II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1176 

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

public financing for Presidential elections, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 30, 2015 

Mr. UDALL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Rules and Administration 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reform 

the system of public financing for Presidential elections, 

and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

5 ‘‘Empowering Mass Participation to Offset the Wealthy’s 

6 Electoral Role Act of 2015’’ or the ‘‘EMPOWER Act of 

7 2015’’. 

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

9 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 


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TITLE I—PRIMARY ELECTIONS 

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

Sec. 102. Eligibility requirements for matching payments. 

Sec. 103. Inflation adjustments. 

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. 

TITLE II—GENERAL ELECTIONS 

Sec. 201. Modification of eligibility requirements for public financing. 

Sec. 202. Repeal of expenditure limitations and use of qualified campaign contributions. 

Sec. 203. Matching payments and other modifications to payment amounts. 

Sec. 204. Inflation adjustments. 

Sec. 205. Increase in limit on coordinated party expenditures. 

Sec. 206. Establishment of uniform date for release of payments. 

Sec. 207. Amounts in Presidential Election Campaign Fund. 

Sec. 208. Use of general election payments for general election legal and accounting compliance. 

TITLE III—SEVERABILITY; EFFECTIVE DATE 

Sec. 301. Severability. 

Sec. 302. Effective date. 

1 TITLE I—PRIMARY ELECTIONS 

2 SEC. 101. INCREASE IN AND MODIFICATIONS TO MATCHING 

3 PAYMENTS. 

4 (a) INCREASE AND MODIFICATION.— 

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

6 9034(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

7 amended— 

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

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

10 amount equal to 600 percent of the amount of 

11 each matchable contribution (disregarding any 

12 amount of contributions from any person to the 

13 extent that the total of the amounts contributed 


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

2 and 

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

4 and all that follows through ‘‘$250’’ and insert5 ing ‘‘authorized committees’’. 

6 (2) MATCHABLE CONTRIBUTIONS.—Section 

7 9034 of such Code is amended— 

8 (A) by striking the last sentence of sub9 section (a); and 

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

11 following new subsection: 

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

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

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

15 ‘matchable contribution’ means, with respect to the 

16 nomination for election to the office of President of 

17 the United States, a contribution by an individual to 

18 a candidate or an authorized committee of a can19 didate with respect to which the candidate has cer20 tified in writing that— 

21 ‘‘(A) the individual making such contribu22 tion has not made aggregate contributions (in23 cluding such matchable contribution) to such 

24 candidate and the authorized committees of 


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1 such candidate in excess of $1,000 for the elec2 tion; 

3 ‘‘(B) such candidate and the authorized 

4 committees of such candidate will not accept 

5 contributions from such individual (including 

6 such matchable contribution) aggregating more 

7 than the amount described in subparagraph 

8 (A); and 

9 ‘‘(C) such contribution was not— 

10 ‘‘(i) forwarded from the contributor 

11 from any person other than an individual, 

12 or 

13 ‘‘(ii) received by the candidate or com14 mittee from a contributor or contributors, 

15 but credited by the committee or candidate 

16 to another person who is not an individual 

17 through records, designations, or other 

18 means of recognizing (whether in writing 

19 or not in writing) that a certain amount of 

20 money has been raised by such person. 

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

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

23 money made by a written instrument which identi24 fies the individual making the contribution by full 

25 name and mailing address, but does not include a 


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

2 anything of value or anything described in subpara3 graph (B), (C), or (D) of section 9032(4).’’. 

4 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

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

6 amended by striking ‘‘section 9034(a)’’ and in7 serting ‘‘section 9034’’. 

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

9 amended by striking ‘‘matching contributions’’ 

10 and inserting ‘‘matchable contributions’’. 

11 (b) MODIFICATION OF PAYMENT LIMITATION.—Sec12 tion 9034(b) of such Code is amended by striking ‘‘shall 

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

14 exceed $300,000,000.’’ 

