WACO (October 26, 2009)—The Rob Curnock for Congress campaign said Monday it amended its third quarter financial report to reflect the expense of a flight the candidate took on a private plane as an in-kind contribution.

The flight to College Station was in apparent violation of a federal law passed in 2007 that bars candidates from using private planes for campaign travel, although the Federal Election Commission says the agency has not yet finalized its rules.

Curnock, who ran a close race to unseat Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, in 2008, is hoping to emerge from a field of Republicans seeking the seat to challenge Edwards again next November.

In a statement issued Monday, the campaign said it hadn’t reported the value of the flight because it was waiting for a receipt from the pilot.

The in-kind value of the flight was $55, the statement said.

"While legislation from 2007 changed House Rules related to travel by private plane, the FEC has been in the rulemaking process to implement these regulations since that time, and no clear regulation has been finalized and communicated to candidates,” the statement said.

"The exact wording of the 2007 legislation prohibits candidates from making an expenditure for travel by private plane, but does not specifically address in-kind donations of such travel by private pilots who own a plane,” the statement said.

"Miles Martin, a spokesman from the FEC attorney division, has advised us to claim the fuel expense as an in-kind donation, and to note the nature of the donation in reference to the ongoing rulemaking process,” the statement said.

"We regret not being able to include this in-kind donation as part of our regular quarterly filing," said Wynne Loveless, Curnock’s campaign manager.

"We have been diligent in complying with all announced FEC regulations and have worked closely with the FEC to resolve this matter. Based on our discussions with the FEC our campaign has no plans for further candidate travel by private aircraft,” Loveless said.