I 

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113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 270 

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

public financing for Presidential elections, to establish a system of public 

financing for Congressional elections, to promote the disclosure of disbursements made in coordination with campaigns for election for Federal 

office, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 15, 2013 

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina (for himself, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. JONES, Mr. 

LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. 

YARMUTH, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. POLIS, 

Mr. HOLT, Mr. NOLAN, and Mr. O’ROURKE) 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, 

to establish a system of public financing for Congressional elections, to promote the disclosure of disbursements made in coordination with campaigns for election 

for Federal office, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Empowering Citizens Act’’. 

4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

5 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—REFORM OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION FINANCING 

Subtitle A—Primary Elections 

Sec. 101. Increase in and modifications to matching payments. 

Sec. 102. Eligibility requirements for matching payments. 

Sec. 103. Inflation adjustment for matching contributions. 

Sec. 104. Repeal of expenditure limitations. 

Sec. 105. Period of availability of matching payments. 

Sec. 106. Examination and audits of matchable contributions. 

Sec. 107. Modification to limitation on contributions for Presidential primary 

candidates. 

Subtitle B—General Elections 

Sec. 111. Modification of eligibility requirements for public financing. 

Sec. 112. Repeal of expenditure limitations and use of qualified campaign contributions. 

Sec. 113. Matching payments and other modifications to payment amounts. 

Sec. 114. Inflation adjustment for payment amounts. 

Sec. 115. Increase in limit on coordinated party expenditures. 

Sec. 116. Establishment of uniform date for release of payments. 

Sec. 117. Amounts in Presidential Election Campaign Fund. 

Sec. 118. Use of general election payments for general election legal and accounting compliance. 

Subtitle C—Political Conventions 

Sec. 121. Repeal of public financing of party conventions. 

Sec. 122. Contributions for political conventions. 

Sec. 123. Prohibition on use of soft money. 

TITLE II—PUBLIC FINANCING FOR CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION 

CAMPAIGNS 

Sec. 201. Benefits and eligibility requirements for Congressional candidates. 

‘‘TITLE V—PUBLIC FINANCING OF CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION 

CAMPAIGNS 

‘‘Subtitle A—Benefits 

‘‘Sec. 501. Benefits for participating candidates. 

‘‘Sec. 502. Administration of payments. 

‘‘Sec. 503. Qualified contribution defined. 


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‘‘Subtitle B—Eligibility and Certification 

‘‘Sec. 511. Eligibility. 

‘‘Sec. 512. Qualified contribution requirements. 

‘‘Sec. 513. Certification. 

‘‘Subtitle C—Requirements for Candidates Certified as Participating 

Candidates 

‘‘Sec. 521. Restrictions on certain contributions and expenditures. 

‘‘Sec. 522. Remitting unspent funds after election. 

‘‘Subtitle D—Administrative Provisions 

‘‘Sec. 531. Administration by Commission. 

‘‘Sec. 532. Violations and penalties. 

‘‘Sec. 533. Election cycle defined. 

Sec. 202. Permitting unlimited coordinated expenditures by political party committees on behalf of participating candidates if expenditures 

are derived from small dollar contributions. 

Sec. 203. Prohibiting use of contributions by participating candidates for purposes other than campaign for election. 

TITLE III—COORDINATED CAMPAIGN ACTIVITY 

Sec. 301. Clarification of treatment of coordinated expenditures as contributions to candidates. 

Sec. 302. Clarification of ban on fundraising for super PACs by Federal candidates and officeholders. 

TITLE IV—USE OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN FUND 

FOR PUBLIC FINANCING OF FEDERAL ELECTIONS 

Sec. 401. Use of Presidential Election Campaign Fund for Congressional candidates. 

Sec. 402. Revisions to designation of income tax payments by individual taxpayers. 

Sec. 403. Donation to Presidential Election Campaign Fund. 

TITLE V—OTHER CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORMS 

Sec. 501. Regulations with respect to best efforts for identifying persons making contributions. 

Sec. 502. Prohibition on joint fundraising committees. 

Sec. 503. Disclosure of bundled contributions to Presidential campaigns. 

Sec. 504. Judicial review of actions related to campaign finance laws. 

TITLE VI—SEVERABILITY; EFFECTIVE DATE 

Sec. 601. Severability. 

Sec. 602. Effective date. 


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1 TITLE I—REFORM OF PRESI2 DENTIAL ELECTION FINANC3 ING 

4 Subtitle A—Primary Elections 

5 SEC. 101. INCREASE IN AND MODIFICATIONS TO MATCHING 

6 PAYMENTS. 

7 (a) INCREASE AND MODIFICATION.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The first sentence of section 

9 9034(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

10 amended— 

11 (A) by striking ‘‘an amount equal to the 

12 amount of each contribution’’ and inserting ‘‘an 

13 amount equal to 500 percent of the amount of 

14 each matchable contribution (disregarding any 

15 amount of contributions from any person to the 

16 extent that the total of the amounts contributed 

17 by such person for the election exceeds $250)’’; 

18 and 

19 (B) by striking ‘‘authorized committees’’ 

20 and all that follows through ‘‘$250’’ and insert21 ing ‘‘authorized committees’’. 

22 (2) MATCHABLE CONTRIBUTIONS.—Section 

23 9034 of such Code is amended— 

24 (A) by striking the last sentence of sub25 section (a); and 


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1 (B) by inserting after subsection (b) the 

2 following new subsection: 

3 ‘‘(c) MATCHABLE CONTRIBUTION DEFINED.—For 

4 purposes of this section and section 9033(b)— 

5 ‘‘(1) MATCHABLE CONTRIBUTION.—The term 

6 ‘matchable contribution’ means, with respect to the 

7 nomination for election to the office of President of 

8 the United States, a contribution by an individual to 

9 a candidate or an authorized committee of a can10 didate with respect to which the candidate has cer11 tified in writing that— 

12 ‘‘(A) the individual making such contribu13 tion has not made aggregate contributions (in14 cluding such matchable contribution) to such 

15 candidate and the authorized committees of 

16 such candidate in excess of 50% of the limit ap17 plicable under paragraph (1)(A) or paragraph 

18 (2)(A) of section 315(a) of the Federal Election 

19 Campaign Act of 1971 to the amount of a con20 tribution which may be made to a candidate 

21 who is not eligible to receive payments under 

22 section 9037 with respect to such nomination; 

23 ‘‘(B) such candidate and the authorized 

24 committees of such candidate will not accept 

25 contributions from such individual (including 


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1 such matchable contribution) aggregating more 

2 than the amount described in subparagraph 

3 (A); and 

4 ‘‘(C) such contribution was not— 

5 ‘‘(i) forwarded from the contributor 

6 from any person other than an individual, 

7 or 

8 ‘‘(ii) received by the candidate or com9 mittee from a contributor or contributors, 

10 but credited by the committee or candidate 

11 to another person who is not an individual 

12 through records, designations, or other 

13 means of recognizing that a certain 

14 amount of money has been raised by such 

15 person. 

16 ‘‘(2) CONTRIBUTION.—For purposes of this 

17 subsection, the term ‘contribution’ means a gift of 

18 money made by a written instrument which identi19 fies the individual making the contribution by full 

20 name and mailing address, but does not include a 

21 subscription, loan, advance, or deposit of money, or 

22 anything of value or anything described in subpara23 graph (B), (C), or (D) of section 9032(4).’’. 

24 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 


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1 (A) Section 9032(4) of such Code is 

2 amended by striking ‘‘section 9034(a)’’ and in3 serting ‘‘section 9034’’. 

4 (B) Section 9033(b)(3) of such Code is 

5 amended by striking ‘‘matching contributions’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘matchable contributions’’. 

7 (b) MODIFICATION OF PAYMENT LIMITATION.—Sec8 tion 9034(b) of such Code is amended by striking ‘‘shall 

9 not exceed’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘shall not 

10 exceed $100,000,000.’’ 

11 SEC. 102. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR MATCHING 

12 PAYMENTS. 

13 (a) AMOUNT OF AGGREGATE CONTRIBUTIONS PER

14 STATE; DISREGARDING OF AMOUNTS CONTRIBUTED IN

15 EXCESS OF $250.—Section 9033(b)(3) of the Internal 

16 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

17 (1) by striking ‘‘$5,000’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘$25,000’’; and 

19 (2) by striking ‘‘20 States’’ and inserting the 

20 following: ‘‘20 States (disregarding any amount of 

21 contributions from any such resident to the extent 

22 that the total of the amounts contributed by such 

23 resident for the election exceeds $250)’’. 

24 (b) CONTRIBUTION LIMIT.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (4) of section 

2 9033(b) of such Code is amended to read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(4) the candidate and the authorized commit4 tees of the candidate will not accept aggregate con5 tributions from any person with respect to the nomi6 nation for election to the office of President of the 

7 United States in excess of 50% of the limit applica8 ble under paragraph (1)(A) or paragraph (2)(A) of 

9 section 315(a) of the Federal Election Campaign 

10 Act of 1971 to the amount of a contribution which 

11 may be made to a candidate who is not eligible to 

12 receive payments under section 9037 with respect to 

13 such nomination.’’. 

14 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

15 (A) Section 9033(b) of such Code is 

16 amended by adding at the end the following 

17 new flush sentence: 

18 ‘‘For purposes of paragraph (4), the term ‘contribution’ 

19 has the meaning given such term in section 301(8) of the 

20 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.’’. 

21 (B) Section 9032(4) of such Code, as 

22 amended by section 101(a)(3)(A) is amended by 

23 inserting ‘‘or 9033(b)’’ after ‘‘9034’’. 


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1 (c) BAN ON ACCEPTANCE OF BUNDLED CONTRIBU2 TIONS.—Section 9033(b) of such Code, as amended by 

3 subsection (b), is amended— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

5 (3); 

6 (2) by striking the period at the end of para7 graph (4) and inserting ‘‘, and’’; and 

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

9 paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(5) the candidate and the authorized com11 mittee of the candidate will not accept any bundled 

12 contribution (as defined in section 304(i)(8)) for13 warded by or credited to a person described in sec14 tion 304(i)(7).’’. 

15 (d) PARTICIPATION IN SYSTEM FOR PAYMENTS FOR

16 GENERAL ELECTION.—Section 9033(b) of such Code, as 

17 amended by subsection (c), is amended— 

18 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

19 (4); 

20 (2) by striking the period at the end of para21 graph (5) and inserting ‘‘, and’’; and 

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

23 paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(6) if the candidate is nominated by a political 

25 party for election to the office of President, the canVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:26 Jan 30, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H270.IH H270

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1 didate will apply for and accept payments with re2 spect to the general election for such office in ac3 cordance with chapter 95.’’. 

