I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3208

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to strengthen certain

provisions relating to independent expenditures, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 29, 1996

Mr. BASS 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

strengthen certain provisions relating to independent expenditures, 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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Congressional Cam5 paign Finance Reform Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.

7 The table of contents for this bill is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title.

Sec. 2. Table of contents.

Sec. 3. Equalization of multicandidate political committee candidate contribution limitation with limitation applicable to other persons.
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Sec. 4. House of Representatives election limitation on contributions from

sources other than in-State sources.

Sec. 5. House of Representatives election limitation on use of personal loans by

candidates.

Sec. 6. Voluntary spending limits.

Sec. 7. Provisions relating to independent expenditures.

Sec. 8. Reporting requirements for certain independent expenditures.

Sec. 9. Official mass mailing allowance.

Sec. 10. Provisions relating to Members’ official mail allowance.

Sec. 11. Limitation on contributions and expenditures by labor organizations.

Sec. 12. Campaign advertising amendments.

1 SEC. 3. EQUALIZATION OF MULTICANDIDATE POLITICAL

2 COMMITTEE CANDIDATE CONTRIBUTION

3 LIMITATION WITH LIMITATION APPLICABLE

4 TO OTHER PERSONS.

5 Section 315(a)(2)(A) of the Federal Election Cam6 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(2)(A)) is amended

7 by striking out ‘‘$5,000’’ and inserting in lieu thereof

8 ‘‘$1,000 in the case of a nonparty multicandidate political

9 committee and $5,000 in the case of a multicandidate po10 litical committee of a political party’’.

11 SEC. 4. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ELECTION LIMITA12 TION ON CONTRIBUTIONS FROM SOURCES

13 OTHER THAN IN-STATE SOURCES.

14 Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

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

16 the following new subsection:

17 ‘‘(i)(1) A candidate for the office of Representative

18 in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress

19 may not, with respect to an election, accept contributions

20 from sources other than in-State sources totaling the same
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1 as, or in excess of, the total of contributions accepted from

2 in-State sources.

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

4 sources’ means an individual, multicandidate political

5 committee, or party political committee from the State in

6 which the congressional district involved is located.’’.

7 SEC. 5. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ELECTION LIMITA8 TION ON USE OF PERSONAL LOANS BY CAN9 DIDATES.

10 Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

11 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a), as amended by section 4, is fur12 ther amended by adding at the end the following new sub13 section:

14 ‘‘(j) A candidate for the office of Representative in,

15 or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress

16 may not make loans to his campaign with respect to an

17 election in a total amount that exceeds the amount equal

18 to 25 percent of all expenditures by the candidate in the

19 election.’’.

20 SEC. 6. VOLUNTARY SPENDING LIMITS.

21 Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

22 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended by adding at the

23 end the following new sections:
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1 ‘‘VOLUNTARY SPENDING LIMITS

2 ‘‘SEC. 323. (a)(1) Notwithstanding any other provi3 sion of this Act, each State shall, to the extent permitted

4 by State law, have authority to impose voluntary campaign

5 spending limits with respect to elections for Federal office.

6 ‘‘(2) Each State may, to the extent permitted by

7 State law, limit campaign spending by allowing any can8 didate to voluntarily agree to limit his campaign expendi9 tures and those of his immediate family on his behalf by

10 filing an affidavit with the Secretary of State or the State

11 official with primary jurisdiction over elections.

12 ‘‘(3) Each State may, to the extent permitted by

13 State law, require the affidavit to state that the candidate

14 knows the voluntary expenditure limitations as set out by

15 State law and that he is voluntarily agreeing to limit his

16 expenditures and those made on his behalf by his commit17 tee or committees, his party, and his behalf by immediate

18 family to the amount set by State law. The affidavit may

19 further state that the candidate does not condone and

20 shall not solicit any independent expenditures made on be21 half of his candidacy. The affidavit shall be sworn and

22 subscribed to by the candidate and notarized.

23 ‘‘(4) Each State may, to the extent permitted by

24 State law, require that affidavits in compliance with this

25 section be filed within 3 days after the date on which a
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1 candidate files his declaration of candidacy or his declara2 tion of intent, or is declared a write-in winner of a primary

3 election.