15 SEC. 102. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR MATCHING 

16 PAYMENTS. 

17 (a) AMOUNT OF AGGREGATE CONTRIBUTIONS PER

18 STATE; DISREGARDING OF AMOUNTS CONTRIBUTED IN

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

20 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

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

22 ‘‘$25,000’’; and 

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

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

25 contributions from any such resident to the extent 


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1 that the total of the amounts contributed by such 

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

3 (b) CONTRIBUTION LIMIT.— 

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

5 9033(b) of such Code is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(4) the candidate and the authorized commit7 tees of the candidate will not accept aggregate con8 tributions from any person with respect to the nomi9 nation for election to the office of President of the 

10 United States in excess of $1,000 for the election.’’. 

11 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

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

13 amended by adding at the end the following 

14 new flush sentence: 

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

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

17 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.’’. 

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

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

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

21 (c) BAN ON ACCEPTANCE OF BUNDLED CONTRIBU22 TIONS.—Section 9033(b) of such Code, as amended by 

23 subsection (b), is amended— 

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

25 (3); 


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1 (2) by striking the period at the end of para2 graph (4) and inserting ‘‘, and’’; and 

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

4 paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(5) the candidate and the authorized com6 mittee of the candidate will not accept any bundled 

7 contribution (as defined in section 304(i)(8)) for8 warded by or credited to a person described in sec9 tion 304(i)(7).’’. 

10 (d) PARTICIPATION IN SYSTEM FOR PAYMENTS FOR

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

12 amended by subsection (c), is amended— 

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

14 (4); 

15 (2) by striking the period at the end of para16 graph (5) and inserting ‘‘, and’’; and 

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

18 paragraph: 

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

20 party for election to the office of President, the can21 didate will apply for and accept payments with re22 spect to the general election for such office in ac23 cordance with chapter 95.’’. 


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1 SEC. 103. INFLATION ADJUSTMENTS. 

2 Section 9033 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

3 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub4 section: 

5 ‘‘(d) INFLATION ADJUSTMENTS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any applica7 ble period beginning after 2015, each of the dollar 

8 amounts described in paragraph (4) shall be in9 creased by an amount equal to— 

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

11 ‘‘(B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter12 mined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar 

13 year following the year which such applicable 

14 period begins, determined by substituting ‘cal15 endar year 2015’ for ‘calendar year 1992’ in 

16 subparagraph (B) thereof. 

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

18 this subsection, the term ‘applicable period’ means 

19 the 4-year period beginning with the first day fol20 lowing the date of the last general election for the 

21 office of President and ending on the date of the 

22 next such general election. 

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

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

25 amount shall be rounded to the nearest multiple of 

26 $100. 


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1 ‘‘(4) AMOUNTS DESCRIBED.—The dollar 

2 amounts described in this paragraph are each of the 

3 dollar amounts in the following provisions of this 

4 chapter: 

5 ‘‘(A) Subsection (b) of this section (relat6 ing to the requirements with respect to con7 tributions received and accepted by eligible can8 didates). 

9 ‘‘(B) Section 9034(a) and 9034(c) (relat10 ing to the determinations and definition of 

11 ‘matchable contribution’). 

12 ‘‘(C) Section 9034(b) (relating to the limi13 tation on the total amount of payments to 

14 which a candidate may be entitled). 

15 ‘‘(D) Section 9035(a) (relating to the limi16 tation on the amount of expenditures a can17 didate may make from personal funds).’’. 

18 SEC. 104. REPEAL OF EXPENDITURE LIMITATIONS. 

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

20 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read 

21 as follows: 

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

23 candidate shall knowingly make expenditures from his per24 sonal funds, or the personal funds of his immediate family, 

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1 tion to the office of President in excess of, in the aggre2 gate, $50,000.’’. 

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

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

5 amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(1) the candidate will comply with the per7 sonal expenditure limitation under section 9035,’’. 

