I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2573

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to eliminate PAC

contributions to individual House of Representatives candidates, to provide a tax credit and tax deduction for contributions to such candidates,

to provide for voluntary expenditure limitations in House of Representatives elections, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 1, 1995

Mr. REGULA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Oversight, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and

Means and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to

eliminate PAC contributions to individual House of Representatives candidates, to provide a tax credit and tax

deduction for contributions to such candidates, to provide

for voluntary expenditure limitations in House of Representatives elections, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Congressional Cam3 paign and Administrative Reform Act of 1995’’.

4 SEC. 2. BAN ON CONTRIBUTIONS BY MULTICANDIDATE PO5 LITICAL COMMITTEES TO CANDIDATES IN

6 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ELECTIONS.

7 Section 315(a)(2)(A) of the Federal Election Cam8 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(2)(A)) is amended

9 by inserting after ‘‘$5,000’’ the following: ‘‘, except that

10 in the case of a candidate for the office of Representative

11 in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Con12 gress, and the authorized committees of such a candidate,

13 a multicandidate political committee may not make any

14 contribution’’.

15 SEC. 3. INCOME TAX CREDIT FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO

16 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CAMPAIGNS.

17 (a) GENERAL RULE.—Subpart A of part IV of sub18 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of

19 1986 (relating to nonrefundable personal credits) is

20 amended by inserting after section 22 the following new

21 section:

22 ‘‘SEC. 23. CONTRIBUTIONS TO HOUSE OF REPRESENTA23 TIVES CAMPAIGNS.

24 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—In the case of an individual,

25 there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed

26 by this chapter for the taxable year an amount equal to
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1 all House of Representatives campaign contributions made

2 by the individual.

3 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT OF CREDIT.—The

4 credit allowed by subsection (a) for a taxable year shall

5 not exceed $50 ($100 in the case of a joint return).

6 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—

7 ‘‘(1) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CAMPAIGN

8 CONTRIBUTION.—

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘House of

10 Representatives campaign contribution’ means

11 a contribution or gift of money, payment of

12 which is made during the taxable year, to an in13 dividual who is a candidate for nomination or

14 election to the office of Representative in, or

15 Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Con16 gress in any primary, general, or special elec17 tion, and which—

18 ‘‘(i) is from a taxpayer (or either

19 spouse in case of a joint return) who is a

20 resident of the State in which the election

21 is held; and

22 ‘‘(ii) is solely for use by the recipient

23 to further his candidacy for nomination or

24 election to such office.
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1 ‘‘(B) STATE.—The term ‘State’ includes

2 the District of Columbia, any possession of the

3 United States, and the Commonwealth of Puer4 to Rico.

5 ‘‘(2) CANDIDATE.—The term ‘candidate’ means

6 an individual who—

7 ‘‘(A) publicly announces before the close of

8 the calendar year following the calendar year in

9 which the contribution or gift is made that he

10 is a candidate for nomination or election to one

11 of the offices specified in paragraph (1)(A); and

12 ‘‘(B) meets the qualifications prescribed by

13 law to hold such office.’’

14 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

15 for subpart A of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1

16 of such Code is amended by inserting after the item relat17 ing to section 22 the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 23. Contributions to House of Representatives campaigns.’’

18 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

19 this section shall apply to contributions paid after Decem20 ber 31, 1995, in taxable years ending after that date.

21 SEC. 4. INCOME TAX DEDUCTION FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO

22 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CAMPAIGNS.

23 (a) GENERAL RULE.—Part VII of subchapter B of

24 chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating

25 to additional itemized deductions for individuals) is
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1 amended by inserting after section 217 the following new

2 section:

3 ‘‘SEC. 218. CONTRIBUTIONS TO HOUSE OF REPRESENTA4 TIVES CAMPAIGNS.

5 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—In the case of an individual,

6 there shall be allowed as a deduction any House of Rep7 resentatives campaign contribution which is made by such

8 individual.

