(CNSNews.com) - The Federal Election Commission will consider an "emergency rule" Tuesday that would allow issue advocacy groups to broadcast commercials referencing federal candidates during the 2006 election cycle without disclosing who funds the advertising.

The proposal would also eliminate the contribution limits and public disclosure requirements on donations used to pay for such advertising. Some liberal advocacy organizations oppose the change.

The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act prohibits "electioneering communication" - defined as any broadcast advertising that contains the name, image or likeness of a candidate for federal office - aired within 30 days of a primary election or 60 days of a general election.

Issue advocacy groups may only use federal candidates' names and images in advertising during those "blackout periods" if they collect funds for the effort separately from their regular receipts, disclose the source of all funding used in the advertising campaign and abide by strict limits on how much donors can give for such purposes.

FEC Commissioner Hans von Spakovsky's emergency rule would exempt "certain communications consisting of 'grassroots lobbying'" from those restrictions.

To enjoy the exemption, issue ads must relate to pending legislation when a vote is expected and cannot mention the upcoming election or political parties. Any public official named in the commercials must be addressed in his or her official capacity, not as a candidate for reelection.

Von Spakovsky introduced the rule change at the request of the AFL-CIO, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Education Association and OMB Watch, a group that monitors and critiques the federal Office of Management and Budget.

Public Citizen, a liberal advocacy group, criticized the proposal Monday, calling it a "horrendous assault on the soft money ban and sham issue advocacy restrictions of the 2002 McCain-Feingold campaign finance law."

Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook said in a news release that the rule would allow "corporations and special interest groups ... [to] run television and radio ads praising or attacking candidates on politically sensitive issues immediately before an election."

Claybrook said such ads could skirt campaign advertising restrictions by labeling direct campaign ads as exempted "issue ads." She called the proposal "a sweeping new rule to poke a major loophole in the law."

But Kay Guinane, director of Nonprofit Speech Rights at OMB Watch, said the potential for abuse is "practically non-existent." OMB Watch has lobbied the FEC to adopt the new rule.

"There has to be a way to address our public officials as public officials even when the election's going on," Guinane insisted.

If issue ads are not allowed during the 60 days prior to an election, Guinane warned, elected officials would be able to schedule votes on controversial issues during that 60-day period, and grassroots groups would be unable to air ads encouraging citizens to call the officials and voice their opinion.

Guinane acknowledged that there is a potential for lobbying groups to use exempted ads to try to influence the election but said that as long as they meet the criteria they must be allowed.

"If we go around trying to read people's minds about their intentions," she said, "we're going to end up with kind of a bizarre set of rules that really I think are going to be so vague or overbroad that it will infringe on people's speech rights."

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