8 SEC. 105. PERIOD OF AVAILABILITY OF MATCHING PAY9 MENTS. 

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

11 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘the beginning of the cal12 endar year in which a general election for the office of 

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

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

15 State primary election’’. 

16 SEC. 106. EXAMINATION AND AUDITS OF MATCHABLE CON17 TRIBUTIONS. 

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

19 1986 is amended by inserting ‘‘and matchable contribu20 tions accepted by’’ after ‘‘qualified campaign expenses of’’. 

21 SEC. 107. MODIFICATION TO LIMITATION ON CONTRIBU22 TIONS FOR PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY CAN23 DIDATES. 

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

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1 ing ‘‘calendar year’’ and inserting ‘‘four-year election 

2 cycle’’. 

3 TITLE II—GENERAL ELECTIONS 

4 SEC. 201. MODIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS 

5 FOR PUBLIC FINANCING. 

6 Subsection (a) of section 9003 of the Internal Rev7 enue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows: 

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

9 any payments under section 9006, the candidates of a po10 litical party in a presidential election shall meet the fol11 lowing requirements: 

12 ‘‘(1) PARTICIPATION IN PRIMARY PAYMENT

13 SYSTEM.—The candidate for President received pay14 ments under chapter 96 for the campaign for nomi15 nation for election to be President. 

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

17 candidates, in writing— 

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

19 Commission such evidence as it may request of 

20 the qualified campaign expenses of such can21 didates, 

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

23 Commission such records, books, and other in24 formation as it may request, and 


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

2 the Commission under section 9007 and to pay 

3 any amounts required to be paid under such 

4 section. 

5 ‘‘(3) BAN ON CERTAIN CONTRIBUTIONS AND

6 SOLICITATIONS.—The candidates certify to the Com7 mission, under penalty of perjury, the following: 

8 ‘‘(A) BUNDLED CONTRIBUTIONS.—Such 

9 candidates and the authorized committees of 

10 such candidates will not accept any bundled 

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

12 forwarded by or credited to a person described 

13 in section 304(i)(7). 

14 ‘‘(B) SOLICITATIONS FOR JOINT FUND15 RAISING COMMITTEES.—Such candidates and 

16 their authorized committees will not, after June 

17 1 of the election year, solicit any funds for any 

18 joint fundraising committee that includes any 

19 committee of a political party. 

20 ‘‘(C) SOLICITATION FOR POLITICAL PAR21 TIES.—Such candidates and their authorized 

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

23 which the election is held, solicit any funds for 

24 any committee of a political party. 


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1 Such certification shall be made within such time 

2 prior to the day of the presidential election as the 

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

4 SEC. 202. REPEAL OF EXPENDITURE LIMITATIONS AND USE 

5 OF QUALIFIED CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS. 

6 (a) USE OF QUALIFIED CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS

7 WITHOUT EXPENDITURE LIMITS; APPLICATION OF SAME

8 REQUIREMENTS FOR MAJOR, MINOR, AND NEW PAR9 TIES.—Section 9003 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

10 1986 is amended by striking subsections (b) and (c) and 

11 inserting the following: 

12 ‘‘(b) USE OF QUALIFIED CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS

13 TO DEFRAY EXPENSES.— 

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

15 receive any payments under section 9006, the can16 didates of a party in a presidential election shall cer17 tify to the Commission, under penalty of perjury, 

18 that— 

19 ‘‘(A) such candidates and their authorized 

20 committees have not and will not accept any 

21 contributions to defray qualified campaign ex22 penses other than— 

23 ‘‘(i) qualified campaign contributions, 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) contributions to the extent nec2 essary to make up any deficiency payments 

3 received out of the fund on account of the 

4 application of section 9006(c), and 

5 ‘‘(B) such candidates and their authorized 

6 committees have not and will not accept any 

7 contribution to defray expenses which would be 

8 qualified campaign expenses but for subpara9 graph (C) of section 9002(11). 

10 ‘‘(2) TIMING OF CERTIFICATION.—The can11 didate shall make the certification required under 

12 this subsection at the same time the candidate 

13 makes the certification required under subsection 

14 (a)(3).’’. 