4 ‘‘(b) Each State may, to the extent permitted by

5 State law, set total expenditures by a candidate who volun6 tarily agrees to limit campaign expenditures as follows:

7 ‘‘(1) For the office of Senator, $500,000 in a

8 primary election, and $500,000 in a general election.

9 ‘‘(2) For the office of Representative in, or Del10 egate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress,

11 $250,000 in a primary election, and $250,000 in a

12 general election.

13 ‘‘(c) If the expenditure limits prescribed in subsection

14 (b) are not considered appropriate, each State may, to the

15 extent permitted by State law, increase or decrease total

16 expenditures by a candidate who voluntarily agrees to

17 limit campaign expenditures as it deems appropriate.

18 ‘‘(d)(1) Each State may, to the extent permitted by

19 State law, establish a State advisory commission on cam20 paign finance to monitor the application of campaign fi21 nance statutes.

22 ‘‘(2) After the State has set the voluntary expendi23 ture limits, the Commission may study inflationary, mar24 ket, and other trends which may necessitate changes in

25 State campaign finance law. The Commission may submit
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1 a report to the Governor and to the State assembly in No2 vember of each odd-numbered year preceding a State gen3 eral election.

4 ‘‘(3) Membership of the Commission shall be deter5 mined by State law, except the Governor shall appoint the

6 chairman and the membership shall be equally divided

7 among Republican and Democrat appointments and the

8 membership shall be equally divided among Federal and

9 State appointments.

10 ‘‘(e) Each State may, to the extent permitted by

11 State law, waive or refund filing fees for any candidate

12 who has filed an affidavit stating that the candidate agrees

13 to limit campaign expenditures set by State law.

14 ‘‘(f) Each State may, to the extent permitted by State

15 law, print on election ballots, next to or beneath the name

16 of the candidate, whether or not the candidate has agreed

17 to voluntarily limit campaign expenditures set by State

18 law. The passage printed on the ballot may read: ‘This

19 candidate has refused to voluntarily limit campaign spend20 ing pursuant to State law.’

21 ‘‘(g)(1) Each State may, to the extent permitted by

22 State law, impose penalties on any candidate who volun23 tarily agrees to limit campaign expenditures as provided

24 by State law and who exceeds the total political expendi25 ture limitations as provided by State law in running for
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1 any Federal office in either a primary or general election,

2 or both.

3 ‘‘(2) Each State may, to the extent permitted by

4 State law, impose a fine schedule which is based on the

5 percentage by which the candidate exceeds permitted cam6 paign expenditures, so that the candidate shall pay a per7 centage of the excess campaign expenditures as follows:

8 ‘‘(A) Candidates for the office of Senator:

9 ‘‘(i) Under $1,000—1 percent.

10 ‘‘(ii) $1,000–$5,000—10 percent.

11 ‘‘(iii) $5,000–$10,000—25 percent.

12 ‘‘(iv) $10,000–$50,000—50 percent.

13 ‘‘(v) Over $50,000—100 percent.

14 ‘‘(B) Candidates for the office of Representative

15 in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the

16 Congress:

17 ‘‘(i) Under $1,000—1 percent.

18 ‘‘(ii) $1,000–$5,000—10 percent.

19 ‘‘(iii) $5,000–$10,000—25 percent.

20 ‘‘(iv) $10,000–$25,000—50 percent.

21 ‘‘(v) Over $25,000—100 percent.

22 ‘‘(3) Each State may, to the extent permitted by

23 State law, allow the Secretary of State or the State official

24 with primary jurisdiction over elections to waive fines if

25 the candidate’s opponent did not agree to limit spending.
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1 ‘‘(4) Each State may, to the extent permitted by

2 State law, require the Commission to include in its annual

3 report to the Governor and State assembly recommenda4 tions with respect to the fine schedule.

5 ‘‘(5) Each State may, to the extent permitted by

6 State law, require any fine assessed under the provisions

7 of this section to be deposited into the State general fund.