4 SEC. 103. INFLATION ADJUSTMENT FOR MATCHING CON5 TRIBUTIONS. 

6 Section 9033 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

7 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub8 section: 

9 ‘‘(d) INFLATION ADJUSTMENTS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any applica11 ble period beginning after 2013, each of the dollar 

12 amounts in section 9034(b) shall be increased by an 

13 amount equal to— 

14 ‘‘(A) such dollar amount, multiplied by 

15 ‘‘(B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter16 mined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar 

17 year following the year which such applicable 

18 period begins, determined by substituting ‘cal19 endar year 2013’ for ‘calendar year 1992’ in 

20 subparagraph (B) thereof. 

21 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE PERIOD.—For purposes of 

22 this subsection, the term ‘applicable period’ means 

23 the 4-year period beginning with the first day fol24 lowing the date of the last general election for the 


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1 office of President and ending on the date of the 

2 next such general election. 

3 ‘‘(3) ROUNDING.—If any amount as adjusted 

4 under paragraph (1) is not a multiple of $100, such 

5 amount shall be rounded to the nearest multiple of 

6 $100.’’. 

7 SEC. 104. REPEAL OF EXPENDITURE LIMITATIONS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 9035 of 

9 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read 

10 as follows: 

11 ‘‘(a) PERSONAL EXPENDITURE LIMITATION.—No 

12 candidate shall knowingly make expenditures from his per13 sonal funds, or the personal funds of his immediate family, 

14 in connection with his campaign for nomination for elec15 tion to the office of President in excess of, in the aggre16 gate, $50,000.’’. 

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Paragraph (1) of 

18 section 9033(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

19 amended to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘(1) the candidate will comply with the per21 sonal expenditure limitation under section 9035,’’. 

22 SEC. 105. PERIOD OF AVAILABILITY OF MATCHING PAY23 MENTS. 

24 Section 9032(6) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

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1 endar year in which a general election for the office of 

2 President of the United States will be held’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘the date that is 6 months prior to the date of the earliest 

4 State primary election’’. 

5 SEC. 106. EXAMINATION AND AUDITS OF MATCHABLE CON6 TRIBUTIONS. 

7 Section 9038(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

8 1986 is amended by inserting ‘‘and matchable contribu9 tions accepted by’’ after ‘‘qualified campaign expenses of’’. 

10 SEC. 107. MODIFICATION TO LIMITATION ON CONTRIBU11 TIONS FOR PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY CAN12 DIDATES. 

13 Section 315(a)(6) of the Federal Election Campaign 

14 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(6)) is amended by striking 

15 ‘‘calendar year’’ and inserting ‘‘four-year election cycle’’. 

16 Subtitle B—General Elections 

17 SEC. 111. MODIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS 

18 FOR PUBLIC FINANCING. 

19 Subsection (a) of section 9003 of the Internal Rev20 enue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In order to be eligible to receive 

22 any payments under section 9006, the candidates of a po23 litical party in a presidential election shall meet the fol24 lowing requirements: 


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1 ‘‘(1) PARTICIPATION IN PRIMARY PAYMENT

2 SYSTEM.—The candidate for President received pay3 ments under chapter 96 for the campaign for nomi4 nation for election to be President. 

5 ‘‘(2) AGREEMENTS WITH COMMISSION.—The 

6 candidates, in writing— 

7 ‘‘(A) agree to obtain and furnish to the 

8 Commission such evidence as it may request of 

9 the qualified campaign expenses of such can10 didates, 

11 ‘‘(B) agree to keep and furnish to the 

12 Commission such records, books, and other in13 formation as it may request, and 

14 ‘‘(C) agree to an audit and examination by 

15 the Commission under section 9007 and to pay 

16 any amounts required to be paid under such 

17 section. 

18 ‘‘(3) BAN ON CERTAIN CONTRIBUTIONS AND

19 SOLICITATIONS.—The candidates certify to the Com20 mission, under penalty of perjury, the following: 

21 ‘‘(A) BUNDLED CONTRIBUTIONS.—Such 

22 candidates and the authorized committees of 

23 such candidates will not accept any bundled 

24 contribution (as defined in section 304(i)(8)) 


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1 forwarded by or credited to a person described 

2 in section 304(i)(7). 

3 ‘‘(B) SOLICITATIONS FOR JOINT FUND4 RAISING COMMITTEES.—Such candidates and 

5 their authorized committees will not, after June 

6 1 of the election year, solicit any funds for any 

7 joint fundraising committee that includes any 

8 committee of a political party. 

9 ‘‘(C) SOLICITATION FOR POLITICAL PAR10 TIES.—Such candidates and their authorized 

11 committees will not, after June 1 of the year in 

12 which the election is held, solicit any funds for 

13 any committee of a political party. 

14 Such certification shall be made within such time 

15 prior to the day of the presidential election as the 

16 Commission shall prescribe by rules or regulations.’’. 

17 SEC. 112. REPEAL OF EXPENDITURE LIMITATIONS AND USE 

18 OF QUALIFIED CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS. 

19 (a) USE OF QUALIFIED CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS

20 WITHOUT EXPENDITURE LIMITS; APPLICATION OF SAME

21 REQUIREMENTS FOR MAJOR, MINOR, AND NEW PAR22 TIES.—Section 9003 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

23 1986 is amended by striking subsections (b) and (c) and 

24 inserting the following: 


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1 ‘‘(b) USE OF QUALIFIED CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS

2 TO DEFRAY EXPENSES.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to be eligible to 

4 receive any payments under section 9006, the can5 didates of a party in a presidential election shall cer6 tify to the Commission, under penalty of perjury, 

7 that— 

8 ‘‘(A) such candidates and their authorized 

9 committees have not and will not accept any 

10 contributions to defray qualified campaign ex11 penses other than— 

12 ‘‘(i) qualified campaign contributions, 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(ii) contributions to the extent nec15 essary to make up any deficiency payments 

16 received out of the fund on account of the 

17 application of section 9006(c), and 

18 ‘‘(B) such candidates and their authorized 

19 committees have not and will not accept any 

20 contribution to defray expenses which would be 

21 qualified campaign expenses but for subpara22 graph (C) of section 9002(11). 

23 ‘‘(2) TIMING OF CERTIFICATION.—The can24 didate shall make the certification required under 

25 this subsection at the same time the candidate 


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1 makes the certification required under subsection 

2 (a)(3).’’. 

3 (b) DEFINITION OF QUALIFIED CAMPAIGN CON4 TRIBUTION.—Section 9002 of such Code is amended by 

5 adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(13) QUALIFIED CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION.— 

7 The term ‘qualified campaign contribution’ means, 

8 with respect to any election for the office of Presi9 dent of the United States, a contribution from an in10 dividual to a candidate or an authorized committee 

11 of a candidate which— 

12 ‘‘(A) is made after June 1 of the year in 

13 which the election is held; 

14 ‘‘(B) does not exceed 50% of the limit ap15 plicable under paragraph (1)(A) or paragraph 

16 (2)(A) of section 315(a) of the Federal Election 

17 Campaign Act of 1971 to the amount of a con18 tribution which may be made to a candidate 

19 who is not eligible to receive payments under 

20 section 9006 with respect to such election; and 

21 ‘‘(C) with respect to which the candidate 

22 has certified in writing that— 

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1 tion) to such candidate and the authorized 

2 committees of such candidate in excess of 

3 the amount described in subparagraph (B), 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(ii) such candidate and the author6 ized committees of such candidate will not 

7 accept contributions from such individual 

8 (including such qualified contribution) ag9 gregating more than the amount described 

10 in subparagraph (B) with respect to such 

11 election.’’. 

12 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

13 (1) REPEAL OF EXPENDITURE LIMITS.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 315 of the Fed15 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 

16 441a) is amended by striking subsection (b). 

17 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

18 315(c) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441a(c)) is 

19 amended— 

20 (i) in paragraph (1)(B)(i), by striking 

21 ‘‘, (b)’’; and 

22 (ii) in paragraph (2)(B)(i), by striking 

23 ‘‘subsections (b) and (d)’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘subsection (d)’’. 

25 (2) REPEAL OF REPAYMENT REQUIREMENT.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 9007(b) of 

2 such Code is amended by striking paragraph 

3 (2) and redesignating paragraphs (3), (4), and 

4 (5) as paragraphs (2), (3), and (4), respec5 tively. 

6 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Para7 graph (2) of section 9007(b) of such Code, as 

8 redesignated by subparagraph (A), is amend9 ed— 

10 (i) by striking ‘‘a major party’’ and 

11 inserting ‘‘a party’’; 

12 (ii) by inserting ‘‘qualified contribu13 tions and’’ after ‘‘contributions (other 

14 than’’; and 

15 (iii) by striking ‘‘(other than qualified 

16 campaign expenses with respect to which 

17 payment is required under paragraph 

18 (2))’’. 

19 (3) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.— 

20 (A) REPEAL OF PENALTY FOR EXCESS EX21 PENSES.—Section 9012 of the Internal Revenue 

22 Code of 1986 is amended by striking subsection 

23 (a). 

24 (B) PENALTY FOR ACCEPTANCE OF DIS25 ALLOWED CONTRIBUTIONS; APPLICATION OF


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1 SAME PENALTY FOR CANDIDATES OF MAJOR, 

2 MINOR, AND NEW PARTIES.—Subsection (b) of 

3 section 9012 of such Code is amended to read 

4 as follows: 

5 ‘‘(b) CONTRIBUTIONS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) ACCEPTANCE OF DISALLOWED CONTRIBU7 TIONS.—It shall be unlawful for an eligible can8 didate of a party in a presidential election or any of 

9 his authorized committees knowingly and willfully to 

10 accept any contribution to defray qualified campaign 

11 expenses, except to the extent necessary to make up 

12 any deficiency in payments received out of the fund 

13 on account of the application of section 9006(c), or 

14 to defray expenses which would be qualified cam15 paign expenses but for subparagraph (C) of section 

16 9002(11). 

17 ‘‘(2) PENALTY.—Any person who violates para18 graph (1) shall be fined not more than $5,000, or 

19 imprisoned not more than one year, or both. In the 

20 case of a violation by an authorized committee, any 

21 officer or member of such committee who knowingly 

22 and willfully consents to such violation shall be fined 

23 not more than $5,000, or imprisoned not more than 

24 one year, or both.’’. 


