I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3617

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reform the system of 

public financing for presidential elections, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 21, 2003

Mr. MEEHAN (for himself and Mr. SHAYS) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition 

to the Committee on Ways and Means, 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 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reform 

the system of public financing for presidential 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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Presidential Funding 

5 Act of 2003’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. REVISIONS TO SYSTEM OF PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY 

2 MATCHING PAYMENTS. 

3 (a) INCREASE IN MATCHING RATE FOR PAY4 MENTS.—Section 9034(a) of the Internal Revenue Code 

5 of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘an amount equal to the 

6 amount’’ and inserting ‘‘an amount equal to 400 percent 

7 of the amount’’. 

8 (b) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—

9 (1) AMOUNT OF AGGREGATE CONTRIBUTIONS

10 PER STATE.—Section 9033(b)(3) of such Code is 

11 amended by striking ‘‘$5,000’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘$15,000’’. 

13 (2) PARTICIPATION IN SYSTEM FOR PAYMENTS

14 FOR GENERAL ELECTION.—Section 9033(b) of such 

15 Code is amended—

16 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para17 graph (3); 

18 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

19 paragraph (4) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

20 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

21 paragraph: 

22 ‘‘(5) if the candidate is nominated by a political 

23 party for election to the office of President, the can24 didate will apply for and accept payments with re25 spect to the general election for such office in ac26 cordance with chapter 95, including the requirement 
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1 that the candidate and the candidate’s authorized 

2 committees will not incur qualified campaign ex3 penses in excess of the aggregate payments to which 

4 they will be entitled under section 9004. ’’. 

5 (c) PERIOD OF AVAILABILITY OF PAYMENTS.—Sec6 tion 9032(6) of such Code is amended by striking ‘‘the 

7 beginning of the calendar year’’ and inserting ‘‘July 1 of 

8 the calendar year preceding the calendar year’’. 

9 (d) INCREASE IN LIMITATION ON TOTAL AMOUNT OF

10 PAYMENTS.—Section 9034(b) of such Code is amended by 

11 striking ‘‘50 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘80 percent’’. 

12 SEC. 3. REQUIRING PARTICIPATION IN PRIMARY PAYMENT 

13 SYSTEM AS CONDITION OF ELIGIBILITY FOR 

14 GENERAL ELECTION PAYMENTS. 

15 (a) MAJOR PARTY CANDIDATES.—Section 9003(b) of 

16 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended—

17 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 

18 paragraphs (2) and (3); and 

19 (2) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as so re20 designated) the following new paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(1) the candidate received payments under 

22 chapter 96 for the campaign for nomination;’’. 

23 (b) MINOR PARTY CANDIDATES.—Section 9003(c) of 

24 such Code is amended—
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1 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 

2 paragraphs (2) and (3); and 

3 (2) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as so re4 designated) the following new paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(1) the candidate received payments under 

6 chapter 96 for the campaign for nomination;’’. 

7 SEC. 4. REVISIONS TO CANDIDATE EXPENDITURE LIMITS. 

8 (a) INCREASE IN LIMIT ON COORDINATED PARTY

9 EXPENDITURES.—Section 315(d)(2) of the Federal Elec10 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(d)(2)) is 

11 amended by striking ‘‘2 cents’’ and inserting ‘‘4 cents’’. 

12 (b) INCREASE IN EXPENDITURE LIMITS FOR PAR13 TICIPATING CANDIDATES; ELIMINATION OF STATE-SPE14 CIFIC LIMITS.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 315(b)(1) of such 

16 Act (2 U.S.C. 441a(b)(1)) is amended by striking 

17 ‘‘in excess of l’’ and all that follows and inserting 

18 the following: ‘‘in excess of $75,000,000 with respect 

19 to a campaign for nomination for election or in ex20 cess of $75,000,000 with respect to a campaign for 

21 election to such office.’’. 

22 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

23 TIMING OF COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENT.—Section 

24 315(c)(2)(B) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441a(c)(2)(B) is 

25 amended—
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1 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘subsections 

2 (b) and (d)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (d)’’; 

3 (B) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

4 end; 

5 (C) in clause (ii), by striking the period at 

6 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

7 (D) by adding at the end the following new 

8 clause: 

9 ‘‘(iii) for purposes of subsection (b), cal10 endar year 2004.’’. 