8 ‘‘(h) Each State may, to the extent permitted by

9 State law, require the Secretary of State or the State offi10 cial with primary jurisdiction over elections to give or send

11 by mail a copy of State campaign statutes and regulations

12 to each person whose name will be printed on a primary

13 or general election ballot within 5 days of the close of the

14 filing period.

15 ‘‘EFFECT OF MORE RESTRICTIVE STATE LAWS

16 ‘‘SEC. 324. Notwithstanding any other provision of

17 this Act, each State shall, to the extent permitted by State

18 law, have the authority to impose stricter limits on cam19 paign contributions as well as other requirements with re20 spect to Federal elections, if such limitations and require21 ments are more restrictive than the limitations and re22 quirements of this Act.’’.

23 SEC. 7. PROVISIONS RELATING TO INDEPENDENT EXPEND24 ITURES.

25 (a) INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURE DEFINITION

26 AMENDMENT.—Section 301 of the Federal Election Cam-
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1 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431) is amended by striking

2 out paragraphs (17) and (18) and inserting in lieu thereof

3 the following:

4 ‘‘(17)(A) The term ‘independent expenditure’ means

5 an expenditure that—

6 ‘‘(i) contains express advocacy; and

7 ‘‘(ii) is made without the participation or co8 operation of, or without the consultation of, a can9 didate or a candidate’s representative.

10 ‘‘(B) The following shall not be considered an inde11 pendent expenditure:

12 ‘‘(i) An expenditure made by—

13 ‘‘(I) an authorized committee of a can14 didate for Federal office, or

15 ‘‘(II) a political committee of a political

16 party.

17 ‘‘(ii) An expenditure if there is any arrange18 ment, coordination, or direction with respect to the

19 expenditure between the candidate or the candidate’s

20 agent and the person making the expenditure.

21 ‘‘(iii) An expenditure if, in the same election

22 cycle, the person making the expenditure is or has

23 been—
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1 ‘‘(I) authorized to raise or expend funds on

2 behalf of the candidate or the candidate’s au3 thorized committees; or

4 ‘‘(II) serving as a member, employee, or

5 agent of the candidate’s authorized committees

6 in an executive or policymaking position.

7 ‘‘(iv) An expenditure if the person making the

8 expenditure has advised or counseled the candidate

9 or the candidate’s agents at any time on the can10 didate’s plans, projects, or needs relating to the can11 didate’s pursuit of nomination for election, or elec12 tion, to Federal office, in the same election cycle, in13 cluding any advice relating to the candidate’s deci14 sion to seek Federal office.

15 ‘‘(v) An expenditure if the person making the

16 expenditure retains the professional services of any

17 individual or other person also providing services in

18 the same election cycle to the candidate in connec19 tion with the candidate’s pursuit of nomination for

20 election, or election, to Federal office, including any

21 services relating to the candidate’s decision to seek

22 Federal office. For purposes of this clause, the term

23 ‘professional services’ shall include any services

24 (other than legal and accounting services solely for

25 purposes of ensuring compliance with any Federal
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1 law) in support of any candidate’s or candidates’

2 pursuit of nomination for election, or election, to

3 Federal office.

4 For purposes of this subparagraph, the person making the

5 expenditure shall include any officer, director, employee,

6 or agent of such person.

7 ‘‘(18)(A) The term ‘express advocacy’ means, when

8 a communication is taken as a whole and with limited ref9 erence to external events, an expression of support for or

10 opposition to a specific candidate, to a specific group of

11 candidates, or to candidates of a particular political party.

12 ‘‘(B) The term ‘expression of support for or opposi13 tion to’ includes a suggestion to take action with respect

14 to an election, such as to vote for or against, make con15 tributions to, or participate in campaign activity, or to re16 frain from taking action.’’.

17 (b) CONTRIBUTION DEFINITION AMENDMENT.—Sec18 tion 301(8)(A) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

19 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(8)(A)) is amended—

20 (1) in clause (i), by striking out ‘‘or’’ after the

21 semicolon at the end;

22 (2) in clause (ii), by striking out the period at

23 the end and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘; or’’; and

24 (3) by adding at the end the following new

25 clause:
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1 ‘‘(iii) any payment or other transaction referred

2 to in paragraph (17)(A)(i) that is not an independ3 ent expenditure under paragraph (17).’’.