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1 SEC. 113. MATCHING PAYMENTS AND OTHER MODIFICA2 TIONS TO PAYMENT AMOUNTS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

4 (1) AMOUNT OF PAYMENTS; APPLICATION OF

5 SAME AMOUNT FOR CANDIDATES OF MAJOR, MINOR, 

6 AND NEW PARTIES.—Subsection (a) of section 9004 

7 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to 

8 read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the provisions of this 

10 chapter, the eligible candidates of a party in a presidential 

11 election shall be entitled to equal payment under section 

12 9006 in an amount equal to 500 percent of the amount 

13 of each matchable contribution received by such candidate 

14 on or after June 1 of the year of the presidential election, 

15 or by his authorized committees (disregarding any amount 

16 of contributions from any person to the extent that the 

17 total of the amounts contributed by such person for the 

18 election exceeds $250), except that total amount to which 

19 a candidate is entitled under this paragraph shall not ex20 ceed $150,000,000.’’. 

21 (2) REPEAL OF SEPARATE LIMITATIONS FOR

22 CANDIDATES OF MINOR AND NEW PARTIES.—Section 

23 9004 of such Code is amended by striking sub24 section (b). 

25 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

26 9005(a) of such Code is amended by adding at the 


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1 end the following new sentence: ‘‘The Commission 

2 shall make such additional certifications as may be 

3 necessary to receive payments under section 9004.’’. 

4 (b) MATCHABLE CONTRIBUTION.—Section 9002 of 

5 such Code, as amended by section 112, is amended by add6 ing at the end the following new paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(14) MATCHABLE CONTRIBUTION.—The term 

8 ‘matchable contribution’ means, with respect to the 

9 election to the office of President of the United 

10 States, a contribution by an individual to a can11 didate or an authorized committee of a candidate 

12 with respect to which the candidate has certified in 

13 writing that— 

14 ‘‘(A) the individual making such contribu15 tion has not made aggregate contributions (in16 cluding such matchable contribution) to such 

17 candidate and the authorized committees of 

18 such candidate in excess of 50% of the limit ap19 plicable under paragraph (1)(A) or paragraph 

20 (2)(A) of section 315(a) of the Federal Election 

21 Campaign Act of 1971 to the amount of a con22 tribution which may be made to a candidate 

23 who is not eligible to receive payments under 

24 section 9006 with respect to such election; 


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1 ‘‘(B) such candidate and the authorized 

2 committees of such candidate will not accept 

3 contributions from such individual (including 

4 such matchable contribution) aggregating more 

5 than the amount described in subparagraph (A) 

6 with respect to such election; and 

7 ‘‘(C) such contribution was not— 

8 ‘‘(i) forwarded from the contributor 

9 from any person other than an individual, 

10 or 

11 ‘‘(ii) received by the candidate or com12 mittee from a contributor or contributors, 

13 but credited by the committee or candidate 

14 to another person who is not an individual 

15 through records, designations, or other 

16 means of recognizing that a certain 

17 amount of money has been raised by such 

18 person.’’. 

19 SEC. 114. INFLATION ADJUSTMENT FOR PAYMENT 

20 AMOUNTS. 

21 Section 9004 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

22 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub23 section: 

24 ‘‘(f) INFLATION ADJUSTMENTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any applica2 ble period beginning after 2017, each of the dollar 

3 amounts in subsection (a)(1) shall be increased by 

4 an amount equal to— 

5 ‘‘(A) such dollar amount; multiplied by 

6 ‘‘(B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter7 mined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar 

8 year following the year which such applicable 

9 period begins, determined by substituting ‘cal10 endar year 2016’ for ‘calendar year 1992’ in 

11 subparagraph (B) thereof. 

12 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE PERIOD.—For purposes of 

13 this subsection, the term ‘applicable period’ means 

14 the 4-year period beginning with the first day fol15 lowing the date of the last general election for the 

16 office of President and ending on the date of the 

17 next such general election. 

18 ‘‘(3) ROUNDING.—If any amount as adjusted 

19 under paragraph (1) is not a multiple of $100, such 

20 amount shall be rounded to the nearest multiple of 

21 $100.’’. 


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1 SEC. 115. INCREASE IN LIMIT ON COORDINATED PARTY EX2 PENDITURES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 315(d)(2) of the Federal 

4 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(d)(2)) is 

5 amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(2)(A) The national committee of a political party 

7 may not make any expenditure in connection with the gen8 eral election campaign of any candidate for President of 

9 the United States who is affiliated with such party which 

10 exceeds $50,000,000. 

11 ‘‘(B) For purposes of this paragraph— 

12 ‘‘(i) any expenditure made by or on behalf of a 

13 national committee of a political party and in con14 nection with a presidential election shall be consid15 ered to be made in connection with the general elec16 tion campaign of a candidate for President of the 

17 United States who is affiliated with such party; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) any communication made by or on behalf 

19 of such party shall be considered to be made in con20 nection with the general election campaign of a can21 didate for President of the United States who is af22 filiated with such party if any portion of the commu23 nication is in connection with such election. 

24 ‘‘(C) Any expenditure under this paragraph shall be 

25 in addition to any expenditure by a national committee 

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1 mittee of a candidate for the office of President of the 

2 United States.’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS RELATING TO TIM4 ING OF COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENT.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 315(c)(1) of such 

6 Act (2 U.S.C. 441a(c)(1)), as amended by section 

7 112(d)(1)(B), is amended— 

8 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘(d)’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘(d)(3)’’; and 

10 (B) by inserting at the end the following 

11 new subparagraph: 

12 ‘‘(D) In any calendar year after 2017— 

13 ‘‘(i) the dollar amount in subsection (d)(2) shall 

14 be increased by the percent difference determined 

15 under subparagraph (A); 

16 ‘‘(ii) the amount so increased shall remain in 

17 effect for the calendar year; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) if the amount after adjustment under 

19 clause (i) is not a multiple of $100, such amount 

20 shall be rounded to the nearest multiple of $100.’’. 

21 (2) BASE YEAR.—Section 315(c)(2)(B) of such 

22 Act (2 U.S.C. 441a(c)(2)(B)), as amended by sec23 tion 112(d)(1)(B), is amended— 

24 (A) in clause (i)— 


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1 (i) by striking ‘‘(d)’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘(d)(3)’’; and 

3 (ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

4 (B) in clause (ii), by striking the period at 

5 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

7 clause: 

8 ‘‘(iii) for purposes of subsection (d)(2), cal9 endar year 2016.’’. 

10 SEC. 116. ESTABLISHMENT OF UNIFORM DATE FOR RE11 LEASE OF PAYMENTS. 

12 (a) DATE FOR PAYMENTS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 9006(b) of the In14 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as 

15 follows: 

16 ‘‘(b) PAYMENTS FROM THE FUND.—If the Secretary 

17 of the Treasury receives a certification from the Commis18 sion under section 9005 for payment to the eligible can19 didates of a political party, the Secretary shall pay to such 

20 candidates out of the fund the amount certified by the 

21 Commission on the later of— 

22 ‘‘(1) the last Friday occurring before the first 

23 Monday in September; or 


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1 ‘‘(2) 24 hours after receiving the certifications 

2 for the eligible candidates of all major political par3 ties. 

4 Amounts paid to any such candidates shall be under the 

5 control of such candidates.’’. 

6 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The first sen7 tence of section 9006(c) of such Code is amended by 

8 striking ‘‘the time of a certification by the Commis9 sion under section 9005 for payment’’ and inserting 

10 ‘‘the time of making a payment under subsection 

11 (b)’’. 

12 (b) TIME FOR CERTIFICATION.—Section 9005(a) of 

13 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 

14 ‘‘10 days’’ and inserting ‘‘24 hours’’. 

15 SEC. 117. AMOUNTS IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAM16 PAIGN FUND. 

17 (a) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNTS IN FUND.—Sec18 tion 9006(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

19 amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: 

20 ‘‘In making a determination of whether there are insuffi21 cient moneys in the fund for purposes of the previous sen22 tence, the Secretary shall take into account in determining 

23 the balance of the fund for a presidential election year the 

24 Secretary’s best estimate of the amount of moneys which 

25 will be deposited into the fund during the year, except that 


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1 the amount of the estimate may not exceed the average 

2 of the annual amounts deposited in the fund during the 

3 previous 3 years.’’. 

4 (b) SPECIAL RULE FOR FIRST CAMPAIGN CYCLE

5 UNDER THIS ACT.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 9006 of the Internal 

7 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the 

8 end the following new subsection: 

9 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL AUTHORITY TO BORROW.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subsection 

11 (c), there are authorized to be appropriated to the 

12 fund, as repayable advances, such sums as are nec13 essary to carry out the purposes of the fund during 

14 the period ending on the first presidential election 

15 occurring after the date of the enactment of this 

16 subsection. 

17 ‘‘(2) REPAYMENT OF ADVANCES.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Advances made to the 

19 fund shall be repaid, and interest on such ad20 vances shall be paid, to the general fund of the 

21 Treasury when the Secretary determines that 

22 moneys are available for such purposes in the 

23 fund. 

24 ‘‘(B) RATE OF INTEREST.—Interest on ad25 vances made to the fund shall be at a rate deVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:26 Jan 30, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H270.IH H270

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1 termined by the Secretary of the Treasury (as 

2 of the close of the calendar month preceding the 

3 month in which the advance is made) to be 

4 equal to the current average market yield on 

5 outstanding marketable obligations of the 

6 United States with remaining periods to matu7 rity comparable to the anticipated period during 

8 which the advance will be outstanding and shall 

9 be compounded annually.’’. 

10 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

11 by this subsection shall take effect January 1, 2014. 

12 SEC. 118. USE OF GENERAL ELECTION PAYMENTS FOR GEN13 ERAL ELECTION LEGAL AND ACCOUNTING 

14 COMPLIANCE. 

15 Section 9002(11) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

16 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

17 sentence: ‘‘For purposes of subparagraph (A), an expense 

18 incurred by a candidate or authorized committee for gen19 eral election legal and accounting compliance purposes 

20 shall be considered to be an expense to further the election 

21 of such candidate.’’. 

22 Subtitle C—Political Conventions 

23 SEC. 121. REPEAL OF PUBLIC FINANCING OF PARTY CON24 VENTIONS. 

25 (a) REPEAL.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 95 of the Internal 

2 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking sec3 tion 9008. 

4 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec5 tions of chapter 95 of such Code is amended by 

6 striking the item relating to section 9008. 

7 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

8 (1) AVAILABILITY OF PAYMENTS TO CAN9 DIDATES.—Section 9006(c) of such Code is amended 

10 by striking ‘‘section 9008(b)(3)’’. 

11 (2) REPORTS BY FEDERAL ELECTION COMMIS12 SION.—Section 9009 of such Code is amended— 

13 (A) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end of para14 graph (2); 

15 (B) by striking the semicolon at the end of 

16 paragraph (3) and inserting a period; and 

17 (C) by striking paragraphs (4), (5), and 

18 (6). 