11 (3) OTHER CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The 

12 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended—

13 (A) in section 9004(a)(1), by striking ‘‘sec14 tion 320(b)(1)(B) of the Federal Election Cam15 paign Act of 1971’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

16 315(b)(1) of the Federal Election Campaign 

17 Act of 1971’’; and 

18 (B) by striking ‘‘section 320(b)(1)(A) of 

19 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971’’ 

20 each place it appears in sections 9034(b) and 

21 9035(a) and inserting ‘‘section 315(b)(1) of the 

22 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971’’. 

23 (c) REPEAL OF EXCLUSION OF FUNDRAISING COSTS

24 FROM TREATMENT AS EXPENDITURES.—Section 

25 301(9)(B)(vi) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 
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1 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(9)(B)(vi)) is amended by striking ‘‘in 

2 excess of an amount equal to 20 percent of the expenditure 

3 limitation applicable to such candidate under section 

4 315(b)’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘who is seeking nomi5 nation for election or election to the office of President 

6 or Vice President of the United States’’. 

7 (d) INCREASE IN EXPENDITURE LIMITS FOR PRI8 MARY CANDIDATES PARTICIPATING IN PRIMARY PAY9 MENT SYSTEM WHO FACE CERTAIN NONPARTICIPATING

10 OPPONENTS.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 315(b) of the Fed12 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 

13 441a(b)) is amended—

14 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘No can15 didate’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in 

16 paragraph (3), no candidate’’; and 

17 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

18 paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(3)(A) In the case of a candidate described in para20 graph (1) in a campaign for nomination for election for 

21 the office of President who faces a nonparticipating pri22 mary candidate of the same political party who receives 

23 contributions or makes expenditures with respect to the 

24 campaign in an aggregate amount greater than 133 per25 cent of the expenditure limitation under paragraph (1), 
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1 the limitation on expenditures applicable under such para2 graph shall be increased by 100 percent. 

3 ‘‘(B) Each nonparticipating primary candidate who 

4 receives contributions or makes expenditures with respect 

5 to the campaign in an aggregate amount greater than 133 

6 percent of the expenditure limitation under paragraph (1) 

7 shall notify the Commission in writing not later than 24 

8 hours after first receiving aggregate contributions or mak9 ing aggregate expenditures in such an amount. 

10 ‘‘(C) Not later than 24 hours after receiving a written 

11 notice from a nonparticipating primary candidate under 

12 subparagraph (B), the Commission shall notify each oppo13 nent of the candidate to whom the increased limitation on 

14 expenditures applies pursuant to subparagraph (A). 

15 ‘‘(D) In this paragraph, a ‘nonparticipating primary 

16 candidate’ means a candidate for nomination for election 

17 for the office of President who is not eligible under section 

18 9033 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to receive pay19 ments from the Secretary of the Treasury under chapter 

20 96 of such Code.’’. 

21 (2) NO INCREASE PERMITTED IN MATCHING

22 PAYMENTS AS A RESULT OF INCREASE IN EXPENDI23 TURE LIMIT.—Section 9034(b) of the Internal Rev24 enue Code of 1986 is amended by striking the period 

25 at the end and inserting the following: ‘‘, except that 
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1 a candidate shall not receive any additional pay2 ments under subsection (a) once such candidate has 

3 received a combination of payments under subsection 

4 (a) and contributions which, in the aggregate, exceed 

5 the expenditure limit applicable under section 

6 315(b)(1) of the Act with respect to a campaign for 

7 nomination for election to the office of the President 

8 (notwithstanding any increase in such expenditure 

9 limitation pursuant to section 315(b)(3) of such 

10 Act).’’. 

11 SEC. 5. REVISIONS TO DESIGNATION OF INCOME TAX PAY12 MENTS BY INDIVIDUAL TAXPAYERS. 

13 (a) INCREASE IN AMOUNT DESIGNATED.—Section 

14 6096(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amend15 ed—

16 (1) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘$3’’ each 

17 place it appears and inserting ‘‘$6’’; and 

18 (2) in the second sentence—

19 (A) by striking ‘‘$6’’ and inserting ‘‘$12’’, 

20 and 

21 (B) by striking ‘‘$3’’ and inserting ‘‘$6’’. 

