The Federal Election Commission will soon be hard at work creating "clear" guidelines to comply with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that loosens spending restrictions on corporations, associations and unions during federal elections, the commission's chairman told those assembled at the Council's National PAC Conference.

"The court really wants there to be very clear lines between what is permitted and what's not so that (people) don't have to go through this ‘Mother may I?' exercise," Matthew Petersen told more than 250 people attending the annual conference in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Petersen was referring to the many requests for "advisory opinions" that the six-member commission typically receives after congressional or court actions significantly alter the landscape for corporate, association or union political activity.

The high court's recent ruling in Citizens United v. FEC was, in Petersen's words "a blockbuster case." The 5-4 ruling found that corporations can use money from their general treasuries to pay for campaign ads. The high court also struck down parts of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, also known as McCain-Feingold, which prohibited unions and corporations from running issue ads in the closing days before primary and general elections.

Petersen said the court started laying the groundwork for such a ruling after John Roberts took over as chief justice in 2005. Since then, Petersen said, the court has handed down several decisions that made it clear there was "a 5-4 majority that would be looking at campaign finance laws very skeptically."

"(There is) a clear deregulatory movement at the Supreme Court and in the lower courts (toward)... a narrower definition of corruption," said Petersen, who was the opening speaker for the four-day conference. "Independent speech is gaining more and more traction. We may be headed into realm where laws regulating activities other than money going in and out of campaigns are going to be viewed with a very skeptical eye."

Petersen told conference goers - most of whom are involved in corporate or association political action committees - that "PACs are going to remain relevant."

And while the ruling "certainly liberalized the ability of corporations and unions to spend, it's not a free-for-all," Petersen said, noting that disclosure requirements remain in place, as well as bans on coordinating advocacy communications with candidates.

"But in terms of the independent spending side of things, certainly the playing field has changed dramatically," acknowledged Petersen, a Republican whom President Bush appointed to the commission in 2008. "Whatever shackles were on before have been loosened."

The FEC, whose members are Republicans and Democrats, is addressing the ruling by reviewing what impact Citizens United may have on the commission's outstanding litigation. It also plans to soon begin a rulemaking process that will, among other things, address whether restrictions on corporate and union express advocacy - such as "get-out-the-vote" materials and voter guides -- remain valid.

Petersen encouraged those in the audience to submit comments during such rulemakings.

"For those who think their comments just get thrown in the a bin - a la ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark'... it's simply not true," he said. "Every comment is looked at seriously."