19 (3) PENALTIES.—Section 9012 of such Code, 

20 as amended by section 112(d)(4), is amended— 

21 (A) by striking subsection (a) and redesig22 nating subsections (b) through (g) as sub23 sections (a) through (f), respectively; 

24 (B) in subsection (b), as redesignated by 

25 subparagraph (A), by striking paragraph (2) 


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1 and redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph 

2 (2); 

3 (C) in subsection (d)(1), as redesignated 

4 by subparagraph (A), by striking the second 

5 sentence; and 

6 (D) in subsection (d)(3), as redesignated 

7 by subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘, or in con8 nection with any expense incurred by the na9 tional committee of a major party or minor 

10 party with respect to a presidential nominating 

11 convention’’. 

12 (4) AVAILABILITY OF PAYMENTS FROM PRESI13 DENTIAL PRIMARY MATCHING ACCOUNT.—The sec14 ond sentence of section 9037(a) of such Code is 

15 amended by striking ‘‘and for payments under sec16 tion 9008(b)(3)’’. 

17 SEC. 122. CONTRIBUTIONS FOR POLITICAL CONVENTIONS. 

18 (a) SEPARATE CONTRIBUTION LIMITATION.— 

19 (1) INDIVIDUALS.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 315(a)(1) of 

21 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 

22 U.S.C. 441a(a)(1)) is amended— 

23 (i) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of sub24 paragraph (C); 


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1 (ii) by striking the period at the end 

2 of subparagraph (D) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; 

3 and 

4 (iii) by adding at the end the fol5 lowing new subparagraph: 

6 ‘‘(E) to the national nominating convention 

7 account of political committees established and 

8 maintained by a national political party, in any 

9 4-year period ending on the last day of the cal10 endar year beginning on the day after a general 

11 election for the office of President which, in the 

12 aggregate, exceed the dollar amount in effect 

13 under subparagraph (B);’’. 

14 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

15 315(a)(1)(B) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 

16 441a(a)(1)(B)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(other 

17 than to the national nominating convention ac18 counts of such political committees which are 

19 described in subparagraph (E))’’ after ‘‘national 

20 political party’’. 

21 (2) AGGREGATE CONTRIBUTION LIMITATION.— 

22 Section 315(a)(3) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(3)) 

23 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

24 flush sentence: 


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1 ‘‘The dollar amount in subparagraph (B) shall be in2 creased by the amount of contributions (not in excess of 

3 the dollar amount in effect under subparagraph (E)) made 

4 to the national nominating convention account of a polit5 ical committee established and maintained by a national 

6 political party during the period described in the preceding 

7 sentence.’’. 

8 (b) NATIONAL NOMINATING CONVENTION AC9 COUNT.—Section 315(a) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)) 

10 is amended by adding at the end the following new para11 graph: 

12 ‘‘(9) For purposes of this subsection, the national 

13 nomination convention account of any political committees 

14 established and maintained by a national political party 

15 is a separate account the funds of which may only be used 

16 to defray the costs of the national nominating convention 

17 of such party.’’. 

18 SEC. 123. PROHIBITION ON USE OF SOFT MONEY. 

19 Section 323 of the Federal Election Campaign Act 

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

21 the following new subsection: 

22 ‘‘(g) NATIONAL CONVENTIONS.—Any person de23 scribed in subsection (a) or (e) shall not solicit, receive, 

24 direct, transfer, or spend any funds in connection with a 

25 presidential nominating convention of any political party, 


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1 including funds from or for a host committee, civic com2 mittee, municipality, or any other person or entity spend3 ing funds in connection with such a convention, unless 

4 such funds— 

5 ‘‘(1) are not in excess of the amounts permitted 

6 with respect to contributions to the political com7 mittee established and maintained by a national po8 litical party committee under section 315; and 

9 ‘‘(2) are not from sources prohibited by this Act 

10 from making contributions in connection with an 

11 election for Federal office.’’. 

12 TITLE II—PUBLIC FINANCING 

13 FOR CONGRESSIONAL ELEC14 TION CAMPAIGNS 

15 SEC. 201. BENEFITS AND ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR 

16 CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES. 

17 The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 

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

19 following: 


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1 ‘‘TITLE V—PUBLIC FINANCING 

2 OF CONGRESSIONAL ELEC3 TION CAMPAIGNS 

4 ‘‘Subtitle A—Benefits 

5 ‘‘SEC. 501. BENEFITS FOR PARTICIPATING CANDIDATES. 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—If a candidate for election to the 

7 office of Senator or Representative in, or Delegate or Resi8 dent Commissioner to, the Congress is a participating can9 didate under this title with respect to an election for such 

10 office, the candidate shall be entitled to payments under 

11 this title, to be used only for authorized expenditures in 

12 connection with the election. 

13 ‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.— 

14 ‘‘(1) MATCH OF QUALIFIED CONTRIBUTIONS.— 

15 Subject to paragraph (2), the amount of a payment 

16 made to a participating candidate under this title 

17 shall be equal to 500 percent of the amount of quali18 fied contributions received by the candidate since the 

19 most recent payment made to the candidate under 

20 this title with respect to the election, as set forth— 

21 ‘‘(A) in the case of the first payment made 

22 to the candidate with respect to the election, in 

23 the report filed under section 511(a)(2); and 

24 ‘‘(B) in the case of any subsequent pay25 ment made to the candidate with respect to the 


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1 election, in the report of qualified contributions 

2 filed under subsection (c). 

3 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—In determining the amount 

4 of qualified contributions received by a candidate for 

5 purposes of making a payment under this section, 

6 there shall be disregarded any amount of contribu7 tions from any person to the extent that the total of 

8 the amounts contributed by such person for the elec9 tion exceeds $250. 

10 ‘‘(c) REPORTS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each participating can12 didate shall file reports of receipts of qualified con13 tributions at such times and in such manner as the 

14 Commission may by regulations prescribe. 

15 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF REPORTS.—Each report 

16 under this subsection shall disclose each qualified 

17 contribution received by the candidate since the most 

18 recent report filed under this section, and shall state 

19 the aggregate amount of all such qualified contribu20 tions received since the most recent report filed 

21 under this section. 

22 ‘‘(3) FREQUENCY OF REPORTS.—Reports under 

23 this subsection shall be made no more frequently 

24 than— 


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1 ‘‘(A) once every month until the date that 

2 is 90 days before the date of the election; 

3 ‘‘(B) once every week after the period de4 scribed in subparagraph (A) and until the date 

5 that is 21 days before the election; and 

6 ‘‘(C) once every day after the period de7 scribed in subparagraph (B). 

8 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION ON REGULATIONS.—The 

9 Commission may not prescribe any regulations with 

10 respect to reporting under this subsection with re11 spect to any election after the date that is 180 days 

12 before the date of such election. 

13 ‘‘(d) LIMIT ON AGGREGATE AMOUNT OF PAY14 MENTS.—The aggregate amount of payments that may be 

15 made under this title to a participating candidate during 

16 an election cycle may not exceed— 

17 ‘‘(1) $2,000,000, in the case of a candidate for 

18 the office of Representative in, or Delegate or Resi19 dent Commissioner to, the Congress; or 

20 ‘‘(2) $10,000,000, in the case of a candidate for 

21 the office of Senator. 

22 ‘‘SEC. 502. ADMINISTRATION OF PAYMENTS. 

23 ‘‘(a) TIMING.—The Commission shall make payments 

24 under this title to a participating candidate— 


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1 ‘‘(1) in the case of the first payment made to 

2 the candidate with respect to the election, not later 

3 than 48 hours after the date on which such can4 didate is certified as a participating candidate under 

5 section 513; and 

6 ‘‘(2) in the case of any subsequent payment 

7 made to the candidate with respect to the election, 

8 not later than 5 business days after the receipt of 

9 a report made under section 501(c). 

10 ‘‘(b) METHOD OF PAYMENT.—The Commission shall 

11 distribute funds available to participating candidates 

12 under this title through the use of an electronic funds ex13 change or a debit card. 

14 ‘‘(c) APPEALS.—The Commission shall provide a 

15 written explanation with respect to any denial of any pay16 ment under this title and shall provide for the opportunity 

17 for review and reconsideration within 5 business days of 

18 such denial. 

19 ‘‘SEC. 503. QUALIFIED CONTRIBUTION DEFINED. 

20 ‘‘In this title, the term ‘qualified contribution’ means, 

21 with respect to a candidate, a contribution that meets each 

22 of the following requirements: 

23 ‘‘(1) The contribution is in an amount that is 

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1 tribution that may be accepted by a participating 

2 candidate from an individual under section 521(a). 

3 ‘‘(2) The contribution is made by an individual 

4 who is not otherwise prohibited from making a con5 tribution under this Act. 

6 ‘‘(3) The contribution is not— 

7 ‘‘(A) forwarded from the contributor by 

8 any person other than an individual; or 

9 ‘‘(B) received by the candidate or an au10 thorized committee of the candidate from a con11 tributor or contributors, but credited by the 

12 committee or candidate to another person who 

13 is not an individual through records, designa14 tions, or other means of recognizing that a cer15 tain amount of money has been raised by such 

16 person. 

17 ‘‘(4) The contribution meets the requirements 

18 of section 512(b). 

19 ‘‘Subtitle B—Eligibility and 

20 Certification 

21 ‘‘SEC. 511. ELIGIBILITY. 

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A candidate for the office of 

23 Senator or Representative in, or Delegate or Resident 

24 Commissioner to, the Congress is eligible to be certified 

25 as a participating candidate under this title with respect 


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1 to an election if the candidate meets the following require2 ments: 

3 ‘‘(1) During the election cycle for the office in4 volved, the candidate files with the Commission a 

5 statement of intent to seek certification as a partici6 pating candidate. 

7 ‘‘(2) The candidate meets the qualified con8 tribution requirements of section 512 and submits to 

9 the Commission a report disclosing each qualified 

10 contribution received by the candidate and stating 

11 the aggregate amount of all such qualified contribu12 tions received. 

13 ‘‘(3) Not later than the last day of the quali14 fying period, the candidate files with the Commis15 sion an affidavit signed by the candidate and the 

16 treasurer of the candidate’s principal campaign com17 mittee declaring that the candidate— 

18 ‘‘(A) has complied and, if certified, will 

19 comply with the contribution and expenditure 

20 requirements of section 521; 

21 ‘‘(B) if certified, will run only as a partici22 pating candidate for all elections for the office 

23 that such candidate is seeking during the elec24 tion cycle; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) has either qualified or will take steps 

2 to qualify under State law to be on the ballot. 

3 ‘‘(b) GENERAL ELECTION.—Notwithstanding sub4 section (a), a candidate shall not be eligible to receive a 

5 payment under this title for a general election or a general 

6 runoff election unless the candidate’s party nominated the 

7 candidate to be placed on the ballot for the general elec8 tion or the candidate is otherwise qualified to be on the 

9 ballot under State law. 