9 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.—

10 ‘‘(1) AMOUNT ALLOWED AS CREDIT.—This sec11 tion shall not apply with respect to any amount

12 which is allowed as a credit under section 23 (relat13 ing to contributions to House of Representatives

14 campaigns).

15 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT OF DEDUCTION.—The deduction

16 allowed by subsection (a) for a taxable year shall not

17 exceed an aggregate of $250 ($500 in the case of a

18 joint return).

19 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—Terms used in this section

20 which are also used in section 23 (relating to contributions

21 to House of Representatives campaigns) shall have the re22 spective meanings given such terms by section 23(c).’’

23 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

24 for part VII of subchapter B of chapter 1 of such Code
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1 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section

2 217 the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 218. Contributions to House of Representatives campaigns.’’

3 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

4 this section shall apply to contributions paid after Decem5 ber 31, 1995, in taxable years ending after that date.

6 SEC. 5. VOLUNTARY EXPENDITURE LIMITATIONS AND FREE

7 BROADCAST TIME FOR HOUSE OF REP8 RESENTATIVES GENERAL ELECTIONS.

9 The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2

10 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the

11 following new title:

12 ‘‘TITLE V—VOLUNTARY EXPENDITURE LIMITA13 TIONS AND FREE BROADCAST TIME FOR

14 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES GENERAL

15 ELECTIONS

16 ‘‘SEC. 501. As used in this title, the term—

17 ‘‘(1) ‘eligible candidate’ means a candidate who

18 is eligible under section 502 to receive free broadcast

19 time;

20 ‘‘(2) ‘general election’ means any election which

21 will directly result in the election of a person to the

22 office of Representative in, or Delegate or Resident

23 Commissioner to, the Congress but does not include

24 an open primary election; and
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1 ‘‘(3) ‘election cycle’ means the term beginning

2 on the day after the date of the last previous general

3 election for Representative in, or Delegate or Resi4 dent Commissioner to, the Congress and ending on

5 the date of the next general election.

6 ‘‘SEC. 502. (a) To be eligible to receive free broadcast

7 time under section 315(c) of the Communications Act of

8 1934 (47 U.S.C. 315(c)), a candidate for the office of

9 Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner

10 to, the Congress who qualifies for the general election bal11 lot under State law shall, not later than 7 days after such

12 qualification, agree in writing that the candidate and the

13 candidate’s authorized committees—

14 ‘‘(1) has not and will not make any expenditure

15 which exceeds the limitation under section 503;

16 ‘‘(2) has not and will not accept any contribu17 tion which exceeds a limitation under section 315(a);

18 ‘‘(3) will deposit all payments received under

19 this section in a separate checking account in a de20 pository institution referred to in section 302(h)(1),

21 which shall contain only amounts so received and

22 from which all expenditures of such amounts shall

23 be made; and
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1 ‘‘(4) will furnish campaign records, evidence of

2 contributions, and other appropriate information to

3 the Commission.

4 ‘‘(b) To be eligible to receive free broadcast time

5 under section 315(c) of the Communications Act of 1934

6 (47 U.S.C. 315(c)), a candidate for the office of Rep7 resentative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to,

8 the Congress who qualifies for the general election ballot

9 under State law shall certify to the Commission that—

10 ‘‘(1) during the period beginning on January 1

11 of the calendar year preceding the year of a general

12 election, or in the case of a special election during

13 the period beginning on the day on which the va14 cancy occurs in the office involved, such candidate

15 and the authorized committees of such candidate

16 have received contributions aggregating 10 percent

17 of the applicable limitation under section 503(b);

18 ‘‘(2) 80 percent of such contributions have

19 come from individuals residing in such candidate’s

20 State; and

21 ‘‘(3) at least one other candidate has qualified

22 for the general election ballot.