15 (b) DEFINITION OF QUALIFIED CAMPAIGN CON16 TRIBUTION.—Section 9002 of such Code is amended by 

17 adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

18 ‘‘(13) QUALIFIED CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION.— 

19 The term ‘qualified campaign contribution’ means, 

20 with respect to any election for the office of Presi21 dent of the United States, a contribution from an in22 dividual to a candidate or an authorized committee 

23 of a candidate which— 

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

25 which the election is held; 


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1 ‘‘(B) does not exceed $1,000 for the elec2 tion; and 

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

4 has certified in writing that— 

5 ‘‘(i) the individual making such con6 tribution has not made aggregate contribu7 tions (including such qualified contribu8 tion) to such candidate and the authorized 

9 committees of such candidate in excess of 

10 the amount described in subparagraph (B), 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(ii) such candidate and the author13 ized committees of such candidate will not 

14 accept contributions from such individual 

15 (including such qualified contribution) ag16 gregating more than the amount described 

17 in subparagraph (B) with respect to such 

18 election.’’. 

19 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

20 (1) REPEAL OF EXPENDITURE LIMITS.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 315 of the Fed22 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 

23 30116) is amended by striking subsection (b). 


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1 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

2 315(c) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30116(c)) is 

3 amended— 

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

5 ‘‘, (b)’’; and 

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

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

8 ‘‘subsection (d)’’. 

9 (2) REPEAL OF REPAYMENT REQUIREMENT.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 9007(b) of the 

11 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 

12 striking paragraph (2) and redesignating para13 graphs (3), (4), and (5) as paragraphs (2), (3), 

14 and (4), respectively. 

15 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Para16 graph (2) of section 9007(b) of such Code, as 

17 redesignated by subparagraph (A), is amend18 ed— 

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

20 inserting ‘‘a party’’; 

21 (ii) by inserting ‘‘qualified contribu22 tions and’’ after ‘‘contributions (other 

23 than’’; and 

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

25 campaign expenses with respect to which 


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1 payment is required under paragraph 

2 (2))’’. 

3 (3) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.— 

4 (A) REPEAL OF PENALTY FOR EXCESS EX5 PENSES.—Section 9012 of the Internal Revenue 

6 Code of 1986 is amended by striking subsection 

7 (a). 

8 (B) PENALTY FOR ACCEPTANCE OF DIS9 ALLOWED CONTRIBUTIONS; APPLICATION OF

10 SAME PENALTY FOR CANDIDATES OF MAJOR, 

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

12 section 9012 of such Code is amended to read 

13 as follows: 

14 ‘‘(b) CONTRIBUTIONS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) ACCEPTANCE OF DISALLOWED CONTRIBU16 TIONS.—It shall be unlawful for an eligible can17 didate of a party in a presidential election or any of 

18 his authorized committees knowingly and willfully to 

19 accept any contribution to defray qualified campaign 

20 expenses, except to the extent necessary to make up 

21 any deficiency in payments received out of the fund 

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

23 to defray expenses which would be qualified cam24 paign expenses but for subparagraph (C) of section 

25 9002(11). 


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1 ‘‘(2) PENALTY.—Any person who violates para2 graph (1) shall be fined not more than $5,000, or 

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

4 case of a violation by an authorized committee, any 

5 officer or member of such committee who knowingly 

6 and willfully consents to such violation shall be fined 

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

8 one year, or both.’’. 

9 SEC. 203. MATCHING PAYMENTS AND OTHER MODIFICA10 TIONS TO PAYMENT AMOUNTS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

12 (1) AMOUNT OF PAYMENTS; APPLICATION OF

13 SAME AMOUNT FOR CANDIDATES OF MAJOR, MINOR, 

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

15 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to 

16 read as follows: 

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

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

19 election shall be entitled to equal payment under section 

20 9006 in an amount equal to 600 percent of the amount 

21 of each matchable contribution received by such candidate 

22 or by the candidate’s authorized committees (disregarding 

23 any amount of contributions from any person to the extent 

24 that the total of the amounts contributed by such person 

25 for the election exceeds $250), except that total amount 


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1 to which a candidate is entitled under this paragraph shall 

2 not exceed $300,000,000.’’. 

