I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 274

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to provide for public

financing of advertising and related expenses in campaigns for the House

of Representatives and to prohibit contributions by multicandidate political committees to candidates who accept such financing.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 4, 1995

Mr. JACOBS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on House Oversight

A BILL

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to

provide for public financing of advertising and related

expenses in campaigns for the House of Representatives

and to prohibit contributions by multicandidate political

committees to candidates who accept such financing.

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

3 That the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 is

4 amended by adding at the end thereof the following new

5 title:
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1 ‘‘TITLE V—PUBLIC FINANCING OF ADVERTIS2 ING AND RELATED EXPENSES IN CAM3 PAIGNS FOR THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTA4 TIVES

5 ‘‘CAMPAIGN ALLOTMENTS

6 ‘‘SEC. 501. (a) Each candidate in an election for the

7 office of Representative shall be entitled to—

8 ‘‘(1) an allotment of ninety minutes of tele9 vision time, divided as the candidate chooses, pro10 vided that each appearance on television is at least

11 five minutes long;

12 ‘‘(2) an allotment of one hundred and thirty13 five minutes of radio time, divided as the candidate

14 chooses, provided that each appearance on radio is

15 at least five minutes long;

16 ‘‘(3) an allotment of one hundred and twenty17 six column inches or one page, whichever is greater,

18 of newspaper advertising, divided as the candidate

19 chooses, provided that no individual advertisement

20 uses less than ten column inches; or

21 ‘‘(4) an allotment of any costs incurred in the

22 installation of telephones and other equipment for a

23 question-and-answer format if such a format is used

24 during the candidate’s allotted time on television or

25 radio.
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1 ‘‘(b) Payment shall be made for such allotments by

2 the Secretary of the Treasury, as provided in section 504.

3 ‘‘ELIGIBILITY

4 ‘‘SEC. 502. (a) A candidate for the office of Rep5 resentative may become eligible to receive a campaign al6 lotment under this title—

7 ‘‘(1) in the case of the allotments under para8 graphs (1) through (4) of section 501(a), by arrang9 ing in advance for each advertisement that will be

10 made on television, on radio, and in newspapers, and

11 each installation of telephones and other equipment,

12 and by submitting to the Commission, not later than

13 ten days before the election for which such advertise14 ments are made, a schedule of such advertisements

15 and installations, as provided in section 503(a); or

16 ‘‘(2) by certifying to the Commission, under

17 penalty of perjury, that such candidate will not

18 make expenditures from his personal funds, the per19 sonal funds of his immediate family or funds do20 nated to his campaign committee, for any of the

21 purposes for which such candidate accepts a cam22 paign allotment under this title.

23 ‘‘(b) A candidate who accepts any contribution from

24 a multicandidate political committee with respect to an
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1 election shall not be eligible to receive a campaign allot2 ment under this title with respect to such election.

3 ‘‘SUBMISSION OF CHARGES TO THE COMMISSION

4 ‘‘SEC. 503. (a)(1) The schedule required to be sub5 mitted by section 502(a)(1) shall include a separate listing

6 for the television allotment, the radio allotment, and the

7 newspaper allotment, of—

8 ‘‘(A) the date and time of each advertisement

9 within such allotment;

10 ‘‘(B) the station or newspaper providing the

11 time or space for such advertisement;

12 ‘‘(C) the amount of time or space that will be

13 used in such advertisement;

14 ‘‘(D) the total amount of time or space that will

15 be used for television, radio, and newspaper advertis16 ing; and

17 ‘‘(E) with respect to a television or radio adver18 tisement involving the installation of telephones or

19 other equipment, the name of the company providing

20 such installation, and the cost of such installation.

21 ‘‘(2) Such schedule shall be in a form, as further pre22 scribed by the Commission, which provides for a ranking

23 within each of the television, radio, and newspaper allot24 ments, of each advertisment. Each candidate submitting

25 a schedule shall rank such advertisements in order of his
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1 preference, for purposes of any reduction of the maximum

2 allotments that may be required under section 504(a)(2).

3 ‘‘(b)(1) Each station, newspaper, or company provid4 ing time, space, or service with respect to an allotment

5 under paragraphs (1) through (4) of section 501(a) shall

6 submit a report of charges to the Commission, as provided

7 in paragraph (2). Such a station, newspaper, or company

8 shall be guaranteed payment under section 504 only if

9 such report is received by the Commission not later than

10 ten days before the election.

11 ‘‘(2)(A) The report required by paragraph (1) shall

12 include, in the case of an advertisement that will be broad13 cast or published, a listing of—

14 ‘‘(i) the candidate for whom the time or space

15 is provided;

16 ‘‘(ii) the date and time when each advertise17 ment will be broadcast or published;

18 ‘‘(iii) the amount of time or space used; and

19 ‘‘(iv) the charge made for such advertisement.

20 ‘‘(B) The report required by paragraph (1) shall in21 clude, in the case of installation of telephones or equip22 ment—

23 ‘‘(i) the candidate for whom the installation is

24 made;
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1 ‘‘(ii) the advertisement in connection with which

2 such equipment will be installed, identified by the

3 date and time of such advertisement, and the station

4 or newspaper, providing the time or space for such

5 advertisement; and

6 ‘‘(iii) the charge for such installation.

