final passage.