4 SEC. 8. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN INDE5 PENDENT EXPENDITURES.

6 Section 304(c) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

7 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(c)) is amended—

8 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking the undesig9 nated matter after subparagraph (C);

10 (2) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para11 graph (7); and

12 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2), as amend13 ed by paragraph (1), the following new paragraphs:

14 ‘‘(3)(A) Any person (including a political com15 mittee) making independent expenditures as defined

16 in section 301(17) and (18) with respect to a can17 didate in an election aggregating $1,000 or more

18 made after the 20th day, but more than 24 hours,

19 before the election shall file a report within 24 hours

20 after such independent expenditures are made. An

21 additional report shall be filed each time independ22 ent expenditures aggregating $1,000 are made with

23 respect to the same candidate after the latest report

24 filed under this subparagraph.
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1 ‘‘(B) Any person (including a political commit2 tee) making independent expenditures with respect

3 to a candidate in an election aggregating $10,000 or

4 more made at any time up to and including the 20th

5 day before the election shall file a report within 48

6 hours after such independent expenditures are made.

7 An additional report shall be filed each time inde8 pendent expenditures aggregating $10,000 are made

9 with respect to the same candidate after the latest

10 report filed under this paragraph.

11 ‘‘(C) A report under subparagraph (A) or (B)

12 shall be filed with the Commission and shall identify

13 each candidate whom the expenditure is actually in14 tended to support or to oppose. Not later than 2

15 business days after the Commission receives a re16 port, the Commission shall transmit a copy of the

17 report to each candidate seeking nomination or elec18 tion to that office.

19 ‘‘(D) For purposes of this section, an independ20 ent expenditure shall be considered to have been

21 made upon the making of any payment or the taking

22 of any action to incur an obligation for payment.

23 ‘‘(4) The Commission may, upon a request of a

24 candidate or on its own initiative, make its own de25 termination that a person, including a political com-
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1 mittee, has made, or has incurred obligations to

2 make, independent expenditures with respect to any

3 candidate in any election which in the aggregate ex4 ceed the applicable amounts under paragraph (3).

5 The Commission shall notify each candidate in such

6 election of such determination made within 2 busi7 ness days after making it. Any determination made

8 at the request of a candidate shall be made within

9 48 hours of the request.

10 ‘‘(5) In the event that independent expenditures

11 totaling in the aggregate $25,000 have been made in

12 the same election in favor of another candidate or

13 against an eligible House of Representatives can14 didate, the Commission shall, within 2 business

15 days, notify the eligible candidate that such can16 didate is entitled under section 502(g) to raise addi17 tional contributions equaling the amount of such

18 independent expenditures. At such time as the ag19 gregate amount the independent expenditures re20 ferred to in the preceding sentence, combined with

21 the expenditures of all other candidates in such elec22 tion equals 100 percent of the election cycle limit set

23 forth in section 502(b), the Commission shall, within

24 2 business days, notify the eligible candidate that

25 such candidate is entitled under section 502(g) to
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1 make the expenditures provided for in section

2 502(g).

3 ‘‘(6)(A) A person who reserves broadcast time

4 the payment for which would constitute an inde5 pendent expenditure within the meaning of section

6 301(17) of this Act (2 U.S.C. 431(17), shall at the

7 time of the reservation—

8 ‘‘(i) inform the broadcast licensee that pay9 ment for the broadcast time will constitute an

10 independent expenditure;

11 ‘‘(ii) inform the broadcast licensee of the

12 names of all candidates for the office to which

13 the proposed broadcast relates and state wheth14 er the message to be broadcast is intended to

15 be made in support of or in opposition to each

16 such candidate; and

17 ‘‘(iii) provide the broadcast licensee a copy

18 of the report described in paragraph (3).

19 ‘‘(B) For purposes of this paragraph, the term

20 ‘broadcast’ includes any cablecast.

