I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 371

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to limit the influence

of nonparty multicandidate political committees in elections for Federal

office, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for

an income tax credit for contributions to candidates for the House

of Representatives, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 5, 1993

Ms. SNOWE introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the

Committees on House Administration and Ways and Means

A BILL

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to

limit the influence of nonparty multicandidate political

committees in elections for Federal office, to amend the

Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for an income

tax credit for contributions to candidates for the House

of Representatives, 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,
2

•HR 371 IH

1 SECTION 1. REDUCTION IN LIMITATION AMOUNT APPLICA2 BLE TO NONPARTY MULTICANDIDATE POLIT3 ICAL COMMITTEE CONTRIBUTIONS IN ELEC4 TIONS FOR FEDERAL OFFICE.

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

8 in the case of a nonparty multicandidate political commit9 tee, the limitation under this subparagraph shall be

10 $1,000’’.

11 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION OF NONPARTY MULTICANDIDATE PO12 LITICAL COMMITTEE BUNDLING OF CON13 TRIBUTIONS TO CANDIDATES.

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) No nonparty multicandidate political committee

18 may act as an intermediary or conduit with respect to a

19 contribution to a candidate for Federal office.’’.

20 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF LEADERSHIP COMMITTEES.

21 Section 302 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

22 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 432) is amended by adding at the end

23 the following new subsection:

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

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

26 than the principal campaign committee of the candidate.’’.
3

•HR 371 IH

1 SEC. 4. INCOME TAX CREDIT FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO CAN2 DIDATES FOR THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTA3 TIVES.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart A of part IV of sub5 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of

6 1986 (relating to nonrefundable personal credits) is

7 amended by inserting before section 25 the following new

8 section:

9 ‘‘SEC. 24. CONTRIBUTIONS TO CANDIDATES FOR THE

10 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

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

12 there shall be allowed, subject to the limitations in sub13 section (b), as a credit against the tax imposed by this

14 chapter for the taxable year, an amount equal to all local

15 congressional political contributions for which payment is

16 made by the taxpayer within the taxable year.

17 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.—

18 ‘‘(1) MAXIMUM CREDIT.—The credit allowed by

19 subsection (a) for a taxable year shall not exceed

20 $100 ($200 in the case of a joint return).

21 ‘‘(2) VERIFICATION.—A credit shall be allowed

22 by subsection (a) with respect to any local congres23 sional political contribution only if the contribution

24 is verified in the manner prescribed by the Secretary

25 in regulations.

26 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—
4

•HR 371 IH

1 ‘‘(1) LOCAL CONGRESSIONAL POLITICAL CON2 TRIBUTION.—The term ‘local congressional political

3 contribution’ means a contribution or gift of money

4 to—

5 ‘‘(A) a local congressional candidate, or

6 ‘‘(B) a committee, association, or organiza7 tion (whether or not incorporated) organized

8 and operated exclusively for the purpose of in9 fluencing (or attempting to influence) the nomi10 nation or election of a local congressional can11 didate,

12 for use to further the candidacy of such candidate

13 for nomination or election to the House of Rep14 resentatives.

15 ‘‘(2) LOCAL CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE.—The

16 term ‘local congressional candidate’ means a can17 didate in any primary, general, or special election for

18 nomination or election to the House of Representa19 tives for the congressional district in which the prin20 cipal residence of the taxpayer is located.

21 ‘‘(3) CANDIDATE.—The term ‘candidate’ means

22 an individual who—

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

24 the calendar year following the calendar year in

25 which the contribution or gift is made that the
5

•HR 371 IH

1 individual is a candidate for nomination or elec2 tion to the House of Representatives, and

3 ‘‘(B) meets the qualification prescribed by

4 law to hold such office.

5 ‘‘(4) PRINCIPAL RESIDENCE.—The term ‘prin6 cipal residence’ has the same meaning as when used

7 in section 1034.

8 ‘‘(d) CROSS REFERENCE.—

‘‘For disallowance of credits to estates and trusts,

see section 642(j).’’

9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

10 (1) Section 642 of such Code (relating to spe11 cial rules for credits and deductions) is amended by

12 adding at the end the following new subsection:

13 ‘‘(j) POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS.—An estate or trust

14 shall not be allowed the credit for contributions to can15 didates for the House of Representatives provided by sec16 tion 24.’’

17 (2) The table of sections for subpart A of part

18 IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is

19 amended by inserting before the item relating to sec20 tion 25 the following new item.

‘‘Sec. 24. Contributions to candidates for the House of Representatives.’’

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

22 this section shall apply to amounts paid after the date of

23 the enactment of this Act.
6

•HR 371 IH

1 SEC. 5. REPEAL OF CERTAIN CHANGES IN THE MINIMUM

2 TAX RELATING TO DEPLETION AND INTANGI3 BLE DRILLING COSTS.

4 (a) RESTORATION OF MINIMUM TAX PREFERENCE

5 FOR DEPLETION AND INTANGIBLE DRILLING COSTS FOR

6 INDEPENDENT PRODUCERS AND ROYALTY OWNERS.—

7 Section 1915 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (and the

8 amendments made by such section) are hereby repealed,

9 and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 shall be applied

10 and administered as if such section (and amendments)

11 had never been enacted.

12 (b) REPEAL OF MINIMUM TAX DEDUCTION BASED

13 ON INTANGIBLE DRILLING COST PREFERENCE.—

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (A) of section

15 56(h)(1) of such Code (relating to adjustment based

16 on energy preferences), as in effect after the applica17 tion of subsection (a), is amended to read as follows:

18 ‘‘(A) 50 percent of the marginal produc19 tion depletion preference, or’’.

20 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

21 (A) Subsection (h) of section 56 of such

22 Code, as so in effect, is amended by striking

23 paragraphs (3), (4), and (6) and by redesignat24 ing paragraphs (5), (7), and (8) as paragraphs

25 (3), (4) and (5), respectively.
7

•HR 371 IH

1 (B) Paragraph (4) of section 56(h) of such

2 Code (as so redesignated by subparagraph (A))

3 is amended to read as follows:

4 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULE.—For purposes of para5 graphs (1)(B) and (3), alternative minimum taxable

6 income shall be determined without regard to the de7 duction allowable under this subsection and the al8 ternative tax net operating deduction under sub9 section (a)(4).’’

10 (C) Clause (ii) of section 59(a)(2)(A) of

11 such Code is amended by striking ‘‘alternative

12 tax energy preference’’.

13 (D) Paragraph (1) of section 59A(b) of

14 such Code is amended by striking ‘‘alternative

15 tax energy preference’’.

16 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made

17 by this subsection shall apply to amounts paid or in18 curred after the date of the enactment of this Act.

19 SEC. 6. TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.

20 (a) TRANSFER OF DEFINITION.—Section 301 of the

21 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431)

22 is amended by adding at the end the following new para23 graph:

24 ‘‘(20) The term ‘multicandidate political committee’

25 means a political committee which has been registered
8

•HR 371 IH

1 under section 303 for a period of not less than 6 months,

2 which has received contributions from more than 50 per3 sons, and, except for any State political party organiza4 tion, has made contributions to 5 or more candidates for

5 Federal office.’’.

6 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 315(a)(4)

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

8 441a(a)(4)) is amended by striking out the second

9 sentence.

Æ