I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 103

To establish a House of Representatives election limitation on contributions

from persons other than local individual residents, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 5, 1993

Mr. MICHEL (for himself and Mr. THOMAS of California) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration

A BILL

To establish a House of Representatives election limitation

on contributions from persons other than local individual

residents, and for other purposes.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fair and Competitive

5 Election Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ELECTION LIMITA2 TION ON CONTRIBUTIONS FROM PERSONS

3 OTHER THAN LOCAL INDIVIDUAL RESIDENTS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 315 of the Federal Elec5 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a), is amended

6 by adding at the end the following new subsection:

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

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

9 may not, with respect to a reporting period for an election,

10 accept contributions from persons other than local individ11 ual residents totaling in excess of the total of contributions

12 accepted from local individual residents.

13 ‘‘(2) As used in this subsection, the term ‘local indi14 vidual resident’ means an individual who resides in a coun15 ty, any part of which is in the congressional district in16 volved.

17 ‘‘(3)(A) Any candidate who accepts contributions that

18 exceed the limitation under this subsection by 5 percent

19 or less shall refund the excess contributions to the persons

20 who made the contributions.

21 ‘‘(B) Any candidate who accepts contributions that

22 exceed the limitation under this subsection by more than

23 5 percent and less than 10 percent shall pay to the Com24 mission, for deposit in the Treasury, an amount equal to

25 three times the amount of the excess contributions.
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1 ‘‘(C) Any candidate who accepts contributions that

2 exceed the limitation under this subsection by 10 percent

3 or more shall pay to the Commission, for deposit in the

4 Treasury, an amount equal to three times the amount of

5 the excess contributions plus a civil penalty in an amount

6 determined by the Commission.’’.

7 (b) EFFECTIVE PROVISION.—During any period with

8 respect to which subsection (i) of section 315 of the Fed9 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971, as added by sub10 section (a), is not in effect, such subsection shall be effec11 tive as so added, together with the following new para12 graph:

13 ‘‘(3) For purposes of this subsection, an individual

14 may not be considered a resident of more than one con15 gressional district.’’.

16 SEC. 3. REDUCTION IN THE LIMITATION AMOUNT APPLICA17 BLE TO NONPARTY MULTICANDIDATE POLIT18 ICAL COMMITTEE CONTRIBUTIONS TO CAN19 DIDATES.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 315 of the Federal Elec21 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a), as amended

22 by section 1, is further amended by adding at the end the

23 following new subsection:

24 ‘‘(j) Notwithstanding subsection (a)(2)(A), no

25 nonparty multicandidate political committee may make
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1 contributions referred to in that subparagraph which, in

2 the aggregate, exceed $1,000.’’.

3 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 315(a)(2)(A)

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

5 441a(a)(2)(A)) is amended by inserting after ‘‘(A)’’ the

6 following: ‘‘except as provided in subsection (j),’’.

7 SEC. 4. BAN ON SOFT MONEY.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Federal Election

9 Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended

10 by adding at the end the following new section:

11 ‘‘LIMITATIONS AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR

12 AMOUNTS PAID FOR MIXED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES

13 ‘‘SEC. 323. (a) Any payment by the national commit14 tee of a political party or a State committee of a political

15 party for a mixed political activity—

16 ‘‘(1) shall be subject to limitation and reporting

17 under this Act as if such payment were an expendi18 ture; and

19 ‘‘(2) may be paid only from an account that is

20 subject to the requirements of this Act.

21 ‘‘(b) As used in this section, the term ‘mixed political

22 activity’ means, with respect to a payment by the national

23 committee of a political party or a State committee of a

24 political party, an activity, such as a voter registration

25 program, a get-out-the-vote drive, or general political ad26 vertising, that is both (1) for the purpose of influencing
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1 an election for Federal office, and (2) for any purpose un2 related to influencing an election for Federal office.’’.

3 (b) REPEAL OF BUILDING FUND EXCEPTION TO THE

4 DEFINITION OF THE TERM ‘‘CONTRIBUTION’’.—Section

5 301(8)(B) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971

6 (2 U.S.C. 431(8)(B)) is amended—

7 (1) by striking out clause (viii); and

8 (2) by redesignating clauses (ix) through (xiv)

9 as clauses (viii) through (xiii), respectively.

10 SEC. 5. TRANSITION RULE RELATING TO EXCESS FUNDS OF

11 CANDIDATES FOR THE HOUSE OF REP12 RESENTATIVES.

13 A candidate for the office of Representative in, or

14 Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress, who,

15 on the date of the enactment of this Act, has campaign

16 accounts containing amounts in excess of the contribution

17 limit under section 315(i) of the Federal Election Cam18 paign Act of 1971 shall deposit such excess in a separate

19 account subject to section 304 of the Federal Election

20 Campaign Act of 1971. The amount so deposited shall be

21 available for any lawful purpose other than use, with re22 spect to the individual for an election for the office of Rep23 resentative, in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to,

24 the Congress. For purposes of this section, excess funds

25 are those funds which exceed twice the amount of funds
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1 raised from local individual residents after December 31,

2 1992. From the date of the enactment of this Act until

3 the end of the period covered by the 1994 pre-primary

4 report a candidate may transfer excess funds from the

5 separate account to the campaign account so long as a

6 majority of the total funds contributed or transferred to

7 the campaign account were raised from local individual

8 residents after December 31, 1992. No funds may be

9 transferred from a separate account of a candidate to a

10 campaign account of the candidate after the end of the

11 period covered by the 1994 pre-primary report.

12 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

13 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect

14 on the date of the enactment of this Act.

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