3 (2) REPEAL OF SEPARATE LIMITATIONS FOR

4 CANDIDATES OF MINOR AND NEW PARTIES.—Section 

5 9004 of such Code is amended by striking sub6 section (b). 

7 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

8 9005(a) of such Code is amended by adding at the 

9 end the following new sentence: ‘‘The Commission 

10 shall make such additional certifications as may be 

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

12 (b) MATCHABLE CONTRIBUTION.—Section 9002 of 

13 such Code, as amended by section 202, is amended by add14 ing at the end the following new paragraph: 

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

16 ‘matchable contribution’ means, with respect to the 

17 election to the office of President of the United 

18 States, a contribution by an individual to a can19 didate or an authorized committee of a candidate 

20 with respect to which the candidate has certified in 

21 writing that— 

22 ‘‘(A) the individual making such contribu23 tion has not made aggregate contributions (in24 cluding such matchable contribution) to such 

25 candidate and the authorized committees of 


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1 such candidate in excess of $1,000 for the elec2 tion; 

3 ‘‘(B) such candidate and the authorized 

4 committees of such candidate will not accept 

5 contributions from such individual (including 

6 such matchable contribution) aggregating more 

7 than the amount described in subparagraph (A) 

8 with respect to such election; and 

9 ‘‘(C) such contribution was not— 

10 ‘‘(i) forwarded from the contributor 

11 from any person other than an individual, 

12 or 

13 ‘‘(ii) received by the candidate or com14 mittee from a contributor or contributors, 

15 but credited by the committee or candidate 

16 to another person who is not an individual 

17 through records, designations, or other 

18 means of recognizing (whether in writing 

19 or not in writing) that a certain amount of 

20 money has been raised by such person.’’. 

21 SEC. 204. INFLATION ADJUSTMENTS. 

22 Section 9004 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

23 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub24 section: 

25 ‘‘(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 described in paragraph (4) shall be in4 creased by 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. 

22 ‘‘(4) AMOUNTS DESCRIBED.—The dollar 

23 amounts described in this paragraph are each of the 

24 dollar amounts in the following provisions of this 

25 chapter: 


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1 ‘‘(A) Section 9002(13) (relating to the def2 inition of ‘qualified campaign contribution’). 

3 ‘‘(B) Section 9002(14) (relating to the def4 inition of ‘matchable contribution’). 

5 ‘‘(C) Subsection (a) of this section (relat6 ing to the limitation on the total amount of 

7 payments to which a candidate may be enti8 tled).’’. 

9 SEC. 205. INCREASE IN LIMIT ON COORDINATED PARTY EX10 PENDITURES. 

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

12 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30116(d)(2)) 

13 is amended to read as follows: 

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

15 may not make any expenditure in connection with the gen16 eral election campaign of any candidate for President of 

17 the United States who is affiliated with such party which 

18 exceeds $100,000,000. 

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

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

21 national committee of a political party and in con22 nection with a presidential election shall be consid23 ered to be made in connection with the general elec24 tion campaign of a candidate for President of the 

25 United States who is affiliated with such party; and 


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

2 of such party shall be considered to be made in con3 nection with the general election campaign of a can4 didate for President of the United States who is af5 filiated with such party if any portion of the commu6 nication is in connection with such election. 