21 ‘‘(C) A licensee who is informed as described in

22 subparagraph (A) shall—

23 ‘‘(i) notify each such candidate described

24 in subparagraph (A)(ii) of the proposed making

25 of the independent expenditure; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) allow any such candidate (other than

2 a candidate for whose benefit the independent

3 expenditure is made) to purchase the same

4 amount of broadcast time immediately after the

5 broadcast time paid for by the independent ex6 penditure, at the cost specified in section

7 315(b) of the Communications Act of 1934.’’.

8 SEC. 9. OFFICIAL MASS MAILING ALLOWANCE.

9 Section 311(f) of the Legislative Branch Appropria10 tions Act, 1991 (2 U.S.C. 59e(f)) is amended to read as

11 follows:

12 ‘‘(f)(1) There is established in the House of Rep13 resentatives an Official Mass Mailing Allowance for Mem14 bers of the House of Representatives.

15 ‘‘(2) The Official Mass Mailing Allowance of a Mem16 ber of the House of Representatives—

17 ‘‘(A) shall be available only for postage for any

18 mass mailing sent by such Member as franked mail;

19 ‘‘(B) shall be the sole source of funding for any

20 such postage; and

21 ‘‘(C) shall be available, in a session of Congress

22 (subject to paragraph (5)(A)(ii)), in an amount not

23 to exceed the total amount allocated to the Official

24 Mail Allowance of such Member in such session.
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1 ‘‘(3) No amount may be transferred to or from the

2 Official Mass Mailing Allowance of a Member of the

3 House of Representatives (including as described in the

4 parenthetical matter in subsection (a)(2)(A)), except as

5 provided in subsection (e)(3)(B).

6 ‘‘(4) For purposes of subsection (b), the Official Mass

7 Mailing Allowance of (and any mass mailing sent by) a

8 Member of the House of Representatives shall be treated

9 separately from the Official Mail Allowance of (and any

10 other official mail sent by) such Member.

11 ‘‘(5)(A) Otherwise applicable provisions of law relat12 ing to mass mailings sent by a Member of (or Member13 elect to) the House of Representatives shall continue to

14 govern such mass mailings—

15 ‘‘(i) except that—

16 ‘‘(I) for purposes of carrying out those

17 other provisions of law, the term ‘mass mailing’

18 shall have the meaning given it under para19 graph (8); and

20 ‘‘(II) a mass mailing may not be sent by

21 a Member of (or a Member-elect to) the House

22 of Representatives if it would be postmarked

23 during the period beginning on the date on

24 which the Member of (or Member-elect to) the

25 House of Representatives becomes a candidate
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1 under State law and ending on the date of the

2 election, subject to subparagraph (B); and

3 ‘‘(ii) except as otherwise provided in this sub4 section.

5 ‘‘(B) Nothing in subclause (II) of subparagraph

6 (A)(i) shall be considered to preclude the mailing of any

7 mail matter—

8 ‘‘(i) sent after the Tuesday next after the 1st

9 Monday in November of such year, and any mass

10 mailing described in section 3210(a)(6)(B) of title

11 39, United States Code; or

12 ‘‘(ii) which relates to an emergency or disaster

13 declared by the President, if—

14 ‘‘(I) the mailing is sent within 60 days

15 after the emergency or disaster is declared;

16 ‘‘(II) the recipients of the mailing are lo17 cated in a congressional district any portion of

18 which is within (or adjacent to) an area in19 cluded in the President’s declaration;

20 ‘‘(III) the mailing complies with clauses

21 (iii) and (iv) of paragraph (8)(C);

22 ‘‘(IV) the mailing complies with clauses (i)

23 and (ii)(II) of section 3210(a)(6)(A) of title 39,

24 United States Code; and
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1 ‘‘(V) the mailing relates solely to the emer2 gency or disaster.