10 ‘‘(c) QUALIFYING PERIOD DEFINED.—The term 

11 ‘qualifying period’ means, with respect to any candidate 

12 for the office of Senator or Representative in, or Delegate 

13 or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress, the 120-day 

14 period (during the election cycle for such office) which be15 gins on the date on which the candidate files a statement 

16 of intent under section 511(a)(1), except that such period 

17 may not continue after the date that is 60 days before— 

18 ‘‘(1) the date of the primary election; or 

19 ‘‘(2) in the case of a State that does not hold 

20 a primary election, the date prescribed by State law 

21 as the last day to qualify for a position on the gen22 eral election ballot. 

23 ‘‘SEC. 512. QUALIFIED CONTRIBUTION REQUIREMENTS. 

24 ‘‘(a) RECEIPT OF QUALIFIED CONTRIBUTIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A candidate meets the re2 quirements of this section if, during the qualifying 

3 period described in section 511(c), the candidate ob4 tains— 

5 ‘‘(A) a single qualified contribution from a 

6 number of individuals equal to or greater 

7 than— 

8 ‘‘(i) in the case of a candidate for 

9 election the office of Representative in, or 

10 Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the 

11 Congress, 400, or 

12 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a candidate for the 

13 office of Senator, the product of 400 and 

14 the number of Congressional districts in 

15 the State involved as of the date of the 

16 election; and 

17 ‘‘(B) a total dollar amount of qualified 

18 contributions equal to or greater than— 

19 ‘‘(i) in the case of a candidate for 

20 election the office of Representative in, or 

21 Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the 

22 Congress, $40,000, disregarding any 

23 amount of contributions from any person 

24 to the extent that the total of the amounts 


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1 contributed by such person for the election 

2 exceeds $250, or 

3 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a candidate for the 

4 office of Senator, the product of $40,000 

5 and the number of Congressional districts 

6 in the State involved as of the date of the 

7 election, disregarding any amount of con8 tributions from any person to the extent 

9 that the total of the amounts contributed 

10 by such person for the election exceeds 

11 $250. 

12 ‘‘(2) EXCLUSION OF CONTRIBUTIONS FROM

13 OUT-OF-STATE RESIDENTS.—In determining the 

14 number of qualified contributions obtained by a can15 didate under paragraph (1)(A) and the dollar 

16 amount of qualified contributions obtained by a can17 didate under paragraph (1)(B), there shall be ex18 cluded any contributions made by an individual who 

19 does not have a primary residence in the State in 

20 which such candidate is seeking election. 

21 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO RECEIPT OF

22 QUALIFIED CONTRIBUTION.—Each qualified contribu23 tion— 


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1 ‘‘(1) may be made by means of a personal 

2 check, money order, debit card, credit card, or elec3 tronic payment account; 

4 ‘‘(2) shall be accompanied by a signed state5 ment containing the contributor’s name and the con6 tributor’s address in the State in which the primary 

7 residence of the contributor is located; and 

8 ‘‘(3) shall be acknowledged by a receipt that is 

9 sent to the contributor with a copy kept by the can10 didate for the Commission and a copy kept by the 

11 candidate for the election authorities in the State 

12 with respect to which the candidate is seeking elec13 tion. 

14 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITING PAYMENT ON COMMISSION BASIS

15 OF INDIVIDUALS COLLECTING QUALIFIED CONTRIBU16 TIONS.—No person may be paid a commission on a per 

17 qualified contribution basis for collecting qualified con18 tributions. 

19 ‘‘SEC. 513. CERTIFICATION. 

20 ‘‘(a) DEADLINE AND NOTIFICATION.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 10 days 

22 after a candidate files an affidavit under section 

23 511(a)(3), the Commission shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) determine whether or not the can2 didate meets the requirements for certification 

3 as a participating candidate; 

4 ‘‘(B) if the Commission determines that 

5 the candidate meets such requirements, certify 

6 the candidate as a participating candidate; and 

7 ‘‘(C) notify the candidate of the Commis8 sion’s determination. 

9 ‘‘(2) DEEMED CERTIFICATION FOR ALL ELEC10 TIONS IN ELECTION CYCLE.—If the Commission cer11 tifies a candidate as a participating candidate with 

12 respect to the first election of the election cycle in13 volved, the Commissioner shall be deemed to have 

14 certified the candidate as a participating candidate 

15 with respect to all subsequent elections of the elec16 tion cycle. 

17 ‘‘(b) REVOCATION OF CERTIFICATION.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may re19 voke a certification under subsection (a) if— 

20 ‘‘(A) a candidate fails to qualify to appear 

21 on the ballot at any time after the date of cer22 tification (other than a candidate certified as a 

23 participating candidate with respect to a pri24 mary election who fails to qualify to appear on 


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1 the ballot for a subsequent election in that elec2 tion cycle); or 

3 ‘‘(B) a candidate otherwise fails to comply 

4 with the requirements of this title, including 

5 any regulatory requirements prescribed by the 

6 Commission. 

7 ‘‘(2) REPAYMENT OF BENEFITS.—If certifi8 cation is revoked under paragraph (1), the candidate 

9 shall repay to the Empowering Citizens Payment Ac10 count of the Presidential Election Campaign Fund 

11 (established under section 9051 of the Internal Rev12 enue Code of 1986) an amount equal to the value 

13 of benefits received under this title with respect to 

14 the election cycle involved plus interest (at a rate de15 termined by the Commission) on any such amount 

16 received. 

17 ‘‘(c) PARTICIPATING CANDIDATE DEFINED.—In this 

18 title, a ‘participating candidate’ means a candidate for the 

19 office of Senator or Representative in, or Delegate or Resi20 dent Commissioner to, the Congress who is certified under 

21 this section as eligible to receive benefits under this title. 


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1 ‘‘Subtitle C—Requirements for Can2 didates Certified as Partici3 pating Candidates 

4 ‘‘SEC. 521. RESTRICTIONS ON CERTAIN CONTRIBUTIONS 

5 AND EXPENDITURES. 

6 ‘‘(a) 50 PERCENT REDUCTION IN OTHERWISE AP7 PLICABLE CONTRIBUTION LIMITS.—In the case of a can8 didate who is certified as a participating candidate under 

9 this title with respect to an election, the limit applicable 

10 under paragraph (1)(A) or paragraph (2)(A) of section 

11 315(a) to the amount of a contribution which may be 

12 made to the candidate and any authorized committee of 

13 the candidate with respect to the election shall be equal 

14 to 50% of the amount applicable under such paragraph 

15 to a contribution made to a candidate with respect to the 

16 election who is not certified as a participating candidate 

17 under this title. 

18 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITING ACCEPTANCE OF CONTRIBUTIONS

19 BUNDLED BY REGISTERED LOBBYISTS.—A candidate 

20 who is certified as a participating candidate under this 

21 title with respect to an election, and any authorized com22 mittee of such a candidate, may not accept any contribu23 tion with respect to the election which is a bundled con24 tribution (as defined in section 304(i)(8)) forwarded by 

25 or credited to a person described in section 304(i)(7). 


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1 ‘‘(c) LIMIT ON EXPENDITURES FROM PERSONAL

2 FUNDS.—A candidate who is certified as a participating 

3 candidate under this title may not make expenditures from 

4 personal funds (as defined in section 304(a)(6)(B)) in an 

5 aggregate amount exceeding $50,000 with respect to any 

6 election in the election cycle involved. 

7 ‘‘(d) PROHIBITING SOLICITATION OF FUNDS FOR PO8 LITICAL PARTY COMMITTEES.—A candidate who is cer9 tified as a participating candidate under this title may not 

10 solicit funds for any political committee of a political 

11 party, except that the candidate may solicit funds for a 

12 separate account of the committee which is established 

13 under section 315(d)(5). 

14 ‘‘SEC. 522. REMITTING UNSPENT FUNDS AFTER ELECTION. 

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the date that is 

16 60 days after the last election for which a candidate cer17 tified as a participating candidate qualifies to be on the 

18 ballot during the election cycle involved, such participating 

19 candidate shall remit to the Commission for deposit in the 

20 Empowering Citizens Payment Account of the Presi21 dential Election Campaign Fund (established under sec22 tion 9051 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) an 

23 amount equal to the lesser of— 

24 ‘‘(1) the amount of money in the candidate’s 

25 campaign account; or 


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1 ‘‘(2) the amount of the payments received by 

2 the candidate under this title. 

3 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION FOR EXPENDITURES INCURRED

4 BUT NOT PAID AS OF DATE OF REMITTANCE.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (a), a 

6 candidate may withhold from the amount required to 

7 be remitted under paragraph (1) of such subsection 

8 the amount of any authorized expenditures which 

9 were incurred in connection with the candidate’s 

10 campaign but which remain unpaid as of the dead11 line applicable to the candidate under such sub12 section, except that any amount withheld pursuant 

13 to this paragraph shall be remitted to the Commis14 sion not later than 120 days after the date of the 

15 election to which such subsection applies. 

16 ‘‘(2) DOCUMENTATION REQUIRED.—A can17 didate may withhold an amount of an expenditure 

18 pursuant to paragraph (1) only if the candidate sub19 mits documentation of the expenditure and the 

20 amount to the Commission not later than the dead21 line applicable to the candidate under subsection (a). 


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1 ‘‘Subtitle D—Administrative 

2 Provisions 

3 ‘‘SEC. 531. ADMINISTRATION BY COMMISSION. 

4 ‘‘The Commission shall prescribe regulations to carry 

5 out the purposes of this title, including regulations to es6 tablish procedures for— 

7 ‘‘(1) verifying the amount of qualified contribu8 tions with respect to a candidate; 

9 ‘‘(2) effectively and efficiently monitoring and 

10 enforcing the limits on the raising of qualified con11 tributions; 

12 ‘‘(3) effectively and efficiently monitoring and 

13 enforcing the limits on the use of personal funds by 

14 participating candidates; and 

15 ‘‘(4) monitoring the use of payments under this 

title through audits of not fewer than 1 16 ⁄3 of all par17 ticipating candidates or other mechanisms. 

18 ‘‘SEC. 532. VIOLATIONS AND PENALTIES. 