23 ‘‘(c) For purposes of subsection (b)(1), in determin24 ing the amount of contributions received by a candidate

25 and the candidate’s authorized committees—
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1 ‘‘(1) no contribution other than a contribution

2 of money made by a written instrument which iden3 tifies the person making the contribution shall be

4 taken into account;

5 ‘‘(2) no contribution that is considered a con6 tribution by an intermediary under section 315(a)(8)

7 shall be taken into account; and

8 ‘‘(3) no contribution received from any person

9 other than an individual shall be taken into account,

10 and no contribution received from an individual shall

11 be taken into account to the extent such contribution

12 exceeds $500 when added to the amount of all other

13 contributions made by such individual to or for the

14 benefit of such candidate during the applicable pe15 riod specified in paragraph (1).

16 ‘‘SEC. 503. (a) A candidate who receives free broad17 cast time under section 315(c) of the Communications Act

18 of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 315(c)) for a general election shall

19 not make expenditures during that election cycle from the

20 personal funds of such candidate, which, in the aggregate,

21 exceed $40,000.

22 ‘‘(b) Except as provided in subsection (c) and section

23 504, a candidate who receives free broadcast time under

24 section 315(c) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

25 U.S.C. 315(c)) for a general election shall not make ex-
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1 penditures during the election cycle that cover such gen2 eral election which, in the aggregate, exceed $500,000.

3 ‘‘(c) A candidate who receives free broadcast time

4 under section 315(c) of the Communications Act of 1934

5 (47 U.S.C. 315(c)) and who participates in a primary run6 off election may make additional expenditures for such

7 primary runoff election which in the aggregate do not ex8 ceed $150,000.

9 ‘‘(d) An eligible candidate may make expenditures

10 without regard to the limitations set forth in this section

11 if any candidate in the same general election makes aggre12 gate expenditures during the election cycle which exceed

13 the amount of the limitation set forth in subsection (b).

14 ‘‘(e) The limitations established by subsections (b)

15 and (c) shall be adjusted in the manner provided in section

16 315(c), except that, for the purposes of such adjustment,

17 the base period shall be calendar year 1996.

18 ‘‘SEC. 504. An eligible candidate shall be entitled to

19 receive free radio and television broadcast time under sec20 tion 315(c) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

21 U.S.C. 315(c)).’’.
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1 SEC. 6. ALLOCATION TO HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

2 CANDIDATES OF FREE BROADCAST TIME FOR

3 POLITICAL ADVERTISING.

4 (a) CONDITION OF LICENSE RENEWAL.—Section

5 309(h) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.

6 309(h)) is amended by inserting before the period at the

7 end thereof the following: ‘‘; and (4) every broadcast sta8 tion license issued under this Act shall be subject to the

9 free broadcast time obligations imposed by section

10 315(c)’’.

11 (b) FREE TIME OBLIGATIONS.—Section 315 of the

12 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 315) is amend13 ed—

14 (1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as

15 subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and

16 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the follow17 ing new subsection:

18 ‘‘(c)(1) Each licensee for a broadcasting station shall

19 annually make available free broadcast time for political

20 advertising in accordance with the requirements of this

21 subsection. The Commission shall not renew the license

22 of any licensee who substantially fails or refuses to comply

23 with the requirements of this subsection, but such licensee

24 shall not be subject to any other sanction or remedy for

25 such failure or refusal.
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1 ‘‘(2) A licensee subject to this subsection shall allot

2 free broadcast time to each qualified political candidate

3 in accordance with the following standards:

4 ‘‘(A) Such licensee shall allot an equal amount,

5 but not less than 2 hours, of free broadcast time

6 each even-numbered year to each qualified political

7 candidate in a statewide or national election. In the

8 case of a station whose market does not encompass

9 all of a congressional district, such licensee may ap10 portion to each qualified candidate from such dis11 trict a fraction of such 2 hours that is equal to the

12 fraction of such district’s population that resides

13 within such market, as determined in accordance

14 with regulations prescribed by the Commission.

15 ‘‘(B) The free broadcast time allotted to any

16 candidate under subparagraph (A) shall be com17 posed of units of varying lengths of not more than

18 5 minutes nor less than 10 seconds, as determined

19 by negotiation between such organization and the li20 censee.