3 ‘‘(6) A Member of the House of Representatives

4 shall—

5 ‘‘(A) before making any mass mailing, submit a

6 sample of the mail matter involved to the House

7 Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards for

8 an advisory opinion as to whether such proposed

9 mailing is in compliance with applicable provisions of

10 law, rule, or regulation;

11 ‘‘(B) before making any mailing of substantially

12 identical mail which totals 250 pieces or less (but

13 more than 50) in the same session, and which in

14 every other respect meets the definition of a mass

15 mailing (determined disregarding the exclusion

16 under subclause (II) of paragraph (8)(A)(i)), submit

17 a sample of the mail matter involved to such Com18 mission; and

19 ‘‘(C) before making any mailing of substantially

20 identical mail, in the nature of a town meeting no21 tice, which totals more than 50 pieces in the same

22 session, and which in every other respect (aside from

23 such nature and number) meets the definition of a

24 mass mailing, submit a sample of the mail matter

25 involved to such Commission.
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1 ‘‘(7)(A) The regulations prescribed in connection with

2 subsection (a)(3) shall be amended to require, in addition

3 to the information otherwise required to be included in the

4 quarterly report referred to therein, a statement of—

5 ‘‘(i) costs charged against the Official Mass

6 Mailing Allowance of each Member; and

7 ‘‘(ii) the number of pieces of mail in any mass

8 mailing sent by a Member.

9 ‘‘(B)(i) The House Commission on Congressional

10 Mailing Standards shall by regulation establish procedures

11 under which there shall be made available to the public

12 for review and copying any matter submitted to the Com13 mission under paragraph (6). Any copying under the pre14 ceding sentence shall be at the expense of the person who

15 requests the copying.

16 ‘‘(ii) Under the regulations, mail matter shall be

17 made available within 2 weeks after the date on which it

18 is requested in accordance with applicable procedures.

19 ‘‘(8) For the purpose of this subsection—

20 ‘‘(A) the term ‘mass mailing’ means, with re21 spect to a session of Congress, any mailing of news22 letters or other pieces of mail with substantially

23 identical content (whether such mail is deposited sin24 gly or in bulk, or at the same time or different
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1 times), totaling more than 250 pieces in that ses2 sion, except that such term does not include—

3 ‘‘(i)(I) any mailing of matter in direct re4 sponse to a communication from a person to

5 whom the matter is mailed; or

6 ‘‘(II) a single follow-up to any such direct

7 response, if it is made before the end of the

8 Congress in which the direct response was

9 made, it occurs within 6 weeks after any signifi10 cant congressional action (as defined by the

11 House Commission on Congressional Mailing

12 Standards) on the subject matter involved, and

13 it complies with any requirements which would

14 be applicable to it under clause (i) or (ii)(II) of

15 section 3210(a)(6)(A) of title 39, United States

16 Code, if it were a mass mailing;

17 ‘‘(ii) any mailing from a Member of Con18 gress to other Members of Congress, or to Fed19 eral, State, or local government officials;

20 ‘‘(iii) any mailing of a news release to the

21 communications media; or

22 ‘‘(iv) any mailing described in clause (iv)

23 or (v) of section 6(b)(1)(B) of the Legislative

24 Branch Appropriations Act, 1995 (39 U.S.C.

25 3210 note), subject to the same restriction as
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1 specified in such clause (iv) with respect to a

2 Member of the Senate;

3 ‘‘(B) the term ‘franked mail’ has the meaning

4 given such term by section 3201(4) of title 39,

5 United States Code; and

6 ‘‘(C) the term ‘town meeting notice’ means (in7 cluding for purposes of subparagraph (A)(iv)) any

8 mailing which—

9 ‘‘(i) relates solely to a notice of the time

10 and place at which a Member of the House of

11 Representatives or 1 or more members of the

12 Member’s staff will be available to meet con13 stituents regarding legislative issues or prob14 lems with Federal programs;

‘‘(ii) appears on a mailing 51 15 ⁄2′′ x 8′′ or

16 smaller;

17 ‘‘(iii) includes not more than 3 references

18 to the Member (excluding any reference appear19 ing as the frank, consisting of the signature

20 and name at the end of the mailing, or other21 wise specified in regulations of the House Com22 mission on Congressional Mailing Standards);

23 and

24 ‘‘(iv) does not include any picture, sketch,

25 or other likeness of the Member.’’.
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1 SEC. 10. PROVISIONS RELATING TO MEMBERS’ OFFICIAL