22 (b) INDEXING.—Section 6096 of such Code is amend23 ed by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

24 ‘‘(d) INDEXING OF AMOUNT DESIGNATED.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to each tax2 able year after 2004, each amount referred to in 

3 subsection (a) shall be increased by the percent dif4 ference described in paragraph (2), except that if 

5 any such amount after such an increase is not a 

6 multiple of $1, such amount shall be rounded to the 

7 nearest multiple of $1. 

8 ‘‘(2) PERCENT DIFFERENCE DESCRIBED.—The 

9 percent difference described in this paragraph with 

10 respect to a taxable year is the percent difference 

11 determined under section 315(c)(1)(A) of the Fed12 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 with respect to 

13 the calendar year during which the taxable year be14 gins, except that the base year involved shall be 

15 2004.’’. 

16 (c) ENSURING TAX PREPARATION SOFTWARE DOES

17 NOT PROVIDE AUTOMATIC RESPONSE TO DESIGNATION

18 QUESTION.—Section 6096 of such Code, as amended by 

19 subsection (b), is amended by adding at the end the fol20 lowing new subsection: 

21 ‘‘(e) ENSURING TAX PREPARATION SOFTWARE DOES

22 NOT PROVIDE AUTOMATIC RESPONSE TO DESIGNATION

23 QUESTION.—The Secretary shall promulgate regulations 

24 to ensure that electronic software used in the preparation 

25 or filing of individual income tax returns does not auto-
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1 matically accept or decline a designation of a payment 

2 under this section.’’. 

3 (d) PUBLIC INFORMATION PROGRAM ON DESIGNA4 TION.—Section 6096 of such Code, as amended by sub5 sections (b) and (c), is amended by adding at the end the 

6 following new subsection: 

7 ‘‘(f) PUBLIC INFORMATION PROGRAM.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Election Com9 mission shall conduct a program to inform and edu10 cate the public regarding the purposes of the Presi11 dential Election Campaign Fund, the procedures for 

12 the designation of payments under this section, and 

13 the effect of such a designation on the income tax 

14 liability of taxpayers. 

15 ‘‘(2) USE OF FUNDS FOR PROGRAM.—Amounts 

16 in the Presidential Election Campaign Fund shall be 

17 made available to the Commission to carry out the 

18 program under this subsection, except that the 

19 amount made available for this purpose may not ex20 ceed $10,000,000 with respect to any Presidential 

21 election cycle. In this paragraph, a ‘Presidential elec22 tion cycle’ is the 4-year period beginning with Janu23 ary of the year following a Presidential election.’’. 
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1 SEC. 6. ADDITIONAL GENERAL ELECTION PAYMENTS TO 

2 PARTICIPATING CANDIDATES FACING CER3 TAIN NONPARTICIPATING OPPONENTS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 9004(a)(1) of the Internal 

5 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended—

6 (1) by striking ‘‘(1) The eligible candidates’’ 

7 and inserting ‘‘(1)(A) Except as provided in sub8 paragraph (B), the eligible candidates’’; and 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub10 paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(B) In addition to the payments described in 

12 subparagraph (A), each eligible candidate of a major 

13 party in a presidential election with an opponent in 

14 the election who is not eligible to receive payments 

15 under section 9006 and who receives contributions 

16 or makes expenditures with respect to the primary 

17 and general elections in an aggregate amount great18 er than 133 percent of the combined expenditure 

19 limitations applicable to eligible candidates under 

20 section 315(b)(1) of the Federal Election Campaign 

21 Act of 1971 shall be entitled to equal payments 

22 under section 9006 in an amount equal to 100 per23 cent of the expenditure limitation applicable under 

24 such section with respect to a campaign for election 

25 to the office of President.’’. 
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1 (b) SPECIAL RULE FOR MINOR PARTY CAN2 DIDATES.—Section 9004(a)(2)(A) of such Code is amend3 ed—

4 (1) by striking ‘‘(A) The eligible candidates’’ 

5 and inserting ‘‘(A)(i) Except as provided in clause 

6 (ii), the eligible candidates’’; and 

7 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

8 clause: 