19 ‘‘(a) CIVIL PENALTY FOR VIOLATION OF CONTRIBU20 TION AND EXPENDITURE REQUIREMENTS.—If a can21 didate who has been certified as a participating candidate 

22 accepts a contribution or makes an expenditure that is 

23 prohibited under section 521, the Commission shall assess 

24 a civil penalty against the candidate in an amount that 

25 is not more than 3 times the amount of the contribution 


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1 or expenditure. Any amounts collected under this sub2 section shall be deposited into the Empowering Citizens 

3 Payment Account of the Presidential Election Campaign 

4 Fund (established under section 9051 of the Internal Rev5 enue Code of 1986). 

6 ‘‘(b) REPAYMENT FOR IMPROPER USE OF EMPOW7 ERING CITIZENS PAYMENT ACCOUNT.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Commission deter9 mines that any benefit made available to a partici10 pating candidate was not used as provided for in 

11 this title or that a participating candidate has vio12 lated any of the dates for remission of funds con13 tained in this title, the Commission shall so notify 

14 the candidate and the candidate shall pay to the 

15 Empowering Citizens Payment Account of the Presi16 dential Election Campaign Fund an amount equal 

17 to— 

18 ‘‘(A) the amount of benefits so used or not 

19 remitted, as appropriate; and 

20 ‘‘(B) interest on any such amounts (at a 

21 rate determined by the Commission). 

22 ‘‘(2) OTHER ACTION NOT PRECLUDED.—Any 

23 action by the Commission in accordance with this 

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1 tion 309(a), including a referral by the Commission 

2 to the Attorney General in the case of an apparent 

3 knowing and willful violation of this title. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 533. ELECTION CYCLE DEFINED. 

5 ‘‘In this title, the term ‘election cycle’ means, with 

6 respect to an election for the office of Senator or Rep7 resentative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, 

8 the Congress, the period beginning on the day after the 

9 date of the most recent general election for that office (or, 

10 if the general election resulted in a runoff election, the 

11 date of the runoff election) and ending on the date of the 

12 next general election for that office (or, if the general elec13 tion resulted in a runoff election, the date of the runoff 

14 election).’’. 

15 SEC. 202. PERMITTING UNLIMITED COORDINATED EXPEND16 ITURES BY POLITICAL PARTY COMMITTEES 

17 ON BEHALF OF PARTICIPATING CANDIDATES 

18 IF EXPENDITURES ARE DERIVED FROM 

19 SMALL DOLLAR CONTRIBUTIONS. 

20 Section 315(d) of the Federal Election Campaign Act 

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

22 end the following new paragraph: 

23 ‘‘(5) In determining the amount of expenditures 

24 made by a committee under paragraph (3) in connection 

25 with the campaign of a candidate who is certified as a 


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1 participating candidate under title V, there shall be ex2 cluded any expenditures which are derived from a separate 

3 account established by the committee for which the only 

4 sources of funds are contributions made during the elec5 tion cycle in an amount which does not exceed 50% of 

6 the amount applicable under subsection (a)(1)(A) to a 

7 contribution made during the cycle to a candidate who is 

8 not certified as a participating candidate under title V.’’. 

9 SEC. 203. PROHIBITING USE OF CONTRIBUTIONS BY PAR10 TICIPATING CANDIDATES FOR PURPOSES 

11 OTHER THAN CAMPAIGN FOR ELECTION. 

12 Section 313 of the Federal Election Campaign Act 

13 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 439a) is amended by adding at the end 

14 the following new subsection: 

15 ‘‘(d) RESTRICTIONS ON PERMITTED USES OF FUNDS

16 BY CANDIDATES RECEIVING MATCHING PUBLIC

17 FUNDS.—Notwithstanding paragraphs (2), (3), or (4) of 

18 subsection (a), if a candidate for election for the office 

19 of Senator or Representative in, or Delegate or Resident 

20 Commissioner to, the Congress is certified as a partici21 pating candidate under title V with respect to the election, 

22 any contribution which the candidate is permitted to ac23 cept under such title may be used only for authorized ex24 penditures in connection with the candidate’s campaign 

25 for such office.’’. 


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1 TITLE III—COORDINATED 

2 CAMPAIGN ACTIVITY 

3 SEC. 301. CLARIFICATION OF TREATMENT OF COORDI4 NATED EXPENDITURES AS CONTRIBUTIONS 

5 TO CANDIDATES. 

6 (a) TREATMENT AS CONTRIBUTION TO CAN7 DIDATE.—Section 301(8)(A) of the Federal Election Cam8 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(8)(A)) is amended— 

9 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause (i); 

10 (2) by striking the period at the end of clause 

11 (ii) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

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

13 clause: 

14 ‘‘(iii) any payment made by any person 

15 (other than a candidate, an authorized com16 mittee of a candidate, or a political committee 

17 of a political party) for a coordinated expendi18 ture (as such term is defined in section 324) 

19 which is not otherwise treated as a contribution 

20 under clause (i) or clause (ii).’’. 

21 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 324 of such Act (2 

22 U.S.C. 441k) is amended to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘SEC. 324. PAYMENTS FOR COORDINATED EXPENDITURES. 

24 ‘‘(a) COORDINATED EXPENDITURES.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 

2 301(8)(A)(iii), the term ‘coordinated expenditure’ 

3 means— 

4 ‘‘(A) any expenditure, including a payment 

5 for a covered communication described in sub6 section (c), which is made in cooperation, con7 sultation, or concert with, or at the request or 

8 suggestion of, a candidate, an authorized com9 mittee of a candidate, a political committee of 

10 a political party, or agents of the candidate or 

11 committee, as provided in subsection (b); or 

12 ‘‘(B) any payment for any communication 

13 which republishes, disseminates, or distributes, 

14 in whole or in part, any broadcast or any writ15 ten, graphic, or other form of campaign mate16 rial prepared by the candidate or committee or 

17 by agents of the candidate or committee. 

18 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR PAYMENTS FOR CERTAIN

19 COMMUNICATIONS.—A payment for a communication 

20 (including a covered communication described in 

21 subsection (c)) shall not be treated as a coordinated 

22 expenditure under this subsection if— 

23 ‘‘(A) the communication appears in a news 

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1 tion, newspaper, magazine, or other periodical 

2 publication, unless such facilities are owned or 

3 controlled by any political party, political com4 mittee, or candidate; or 

5 ‘‘(B) the communication constitutes a can6 didate debate or forum conducted pursuant to 

7 regulations adopted by the Commission pursu8 ant to section 304(f)(3)(B)(iii), or which solely 

9 promotes such a debate or forum and is made 

10 by or on behalf of the person sponsoring the de11 bate or forum. 

12 ‘‘(b) COORDINATION DESCRIBED.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec14 tion, a payment is made ‘in cooperation, consulta15 tion, or concert with, or at the request or suggestion 

16 of,’ a candidate, an authorized committee of a can17 didate, a political committee of a political party, or 

18 agents of the candidate or committee, if the payment 

19 is not made entirely independently of the candidate, 

20 committee, or agents, including a payment which is 

21 made pursuant to any general or particular under22 standing, or more than incidental communication 

23 with, the candidate, committee, or agents about the 

24 payment. 


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1 ‘‘(2) NO FINDING OF COORDINATION BASED

2 SOLELY ON SHARING OF INFORMATION REGARDING

3 LEGISLATIVE OR POLICY POSITION.—For purposes 

4 of this section, a payment shall not be considered to 

5 be made by a person in cooperation, consultation, or 

6 concert with, or at the request or suggestion of, a 

7 candidate or committee, solely on the grounds that 

8 the person or the person’s agent engaged in discus9 sions with the candidate or committee, or with 

10 agents of the candidate or committee, regarding that 

11 person’s position on a legislative or policy matter 

12 (including urging the candidate or committee to 

13 adopt that person’s position), so long as there is no 

14 discussion between the person and the candidate or 

15 committee, or agents of the candidate or committee, 

16 regarding the candidate’s or committee’s campaign 

17 advertising, message, strategy, policy, polling, alloca18 tion of resources, fundraising, or campaign oper19 ations. 

20 ‘‘(3) NO EFFECT ON PARTY COORDINATION

21 STANDARD.—Nothing in this section shall be con22 strued to affect the determination of coordination 

23 between a candidate and a political committee of a 

24 political party for purposes of section 315(d). 


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1 ‘‘(4) NO SAFE HARBOR FOR USE OF FIRE2 WALL.—A person shall be determined to have made 

3 a payment in cooperation, consultation, or concert 

4 with, or at the request or suggestion of, a candidate 

5 or committee, in accordance with this section with6 out regard to whether or not the person established 

7 and used a firewall or similar procedures to restrict 

8 the sharing of information between individuals pro9 viding services for or on behalf of the person and the 

10 candidate or committee or agents of the candidate or 

11 committee. 

12 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULE FOR PAYMENTS BY COORDI13 NATED SPENDERS FOR COVERED COMMUNICATIONS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) PAYMENTS DEEMED TO BE MADE IN CO15 OPERATION, CONSULTATION, OR CONCERT WITH, 

16 CANDIDATES.—For purposes of this section, if the 

17 person who makes a payment for a covered commu18 nication is a coordinated spender with respect to the 

19 candidate involved, the person shall be deemed to 

20 have made the payment in cooperation, consultation, 

21 or concert with the candidate. 

22 ‘‘(2) COORDINATED SPENDER DEFINED.—For 

23 purposes of this subsection, the term ‘coordinated 

24 spender’ means, with respect to a candidate or an 

25 authorized committee of a candidate, a person (other 


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1 than a political committee of a political party) for 

2 which any of the following applies: 

3 ‘‘(A) The person is directly or indirectly 

4 formed or established by or at the request or 

5 suggestion of, or with the encouragement of, 

6 the candidate or committee or agents of the 

7 candidate or committee, including with the ex8 press or tacit approval of the candidate or com9 mittee or agents of the candidate or committee. 

10 ‘‘(B) The candidate or committee or agents 

11 of the candidate or committee solicit funds or 

12 engage in other fundraising activity on the per13 son’s behalf during the election cycle involved, 

14 including by providing the person with names of 

15 potential donors or other lists to be used by the 

16 person in engaging in fundraising activity, re17 gardless of whether the person pays fair market 

18 value for the names or lists provided. 

19 ‘‘(C) The person is established, directed, or 

20 managed by any person who, during the elec21 tion cycle involved or during the 4-year period 

22 ending on the first day of the election cycle in23 volved, has been employed or retained as a po24 litical, media, or fundraising adviser or consult25 ant for the candidate or committee or for any 


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1 other entity directly or indirectly controlled by 

2 the candidate or committee, or has held a for3 mal position with a title for the candidate or 

4 committee. 

5 ‘‘(D) During the election cycle involved, 

6 the person has had more than incidental com7 munications with the candidate or committee or 

8 agents of the candidate or committee about the 

9 candidate’s campaign needs or activities, or 

10 about the person’s possible or actual campaign 

11 activities with respect to the candidate or com12 mittee. 