2 MAIL ALLOWANCE.

3 (a) REDUCTION IN MAXIMUM ALLOCATION.—Section

4 311(e)(2)(B)(i) of the Legislative Branch Appropriations

5 Act, 1991 (2 U.S.C. 59e(e)(2)(B)(i)) is amended by strik6 ing ‘‘3’’ and inserting ‘‘0.5’’.

7 (b) LIMITATION ON TRANSFERS.—Paragraph (3) of

8 section 311(e) of such Act is amended to read as follows:

9 ‘‘(3)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), no

10 amount may be transferred to or from the Official Mail

11 Allowance of a Member of the House of Representatives.

12 ‘‘(B) A Member of the House of Representatives may

13 transfer amounts from the Official Mass Mailing Allow14 ance of the Member to the Official Mail Allowance of the

15 Member.’’.

16 SEC. 11. LIMITATION ON CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDI17 TURES BY LABOR ORGANIZATIONS.

18 (a) CONTRIBUTIONS TO ALL POLITICAL COMMIT19 TEES INCLUDED.—Paragraph (2) of section 316(b) of the

20 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C.

21 441b(b)(2)) is amended by inserting ‘‘political commit22 tee,’’ after ‘‘campaign committee,’’.

23 (b) APPLICABILITY OF REQUIREMENTS TO LABOR

24 ORGANIZATIONS.—Section 316(b) of the Federal Election

25 Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441b(b)) is amended by

26 adding at the end the following new paragraph:
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1 ‘‘(8)(A) Subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of para2 graph (2) shall not apply to a labor organization unless

3 the organization meets the requirements of subparagraphs

4 (B), (C), and (D).

5 ‘‘(B) The requirements of this subparagraph are met

6 only if the labor organization provides, at least once annu7 ally, to all employees within the labor organization’s bar8 gaining unit or units (and to new employees within 30

9 days after commencement of their employment) written

10 notification presented in a manner to inform any such em11 ployee—

12 ‘‘(i) that an employee cannot be obligated to

13 pay, through union dues or any other mandatory

14 payment to a labor organization, for the political ac15 tivities of the labor organization, including, but not

16 limited to, the maintenance and operation of, or so17 licitation of contributions to, a political committee,

18 political communications to members, and voter reg19 istration and get-out-the-vote campaigns;

20 ‘‘(ii) that no employee may be required actually

21 to join any labor organization, but if a collective bar22 gaining agreement covering an employee purports to

23 require membership or payment of dues or other

24 fees to a labor organization as a condition of em-
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1 ployment, the employee may elect instead to pay an

2 agency fee to the labor organization;

3 ‘‘(iii) that the amount of the agency fee shall be

4 limited to the employee’s pro rata share of the cost

5 of the labor organization’s exclusive representation

6 services to the employee’s collective bargaining unit,

7 including collective bargaining, contract administra8 tion, and grievance adjustment;

9 ‘‘(iv) that an employee who elects to be a full

10 member of the labor organization and pay member11 ship dues is entitled to a reduction of those dues by

12 the employee’s pro rata share of the total spending

13 by the labor organization for political activities;

14 ‘‘(v) that the cost of the labor organization’s ex15 clusive representation services, and the amount of

16 spending by such organization for political activities,

17 shall be computed on the basis of such cost and

18 spending for the immediately preceding fiscal year of

19 such organization; and

20 ‘‘(vi) of the amount of the labor organization’s

21 full membership dues, initiation fees, and assess22 ments for the current year; the amount of the re23 duced membership dues, subtracting the employee’s

24 pro rata share of the organization’s spending for po-
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1 litical activities, for the current year; and the

2 amount of the agency fee for the current year.

3 ‘‘(C) The requirements of this subparagraph are met

4 only if the labor organization provides all represented em5 ployees an annual examination by an independent certified

6 public accountant of financial statements supplied by such

7 organization which attests that the expenditures which the

8 union claimed it made for certain expenses were actually

9 made for those expenses. Such examination shall be con10 ducted in accordance with generally accepted auditing

11 standards.