9 ‘‘(ii) In addition to the payments described in 

10 clause (ii), each eligible candidate of a minor party 

11 in a presidential election with an opponent in the 

12 election who is not eligible to receive payments 

13 under section 9006 and who receives contributions 

14 or makes expenditures with respect to the primary 

15 and general elections in an aggregate amount great16 er than 133 percent of the combined expenditure 

17 limitations applicable to eligible candidates under 

18 section 315(b)(1) of the Federal Election Campaign 

19 Act of 1971 shall be entitled to equal payments 

20 under section 9006 in an amount equal to 100 per21 cent of the payments to which such candidate is en22 titled under clause (i).’’. 

23 (c) PROCESS FOR DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY

24 FOR ADDITIONAL PAYMENT.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 9005 of such Code 

2 is amended—

3 (A) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub4 section (c); and 

5 (B) by inserting after subsection (a) the 

6 following new subsection: 

7 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULES FOR CERTIFICATION OF ELIGI8 BILITY FOR ADDITIONAL PAYMENTS.—

9 ‘‘(1) REPORTS ON EXPENDITURES BY INELI10 GIBLE CANDIDATES.—If a candidate in a presi11 dential election who is not eligible to receive pay12 ments under section 9006 receives contributions or 

13 makes expenditures with respect to the primary and 

14 general elections in an aggregate amount greater 

15 than 133 percent of the combined expenditure limi16 tations applicable to eligible candidates under sec17 tion 315(b)(1) of the Federal Election Campaign 

18 Act of 1971, the candidate shall notify the Commis19 sion in writing that the candidate has made aggre20 gate expenditures in such an amount not later than 

21 24 hours after first receiving aggregate contributions 

22 or making aggregate expenditures in such an 

23 amount. 

24 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATION.—Not later than 24 hours 

25 after receiving a written notice under paragraph (1), 
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1 the Commission shall certify to the Secretary of the 

2 Treasury for payment to any eligible candidate who 

3 is entitled to an additional payment under section 

4 9004(a)(1)(B) or section 9004(a)(2)(A)(ii) that the 

5 candidate is entitled to payment in full of the addi6 tional payment under such section.’’. 

7 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

8 9005(c) of such Code (as redesignated under para9 graph (1)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘subsection 

10 (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘this section’’. 

11 (d) EXCLUSION OF ADDITIONAL PAYMENT FROM

12 DETERMINATION OF EXPENDITURE LIMITS.—Section 

13 315(b)(2) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 

14 (2 U.S.C. 441a(b)(2)) is amended—

15 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara16 graph (A); 

17 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub18 paragraph (B) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

19 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub20 paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(C) the amount of expenditures made by a 

22 candidate shall be reduced by the amount of any ad23 ditional payment received by the candidate under 

24 section 9004(a)(1)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code 

25 of 1986.’’. 
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1 SEC. 7. DETERMINATION OF AMOUNTS IN PRESIDENTIAL 

2 ELECTION CAMPAIGN FUND. 

3 Section 9006(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

4 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

5 sentence: ‘‘In making a determination of whether there are 

6 insufficient moneys in the fund for purposes of the pre7 vious sentence, the Secretary shall take into account in 

8 determining the balance of the fund for a Presidential 

9 election year the Secretary’s best estimate of the amount 

10 of moneys which will be deposited into the fund during 

11 the year, except that the amount of the estimate may not 

12 exceed the average of the annual amounts deposited in the 

13 fund during the previous 3 years.’’. 

14 SEC. 8. REPEAL OF PRIORITY IN USE OF FUNDS FOR POLIT15 ICAL CONVENTIONS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 9008(a) of the Internal 

17 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking the period 

18 at the end of the second sentence and all that follows and 

19 inserting the following: ‘‘, except that the amount depos20 ited may not exceed the amount available after the Sec21 retary determines that amounts for payments under sec22 tion 9006 and section 9037 are available for such pay23 ments.’’. 

24 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The second sen25 tence of section 9037(a) of such Code is amended by strik-
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1 ing ‘‘section 9006(c) and for payments under section 

2 9008(b)(3)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 9006’’. 

3 SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

4 The amendments made by this Act shall apply with 

5 respect to elections occurring after January 1, 2005.

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