7 ‘‘CERTIFICATION OF CHARGES TO THE SECRETARY OF

8 THE TREASURY

9 ‘‘SEC. 504. (a)(1)(A) The Commission shall certify

10 to the Secretary of the Treasury a charge included in a

11 report submitted under section 503(b) for payment, as

12 soon as practicable after the date on which reports must

13 be submitted under such section—

14 ‘‘(i) if such charge is listed in the schedule sub15 mitted by the candidate for whom the time, space,

16 or service is to be provided, and there is no discrep17 ancy between the information relating to such

18 charge provided with such report and provided with

19 the schedule under section 503(a);

20 ‘‘(ii) if such charge, as represented on such

21 schedule, is not for time or space in excess of the

22 maximum allowed under paragraph (1), (2), or (3)

23 of section 501(a); and

24 ‘‘(iii) to the extent that the rate charged is not,

25 in the case of a television or radio station, in excess
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1 of the limits imposed by section 315(b) of the Com2 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 315(b)), in the

3 case of a newspaper, in excess of the limits imposed

4 by section 318(b), and in the case of a company pro5 viding installation service, in excess of the amount

6 charged for comparable service in the district where

7 such installation is provided.

8 ‘‘(B) At the time of the certification of a charge

9 under this subsection the Commission shall immediately

10 notify the station, newspaper, or company that its charge

11 has been certified and that payment will be made by the

12 Secretary of the Treasury not later than thirty days from

13 date of certification.

14 ‘‘(C)(i) In any case in which the Commission fails to

15 certify a charge because one of the conditions set forth

16 in clause (i) or (ii) of subparagraph (A) has not been met,

17 the Commission shall immediately notify the candidate

18 and the station, newspaper, or company involved of such

19 action, and such parties shall be allowed ten days after

20 such notification to submit amended schedules and re21 ports, in a manner prescribed by the Commission.

22 ‘‘(ii) In any case in which the Commission fails to

23 certify part of a charge because it is excessive under clause

24 (iii) of subparagraph (A), it shall immediately notify the
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1 station or newspaper affected of such action, and shall

2 provide such station or newspaper with a hearing.

3 ‘‘(D) The Commission shall certify any charge sub4 mitted later than ten days before the election only to the

5 extent that the time, space, or service for which such

6 charge is made does not exceed the limits imposed by sec7 tion 501(a).

8 ‘‘(2) The Commission shall certify charges to the Sec9 retary of the Treasury for payment under this subsection

10 only to the extent provided in appropriation Acts. If at

11 the time that reports are required to be submitted under

12 section 503(b)(1) the total of all charges submitted with

13 respect to the allotments under paragraphs (1) through

14 (4) of section 501(a) exceeds the amount appropriated for

15 such purposes, the Commission shall certify charges as

16 follows:

17 ‘‘(A) The Commission shall determine the per18 centage by which the total amount of charges sub19 mitted must be reduced in order to make such total

20 equal to the amount appropriated.

21 ‘‘(B) The Commission shall reduce the amount

22 of time and space requested by each candidate for

23 each allotment under paragraphs (1) through (3) of

24 section 501(a) by the percentage determined under
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1 subparagraph (A), according to the ranking made by

2 each such candidate in his schedule.

3 ‘‘(C) The Commission shall certify the charges

4 selected under subparagraph (B) to the Secretary of

5 the Treasury for payment, and shall promptly notify

6 each station, newspaper, and company, and each

7 candidate of such selections.

8 The determination, reduction, and notification shall, when

9 required by this section, be made by the Commission not

10 later than three days after the date on which reports are

11 required to be submitted under section 503(b)(1).

12 ‘‘(3) There are authorized to be appropriated for each

13 fiscal year beginning with the fiscal year beginning on Oc14 tober 1, 1995, such funds as are necessary to make the

15 payments required by this subsection.

16 ‘‘(b)(1) The Commission shall certify to the Secretary

17 of the Treasury a charge under section 502(a)(2) for pay18 ment, as soon as practicable after the candidate’s certifi19 cation is submitted to the Commission, to the extent that

20 such charge is not in excess of the amount to which the

21 candidate submitting such charge is entitled under section

22 501(a), and only to the extent provided in prior appropria23 tion Acts.

24 ‘‘(2) In any case in which the Commission fails to

25 certify part of a charge under paragraph (1), it shall im-
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1 mediately notify the candidate of such action and provide

2 a hearing to such candidate.

3 ‘‘(3) There are authorized to be appropriated for each

4 fiscal year beginning with the fiscal year beginning on Oc5 tober 1, 1995, such funds as are necessary for the pur6 poses of this subsection.

7 ‘‘DEFINITIONS

8 ‘‘SEC. 505. As used in this title, the term—

9 ‘‘(1) ‘candidate’ means an individual who seeks

10 election to the office of Representative, and who is

11 qualified under State law to have his name placed on

12 the ballot in the district in which he seeks election;

13 ‘‘(2) ‘column inch’ means a newspaper column

14 one inch deep;

15 ‘‘(3) ‘election’ means a general or special elec16 tion;

17 ‘‘(4) ‘immediate family’ has the meaning given

18 such term in section 9004(e) of the Internal Reve19 nue Code of 1986;

20 ‘‘(5) ‘office of Representative’ means the office

21 of Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Com22 missioner to, the Congress; and

23 ‘‘(6) ‘State’ means a State of the United

24 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth

25 of Puerto Rico, and any territory or possession of
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1 the United States from which a Delegate or Resi2 dent Commissioner is elected to the Congress.’’.

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