12 ‘‘(D) The requirements of this subparagraph are met

13 only if the labor organization—

14 ‘‘(i) maintains procedures to promptly deter15 mine the costs that may properly be charged to

16 agency fee payors as costs of exclusive representa17 tion, and explains such procedures in the written no18 tification required under subparagraph (B); and

19 ‘‘(ii) if any person challenges the costs which

20 may be properly charged as costs of exclusive rep21 resentation—

22 ‘‘(I) provides a mutually selected impartial

23 decisionmaker to hear and decide such chal24 lenge pursuant to rules of discovery and evi25 dence and subject to de novo review by the Na-
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1 tional Labor Relations Board or an applicable

2 court; and

3 ‘‘(II) places in escrow amounts reasonably

4 in dispute pending the outcome of the chal5 lenge.

6 ‘‘(E)(i) A labor organization that does not satisfy the

7 requirements of subparagraphs (B), (C), and (D) shall fi8 nance any expenditures specified in subparagraphs (A),

9 (B), or (C) of paragraph (2) only with funds legally col10 lected under this Act for its separate segregated fund.

11 ‘‘(ii) For purposes of this paragraph, subparagraph

12 (A) of paragraph (2) shall apply only with respect to com13 munications expressly advocating the election or defeat of

14 any clearly identified candidate for elective public office.’’.

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

16 subsections (a) and (b) shall apply to contributions and

17 expenditures made after the date of the enactment of this

18 Act.

19 SEC. 12. CAMPAIGN ADVERTISING AMENDMENTS.

20 Section 318 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

21 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441d) is amended—

22 (1) in subsection (a)—

23 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph

24 (1)—
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1 (i) by striking ‘‘Whenever’’ and insert2 ing ‘‘Whenever a political committee makes

3 a disbursement for the purpose of financ4 ing any communication through any broad5 casting station, newspaper, magazine, out6 door advertising facility, mailing, phone

7 bank or any other type of general public

8 political advertising, or whenever’’;

9 (ii) by striking ‘‘an expenditure’’ and

10 inserting ‘‘a disbursement’’; and

11 (iii) by striking ‘‘direct’’; and

12 (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘and

13 permanent street address’’ after ‘‘name’’; and

14 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub15 sections:

16 ‘‘(c) Any printed communication described in sub17 section (a) shall be—

18 ‘‘(1) of sufficient type size to be clearly read19 able by the recipient of the communication;

20 ‘‘(2) contained in a printed box set apart from

21 the other contents of the communication; and

22 ‘‘(3) consist of a reasonable degree of color con23 trast between the background and the printed state24 ment.
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1 ‘‘(d)(1) Any broadcast or cablecast communication

2 described in subsection (a)(1) or subsection (a)(2) shall

3 include, in addition to the requirements of those sub4 sections, an audio statement by the candidate that identi5 fies the candidate and states that the candidate is respon6 sible for the content of the advertisement.

7 ‘‘(2) If a broadcast or cablecast communication de8 scribed in paragraph (1) is broadcast or cablecast by

9 means of television, the communication shall include, in

10 addition to the audio statement under paragraph (1), a

11 written statement which—

12 ‘‘(A) appears at the end of the communication

13 in a clearly readable manner with a reasonable de14 gree of color contrast between the background and

15 the printed statement, for a period of at least 4 sec16 onds; and

17 ‘‘(B) is accompanied by a clearly identifiable

18 photographic or similar image of the candidate.

19 ‘‘(e) Any broadcast or cablecast communication de20 scribed in subsection (a)(3) shall include, in addition to

21 the requirements of those subsections, in a clearly spoken

22 manner, the following statement: ‘ is

23 responsible for the content of this advertisement.’ (with

24 the blank to be filled in with the name of the political

25 committee or other person paying for the communication
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1 and the name of any connected organization of the payor).

2 If broadcast or cablecast by means of television, the state3 ment shall also appear in a clearly readable manner with

4 a reasonable degree of color contrast between the back5 ground and the printed statement, for a period of at least

6 4 seconds.’’.

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