21 ‘‘(C) The broadcast time allotted by any li22 censee shall be allotted so that—

23 ‘‘(i) at least one-half is broadcast during

24 the hours of 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.;
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1 ‘‘(ii) during any election year, at least two2 thirds is broadcast during the 2 months imme3 diately preceding election day and at least one4 half is broadcast during the 3 weeks imme5 diately preceding election day;

6 ‘‘(iii) each qualified candidate is allotted

7 free broadcast time that is comparable, by time

8 of day and day of week, to the time allotted to

9 other qualified candidates for the same office;

10 and

11 ‘‘(iv) no broadcaster shall allot more than

41 12 ⁄2 hours per week of free broadcast time for

13 political advertising and, if the amount of time

14 required to or allotted by this paragraph would

exceed 41 15 ⁄2 hours, the time required to be allot16 ted each qualified candidate shall be reduced

17 proportionately.

18 ‘‘(D) The broadcast time shall be used solely

19 for programming consisting of unedited segments in

20 which the candidate speaks directly to the audience.

21 ‘‘(3) A candidate shall be treated as a qualified politi22 cal candidate for purposes of paragraph (2)(A) if the can23 didate is an eligible candidate for purposes of section 501

24 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.
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1 ‘‘(4) A licensee allots free broadcast time as required

2 by this subsection by broadcasting statements without re3 muneration or compensation in any form, whether by pub4 lic or private funds, tax deduction or credit, or otherwise.

5 ‘‘(5) Nothing in this subsection, and no use of free

6 broadcast time allotted under this subsection, shall be con7 strued to restrict or otherwise affect the purchase of ad8 vertising time under subsection (b) of this section.’’.

9 SEC. 7. BAN ON SOFT MONEY.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Federal Election

11 Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended

12 by adding at the end the following new section:

13 ‘‘LIMITATIONS AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR

14 AMOUNTS PAID FOR MIXED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES

15 ‘‘SEC. 323. (a) Any payment by the national commit16 tee of a political party or a State committee of a political

17 party for a mixed political activity—

18 ‘‘(1) shall be subject to limitation and reporting

19 under this Act as if such payment were an expendi20 ture; and

21 ‘‘(2) may be paid only from an account that is

22 subject to the requirements of this Act.

23 ‘‘(b) As used in this section, the term ‘mixed political

24 activity’ means, with respect to a payment by the national

25 committee of a political party or a State committee of a

26 political party, an activity, such as a voter registration
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1 program, a get-out-the-vote drive, or general political ad2 vertising, that is both (1) for the purpose of influencing

3 an election for Federal office, and (2) for any purpose un4 related to influencing an election for Federal office.’’.

5 (b) REPEAL OF BUILDING FUND EXCEPTION TO THE

6 DEFINITION OF THE TERM ‘‘CONTRIBUTION’’.—Section

7 301(8)(B) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971

8 (2 U.S.C. 431(8)(B)) is amended—

9 (1) by striking out clause (viii); and

10 (2) by redesignating clauses (ix) through (xiv)

11 as clauses (viii) through (xiii), respectively.

12 SEC. 8. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ELECTION LIMITA13 TION ON CONTRIBUTIONS FROM PERSONS

14 OTHER THAN IN-STATE INDIVIDUAL RESI15 DENTS.

16 Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

17 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a), is amended by adding at the

18 end the following new subsection:

19 ‘‘(i)(1) At least 80 percent of the contributions ac20 cepted by a candidate for the office of Representative in,

21 or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress

22 with respect to a reporting period for an election shall be

23 from in-State individual residents.

24 ‘‘(2) As used in this subsection, the term ‘in-State

25 individual resident’ means an individual who resides in the
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1 State in which the congressional district involved is lo2 cated.