13 ‘‘(E) The person has retained the profes14 sional services of any person who, during the 

15 same election cycle, has provided or is providing 

16 professional services relating to the campaign to 

17 the candidate or committee. For purposes of 

18 this subparagraph, the term ‘professional serv19 ices’ includes any services in support of the can20 didate’s or committee’s campaign activities, in21 cluding advertising, message, strategy, policy, 

22 polling, allocation of resources, fundraising, and 

23 campaign operations, but does not include ac24 counting or legal services. 


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1 ‘‘(F) The person is established, directed, or 

2 managed by a member of the immediate family 

3 of the candidate, or (in the case of a person 

4 that is a political committee) has received a 

5 contribution from a member of the immediate 

6 family of the candidate. For purposes of this 

7 subparagraph, the term ‘immediate family’ has 

8 the meaning given such term in section 9004(e) 

9 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

10 ‘‘(d) COVERED COMMUNICATION DEFINED.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec12 tion, the term ‘covered communication’ means, with 

13 respect to a candidate or an authorized committee of 

14 a candidate, a public communication (as defined in 

15 section 301(22)) which— 

16 ‘‘(A) promotes or supports the candidate, 

17 or attacks or opposes an opponent of the can18 didate (regardless of whether the communica19 tion expressly advocates the election or defeat 

20 of a candidate or contains the functional equiv21 alent of express advocacy); or 

22 ‘‘(B) refers to the candidate or an oppo23 nent of the candidate but is not described in 

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1 tion is disseminated during the applicable elec2 tion period. 

3 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE ELECTION PERIOD.—In para4 graph (1)(B), the ‘applicable election period’ with re5 spect to a communication means— 

6 ‘‘(A) in the case of a communication which 

7 refers to a candidate for the office of President 

8 or Vice President, the period which begins on 

9 the date that is 120 days before the date of the 

10 first primary election, preference election, or 

11 nominating convention for nomination for the 

12 office of President which is held in any State 

13 and ends with the date of the general election 

14 for such office; or 

15 ‘‘(B) in the case of a communication which 

16 refers to a candidate for any other office, which 

17 begins on the date that is 90 days before the 

18 primary or preference election, or convention or 

19 caucus of a political party that has authority to 

20 nominate a candidate, for the office sought by 

21 the candidate and ends on the date of the gen22 eral election for such office. 

23 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULES FOR COMMUNICATIONS IN24 VOLVING CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES.—For pur25 poses of this subsection, a public communication 


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1 shall not be considered to be a covered communica2 tion with respect to a candidate for election for an 

3 office other than the office of President or Vice 

4 President unless it is publicly disseminated or dis5 tributed in the jurisdiction of the office the can6 didate is seeking. 

7 ‘‘(e) ELECTION CYCLE DEFINED.—In this section, 

8 the term ‘election cycle’ means, with respect to an election 

9 for Federal office, the period beginning on the day after 

10 the date of the most recent general election for that office 

11 (or, if the general election resulted in a runoff election, 

12 the date of the runoff election) and ending on the date 

13 of the next general election for that office (or, if the gen14 eral election resulted in a runoff election, the date of the 

15 runoff election).’’. 

16 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

17 (1) REPEAL OF EXISTING REGULATIONS ON CO18 ORDINATION.—Effective upon the expiration of the 

19 90-day period which begins on the date of the enact20 ment of this Act— 

21 (A) the regulations on coordinated commu22 nications adopted by the Federal Election Com23 mission which are in effect on the date of the 

24 enactment of this Act (as set forth in 11 CFR 


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1 Part 109, Subpart C, under the heading ‘‘Co2 ordination’’) are repealed; and 

3 (B) the Federal Election Commission shall 

4 promulgate new regulations on coordinated 

5 communications which reflect the amendments 

6 made by this Act. 

7 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

8 by this section shall apply with respect to payments 

9 made on or after the expiration of the 120-day pe10 riod which begins on the date of the enactment of 

11 this Act, without regard to whether or not the Fed12 eral Election Commission has promulgated regula13 tions in accordance with paragraph (1)(B) as of the 

14 expiration of such period. 

15 SEC. 302. CLARIFICATION OF BAN ON FUNDRAISING FOR 

16 SUPER PACS BY FEDERAL CANDIDATES AND 

17 OFFICEHOLDERS. 

18 Section 323(e)(1) of the Federal Election Campaign 

19 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441i(e)(1)) is amended— 

20 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph 

21 (A); 

22 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub23 paragraph (B) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

24 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub25 paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(C) solicit, receive, direct, or transfer 

2 funds to or on behalf of any political committee 

3 which accepts donations or contributions that 

4 do not comply with the limitations, prohibitions, 

5 and reporting requirements of this Act (or to or 

6 on behalf of any account of a political com7 mittee which is established for the purpose of 

8 accepting such donations or contributions), or 

9 to or on behalf of any political organization 

10 under section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code 

11 of 1986 which accepts such donations or con12 tributions (other than a committee of a State or 

13 local political party or a candidate for election 

14 for State or local office).’’. 

15 TITLE IV—USE OF PRESI16 DENTIAL ELECTION CAM17 PAIGN FUND FOR PUBLIC FI18 NANCING OF FEDERAL ELEC19 TIONS 

20 SEC. 401. USE OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN 

21 FUND FOR CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES. 

22 Subtitle H of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

23 amended by adding at the end the following new chapter: 


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1 ‘‘CHAPTER 97—EMPOWERING CITIZENS 

2 PAYMENT ACCOUNT 

‘‘Sec. 9051. Payments to Congressional candidates. 

3 ‘‘SEC. 9051. PAYMENTS TO CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES. 

4 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF ACCOUNT.—The Secretary 

5 shall maintain in the Presidential Election Campaign 

6 Fund established by section 9006(a), in addition to any 

7 account which he maintains under such section, a separate 

8 account to be known as the Empowering Citizens Payment 

9 Account. The Secretary shall deposit into such Account 

10 the amount available after the Secretary determines that 

11 amounts for payments under section 9006(c) and for pay12 ments under section 9037(b) are available for such pay13 ments. 

14 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUND FOR PAYMENTS TO CONGRES15 SIONAL CANDIDATES PARTICIPATING IN PUBLIC FINANC16 ING PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall transfer amounts in 

17 the Fund to the Federal Election Commission, at such 

18 times and in such amounts as the Federal Election Com19 mission may certify, for payments to candidates for elec20 tion to the office of Senator or Representative in, or Dele21 gate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress who are 

22 participating candidates under title V of the Federal Elec23 tion Campaign Act of 1971.’’. 


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1 SEC. 402. REVISIONS TO DESIGNATION OF INCOME TAX 

2 PAYMENTS BY INDIVIDUAL TAXPAYERS. 

3 (a) INCREASE IN AMOUNT DESIGNATED.—Section 

4 6096(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amend5 ed— 

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

7 place it appears and inserting ‘‘$20’’; and 

8 (2) in the second sentence— 

9 (A) by striking ‘‘$6’’ and inserting ‘‘$40’’; 

10 and 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘$3’’ and inserting ‘‘$20’’. 

12 (b) INDEXING.—Section 6096 of such Code is amend13 ed by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

14 ‘‘(d) INDEXING OF AMOUNT DESIGNATED.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to each tax16 able year after 2013, each amount referred to in 

17 subsection (a) shall be increased by the percent dif18 ference described in paragraph (2), except that if 

19 any such amount after such an increase is not a 

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

21 nearest multiple of $1. 

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

23 percent difference described in this paragraph with 

24 respect to a taxable year is the percent difference 

25 determined under section 315(c)(1)(A) of the Fed26 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 with respect to 


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1 the calendar year during which the taxable year be2 gins, except that the base year involved shall be 

3 2012.’’. 

4 (c) ENSURING TAX PREPARATION SOFTWARE DOES

5 NOT PROVIDE AUTOMATIC RESPONSE TO DESIGNATION

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

7 subsection (b), is amended by adding at the end the fol8 lowing new subsection: 

9 ‘‘(e) ENSURING TAX PREPARATION SOFTWARE DOES

10 NOT PROVIDE AUTOMATIC RESPONSE TO DESIGNATION

11 QUESTION.—The Secretary shall promulgate regulations 

12 to ensure that electronic software used in the preparation 

13 or filing of individual income tax returns does not auto14 matically accept or decline a designation of a payment 

15 under this section.’’. 

16 (d) PUBLIC INFORMATION PROGRAM ON DESIGNA17 TION.—Section 6096 of such Code, as amended by sub18 sections (b) and (c), is amended by adding at the end the 

19 following new subsection: 

20 ‘‘(f) PUBLIC INFORMATION PROGRAM.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Election Com22 mission shall conduct a program to inform and edu23 cate the public regarding the purposes of the Presi24 dential Election Campaign Fund, the procedures for 

25 the designation of payments under this section, and 


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1 the effect of such a designation on the income tax 

2 liability of taxpayers. 

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

4 in the Presidential Election Campaign Fund shall be 

5 made available to the Federal Election Commission 

6 to carry out the program under this subsection.’’. 

7 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

8 this section shall take effect January 1, 2014. 

9 SEC. 403. DONATION TO PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAM10 PAIGN FUND. 

11 (a) GENERAL RULE.—Every taxpayer who makes a 

12 return of the tax imposed by subtitle A of the Internal 

13 Revenue Code of 1986 for any taxable year ending after 

14 December 31, 2012, may donate an amount (not less than 

15 $1), in addition to any designation of income tax liability 

16 under section 6096 of such Code for such taxable year, 

17 which shall be deposited in the general fund of the Treas18 ury. 

19 (b) MANNER AND TIME OF DESIGNATION.—Any do20 nation under subsection (a) for any taxable year— 

21 (1) shall be made at the time of filing the re22 turn of the tax imposed by subtitle A of such Code 

23 for such taxable year and in such manner as the 

24 Secretary may by regulation prescribe, except that— 


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1 (A) the designation for such donation shall 

2 be either on the first page of the return or on 

3 the page bearing the taxpayer’s signature, and 

4 (B) the designation shall be by a box 

5 added to the return, and the text beside the box 

6 shall provide: 

7 ‘‘By checking here, I signify that in 

8 addition to my tax liability (if any), I 

9 would like to donate the included payment 

10 to be used exclusively as a contribution to 

11 the Presidential Election Campaign 

12 Fund.’’, and 

13 (2) shall be accompanied by a payment of the 

14 amount so designated. 

15 (c) TREATMENT OF AMOUNTS DONATED.—For pur16 poses of this title, the amount donated by any taxpayer 

17 under subsection (a) shall be treated as a contribution 

18 made by such taxpayer to the United States on the last 

19 date prescribed for filing the return of tax imposed by sub20 title A of such Code (determined without regard to exten21 sions) or, if later, the date the return is filed. 