3 ‘‘(3)(A) Any candidate who accepts contributions that

4 exceed the limitation under this subsection with respect

5 to the pre-election report period or the post-election report

6 period shall pay to the Commission, for deposit in the

7 Treasury, an amount equal to 5 times the amount of the

8 excess contributions plus a civil penalty in an amount de9 termined by the Commission.

10 ‘‘(B) Any candidate who accepts contributions that

11 exceed the limitation under this subsection with respect

12 to a period other than a period referred to in subpara13 graph (A) shall pay to the Commission, for deposit in the

14 Treasury, an amount equal to 3 times the amount of the

15 excess contributions.

16 ‘‘(C) Each report under section 304(a)(6) shall in17 clude a certification by the treasurer of the committee that

18 the contributions reported do not exceed the limitation

19 under this subsection.’’.

20 SEC. 9. INCREASED LIMITATION AMOUNT FOR CERTAIN

21 CONTRIBUTIONS TO POLITICAL COMMITTEES

22 OF STATE POLITICAL PARTIES.

23 Section 315(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Election Cam24 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(1)(B)) is amended

25 by inserting after ‘‘national’’ the following: ‘‘or State’’.
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1 SEC. 10. DISCLOSURE OF ELECTION-RELATED ACTIVITY BY

2 CORPORATIONS, LABOR ORGANIZATIONS

3 AND NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS.

4 Section 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

5 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434) is amended by adding at the end

6 the following new subsection:

7 ‘‘(d) Any corporation, labor organization, or non8 profit organization that makes a payment for a commu9 nication or other activity that—

10 ‘‘(1) relates to any election for Federal office;

11 and

12 ‘‘(2) in the case of a corporation or labor orga13 nization, by reason of subparagraph (A) or (B) of

14 paragraph (2) of section 316(b), is not a contribu15 tion or expenditure;

16 shall report such payment to the Commission in the same

17 manner as a contribution or expenditure, as the case may

18 be, is reported by a principal campaign committee of a

19 candidate for the House of Representatives or the Senate

20 under this section.’’.

21 SEC. 11. PROHIBITION OF BUNDLING OF CONTRIBUTIONS

22 TO CANDIDATES BY POLITICAL ACTION COM23 MITTEES AND LOBBYISTS.

24 Section 316 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

25 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441b) is amended by adding at the end

26 the following new subsection:
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1 ‘‘(c) No nonparty multicandidate political committee

2 or person required to register under the Federal Regula3 tion of Lobbying Act (2 U.S.C. 261 et seq.) may act as

4 an intermediary or conduit with respect to a contribution

5 to a candidate for Federal office.’’.

6 SEC. 12. PROHIBITION OF LEADERSHIP COMMITTEES; RE7 STRICTION ON CONTRIBUTIONS BETWEEN

8 PRINCIPAL CAMPAIGN COMMITTEES.

9 (a) LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE PROHIBITION.—Sec10 tion 302 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971

11 (2 U.S.C. 432) is amended by adding at the end the fol12 lowing new subsection:

13 ‘‘(j) A candidate for Federal office may not establish,

14 maintain, finance, or control a political committee, other

15 than the principal campaign committee of the candidate.’’.

16 (b) PRINCIPAL CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE RESTRIC17 TION.—Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

18 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a), as amended by section 8, is fur19 ther amended by adding at the end the following new sub20 section:

21 ‘‘(j) A principal campaign committee of a candidate

22 for Federal office may not make any contribution to any

23 other principal campaign committee (other than the prin24 cipal campaign committee of the same individual as a can25 didate for another Federal office).’’.
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1 SEC. 13. SEVERABILITY.

2 If any provision of this Act or any amendment made

3 by this Act, or the application of any such provision to

4 any person or circumstance is held invalid, the validity of

5 any other such provision, and the application of such pro6 vision to other persons and circumstances shall not be af7 fected thereby.

8 SEC. 14. EFFECTIVE DATE.

9 This Act and the amendments made by this Act, ex10 cept for such sections specifically designated otherwise,

11 shall become effective on November 6, 1996, and shall

12 apply to all contributions and expenditures made after

13 such date.

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