22 (d) TRANSFERS TO PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAM23 PAIGN FUND.—The Secretary shall, from time to time, 

24 transfer to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund esVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:26 Jan 30, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00070 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H270.IH H270

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1 tablished under section 9006(a) of such Code amounts 

2 equal to the amounts donated under this section. 

3 TITLE V—OTHER CAMPAIGN 

4 FINANCE REFORMS 

5 SEC. 501. REGULATIONS WITH RESPECT TO BEST EFFORTS 

6 FOR IDENTIFYING PERSONS MAKING CON7 TRIBUTIONS. 

8 Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment 

9 of this Act, the Federal Election Commission shall pro10 mulgate regulations with respect to what constitutes best 

11 efforts under section 302(i) of the Federal Election Cam12 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 432(i)) for determining the 

13 identification of persons making contributions to political 

14 committees, including the identifications of persons mak15 ing contributions over the Internet or by credit card. Such 

16 regulations shall include a requirement that in the case 

17 of contributions made by a credit card, the political com18 mittee shall ensure that the name on the credit card used 

19 to make the contribution matches the name of the person 

20 making the contribution. 

21 SEC. 502. PROHIBITION ON JOINT FUNDRAISING COMMIT22 TEES. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 302(e) of the Federal 

24 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 432(e)) is 


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1 amended by adding at the end the following new para2 graph: 

3 ‘‘(6) No authorized committee of a candidate may es4 tablish a joint fundraising committee with a political com5 mittee other than an authorized committee of a can6 didate.’’. 

7 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

8 this section shall take effect on January 1, 2014. 

9 SEC. 503. DISCLOSURE OF BUNDLED CONTRIBUTIONS TO 

10 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraphs (1) through (3) of 

12 section 304(i) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

13 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(i)) are amended to read as follows: 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

15 ‘‘(A) DISCLOSURE OF BUNDLED CON16 TRIBUTIONS BY LOBBYISTS.—Each committee 

17 described in paragraph (6) shall include in the 

18 first report required to be filed under this sec19 tion after each covered period (as defined in 

20 paragraph (2)) a separate schedule setting forth 

21 the name, address, and employer of each person 

22 reasonably known by the committee to be a per23 son described in paragraph (7) who provided 2 

24 or more bundled contributions to the committee 

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1 cable threshold (as defined in paragraph (3)) 

2 during the covered period, and the aggregate 

3 amount of the bundled contributions provided 

4 by each such person during the covered period. 

5 ‘‘(B) DISCLOSURE OF BUNDLED CON6 TRIBUTIONS TO PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS.— 

7 Each committee which is an authorized com8 mittee of a candidate for the office of President 

9 or for nomination to such office shall include in 

10 the first report required to be filed under this 

11 section after each covered period (as defined in 

12 paragraph (2)) a separate schedule setting forth 

13 the name, address, and employer of each person 

14 who provided 2 or more bundled contributions 

15 to the committee in an aggregate amount great16 er than the applicable threshold (as defined in 

17 paragraph (3)) during the election cycle, and 

18 the aggregate amount of the bundled contribu19 tions provided by each such person during the 

20 covered period and such election cycle. Such 

21 schedule shall include a separate listing of the 

22 name, address, and employer of each person in23 cluded on such schedule who is reasonably 

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1 gregate amount of bundled contributions pro2 vided by such person during such period and 

3 such cycle. 

4 ‘‘(2) COVERED PERIOD.—In this subsection, a 

5 ‘covered period’ means— 

6 ‘‘(A) with respect to a committee which is 

7 an authorized committee of a candidate for the 

8 office of President or for nomination to such of9 fice— 

10 ‘‘(i) the 4-year election cycle ending 

11 with the date of the election for the office 

12 of the President; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) any reporting period applicable 

14 to the committee under this section during 

15 which any person provided 2 or more bun16 dled contributions to the committee; and 

17 ‘‘(B) with respect to any other com18 mittee— 

19 ‘‘(i) the period beginning January 1 

20 and ending June 30 of each year; 

21 ‘‘(ii) the period beginning July 1 and 

22 ending December 31 of each year; and 

23 ‘‘(iii) any reporting period applicable 

24 to the committee under this section during 

25 which any person described in paragraph 


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1 (7) provided 2 or more bundled contribu2 tions to the committee in an aggregate 

3 amount greater than the applicable thresh4 old. 

5 ‘‘(3) APPLICABLE THRESHOLD.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In this subsection, the 

7 ‘applicable threshold’ is— 

8 ‘‘(i) $50,000 in the case of a com9 mittee which is an authorized committee of 

10 a candidate for the office of President or 

11 for nomination to such office; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) $15,000 in the case of any other 

13 committee. 

14 In determining whether the amount of bundled 

15 contributions provided to a committee by a per16 son exceeds the applicable threshold, there shall 

17 be excluded any contribution made to the com18 mittee by the person or the person’s spouse. 

19 ‘‘(B) INDEXING.—In any calendar year 

20 after 2017, section 315(c)(1)(B) shall apply to 

21 each amount applicable under subparagraph 

22 (A) in the same manner as such section applies 

23 to the limitations established under subsections 

24 (a)(1)(A), (a)(1)(B), (a)(3), and (h) of such 

25 section, except that for purposes of applying 


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1 such section to the amount applicable under 

2 subparagraph (A), the ‘base period’ shall be 

3 2016. 

4 ‘‘(C) AGGREGATION OF CONTRIBUTIONS

5 FROM COSPONSORS OF FUNDRAISING EVENT.— 

6 For purposes of determining the amount of 

7 bundled contributions provided by a person to a 

8 committee which were received by the person at 

9 a fundraising event sponsored by the person, or 

10 in response to an invitation to attend a fund11 raising event sponsored by the person, each per12 son who is a sponsor of the event shall be con13 sidered to have provided to the committee the 

14 aggregate amount of all bundled contributions 

15 which were provided to the committee by all 

16 sponsors of the event.’’. 

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 304(i) of 

18 such Act (2 U.S.C. 434(i)) is amended— 

19 (1) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘described in 

20 paragraph (7)’’ each place it appears in subpara21 graphs (C) and (D); 

22 (2) in paragraph (6), by inserting ‘‘(other than 

23 a candidate for the office of President or for nomi24 nation to such office)’’ after ‘‘candidate’’; and 

25 (3) in paragraph (8)(A)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘, with respect to a com2 mittee described in paragraph (6) and a person 

3 described in paragraph (7),’’ and inserting ‘‘, 

4 with respect to a committee described in para5 graph (6) or an authorized committee of a can6 didate for the office of President or for nomina7 tion to such office,’’; 

8 (B) by striking ‘‘by the person’’ in clause 

9 (i) thereof and inserting ‘‘by any person’’; and 

10 (C) by striking ‘‘the person’’ each place it 

11 appears in clause (ii) and inserting ‘‘such per12 son’’. 

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

14 this section shall apply with respect to reports filed under 

15 section 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 

16 after January 1, 2014. 

17 SEC. 504. JUDICIAL REVIEW OF ACTIONS RELATED TO CAM18 PAIGN FINANCE LAWS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title IV of the Federal Election 

20 Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 451 et seq.) is amended 

21 by inserting after section 406 the following new section: 

22 ‘‘SEC. 407. JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—If any action is brought for de24 claratory or injunctive relief to challenge the constitu25 tionality of any provision of this Act or of chapter 95 or 


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1 96 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or is brought 

2 to with respect to any action of the Commission under 

3 chapter 95 or 96 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 

4 the following rules shall apply: 

5 ‘‘(1) The action shall be filed in the United 

6 States District Court for the District of Columbia 

7 and an appeal from the decision of the district court 

8 may be taken to the Court of Appeals for the Dis9 trict of Columbia Circuit. 

10 ‘‘(2) In the case of an action relating to declar11 atory or injunctive relief to challenge the constitu12 tionality of a provision— 

13 ‘‘(A) a copy of the complaint shall be deliv14 ered promptly to the Clerk of the House of 

15 Representatives and the Secretary of the Sen16 ate; and 

17 ‘‘(B) it shall be the duty of the United 

18 States District Court for the District of Colum19 bia, the Court of Appeals for the District of Co20 lumbia, and the Supreme Court of the United 

21 States to advance on the docket and to expedite 

22 to the greatest possible extent the disposition of 

23 the action and appeal. 

24 ‘‘(b) INTERVENTION BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.— 

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1 sion of this Act or chapter 95 or 96 of the Internal Rev2 enue Code of 1986 is raised, any member of the House 

3 of Representatives (including a Delegate or Resident Com4 missioner to the Congress) or Senate shall have the right 

5 to intervene either in support of or opposition to the posi6 tion of a party to the case regarding the constitutionality 

7 of the provision. To avoid duplication of efforts and reduce 

8 the burdens placed on the parties to the action, the court 

9 in any such action may make such orders as it considers 

10 necessary, including orders to require interveners taking 

11 similar positions to file joint papers or to be represented 

12 by a single attorney at oral argument. 

13 ‘‘(c) CHALLENGE BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.—Any 

14 Member of Congress may bring an action, subject to the 

15 special rules described in subsection (a), for declaratory 

16 or injunctive relief to challenge the constitutionality of any 

17 provision of this Act or chapter 95 or 96 of the Internal 

18 Revenue Code of 1986.’’. 

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

21 (A) Section 310 of the Federal Election 

22 Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 437h) is re23 pealed. 

24 (B) Section 9011 of the Internal Revenue 

25 Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 9011. JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

2 ‘‘For provisions relating to judicial review of certifi3 cations, determinations, and actions by the Commission 

4 under this chapter, see section 407 of the Federal Election 

5 Campaign Act of 1971.’’. 

6 (C) Section 9041 of the Internal Revenue 

7 Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 9041. JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

9 ‘‘For provisions relating to judicial review of actions 

10 by the Commission under this chapter, see section 407 of 

11 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.’’. 

12 (D) Section 403 of the Bipartisan Cam13 paign Finance Reform Act of 2002 (2 U.S.C. 

14 437h note) is repealed. 

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

16 this section shall apply to actions brought on or after Jan17 uary 1, 2014. 

18 TITLE VI—SEVERABILITY; 

19 EFFECTIVE DATE 

20 SEC. 601. SEVERABILITY. 

21 If any provision of this Act or amendment made by 

22 this Act, or the application of a provision or amendment 

23 to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitu24 tional, the remainder of this Act and amendments made 

25 by this Act, and the application of the provisions and 


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1 amendment to any person or circumstance, shall not be 

2 affected by the holding. 

3 SEC. 602. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

4 Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the amend5 ments made by this Act shall apply with respect to elec6 tions occurring after January 1, 2014. 

Æ 


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