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

8 in addition to any expenditure by a national committee 

9 of a political party serving as the principal campaign com10 mittee of a candidate for the office of President of the 

11 United States.’’. 

12 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS RELATING TO TIM13 ING OF COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENT.— 

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

15 Act (52 U.S.C. 30116(c)(1)), as amended by section 

16 202(d)(1)(B), is amended— 

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

18 and inserting ‘‘(d)(3)’’; and 

19 (B) by inserting at the end the following 

20 new subparagraph: 

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

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

23 be increased by the percent difference determined 

24 under subparagraph (A); 


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

2 effect for the calendar year; and 

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

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

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

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

7 Act (52 U.S.C. 30116(c)(2)(B)), as amended by sec8 tion 202(d)(1)(B), is amended— 

9 (A) in clause (i)— 

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

11 ‘‘(d)(3)’’; and 

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

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

14 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

16 clause: 

17 ‘‘(iii) for purposes of subsection (d)(2), cal18 endar year 2016.’’. 

19 SEC. 206. ESTABLISHMENT OF UNIFORM DATE FOR RE20 LEASE OF PAYMENTS. 

21 (a) DATE FOR PAYMENTS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 9006(b) of the In23 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as 

24 follows: 


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

2 of the Treasury receives a certification from the Commis3 sion under section 9005 for payment to the eligible can4 didates of a political party, the Secretary shall pay to such 

5 candidates out of the fund the amount certified by the 

6 Commission on the later of— 

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

8 Monday in September; or 

9 ‘‘(2) 24 hours after receiving the certifications 

10 for the eligible candidates of all major political par11 ties. 

12 Amounts paid to any such candidates shall be under the 

13 control of such candidates.’’. 

14 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The first sen15 tence of section 9006(c) of such Code is amended by 

16 striking ‘‘the time of a certification by the Commis17 sion under section 9005 for payment’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘the time of making a payment under subsection 

19 (b)’’. 

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

21 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 

22 ‘‘10 days’’ and inserting ‘‘24 hours’’. 


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1 SEC. 207. AMOUNTS IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAM2 PAIGN FUND. 

3 (a) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNTS IN FUND.—Sec4 tion 9006(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

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

6 ‘‘In making a determination of whether there are insuffi7 cient moneys in the fund for purposes of the previous sen8 tence, the Secretary shall take into account in determining 

9 the balance of the fund for a Presidential election year 

10 the Secretary’s best estimate of the amount of moneys 

11 which will be deposited into the fund during the year, ex12 cept that the amount of the estimate may not exceed the 

13 average of the annual amounts deposited in the fund dur14 ing the previous 3 years.’’. 

15 (b) SPECIAL RULE FOR FIRST CAMPAIGN CYCLE

16 UNDER THIS ACT.— 

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

18 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the 

19 end the following new subsection: 

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

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

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

23 fund, as repayable advances, such sums as are nec24 essary to carry out the purposes of the fund during 

25 the period ending on the first presidential election 


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1 occurring after the date of the enactment of this 

2 subsection. 

3 ‘‘(2) REPAYMENT OF ADVANCES.— 

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

5 fund shall be repaid, and interest on such ad6 vances shall be paid, to the general fund of the 

7 Treasury when the Secretary determines that 

8 moneys are available for such purposes in the 

9 fund. 

10 ‘‘(B) RATE OF INTEREST.—Interest on ad11 vances made to the fund shall be at a rate de12 termined by the Secretary of the Treasury (as 

13 of the close of the calendar month preceding the 

14 month in which the advance is made) to be 

15 equal to the current average market yield on 

16 outstanding marketable obligations of the 

17 United States with remaining periods to matu18 rity comparable to the anticipated period during 

19 which the advance will be outstanding and shall 

20 be compounded annually.’’. 

21 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

22 by this subsection shall take effect January 1, 2016. 


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1 SEC. 208. USE OF GENERAL ELECTION PAYMENTS FOR GEN2 ERAL ELECTION LEGAL AND ACCOUNTING 

3 COMPLIANCE. 

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

5 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

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

7 incurred by a candidate or authorized committee for gen8 eral election legal and accounting compliance purposes 

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

10 of such candidate.’’. 

11 TITLE III—SEVERABILITY; 

12 EFFECTIVE DATE 

13 SEC. 301. SEVERABILITY. 

14 If any provision of this Act or amendment made by 

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

16 to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitu17 tional, the remainder of this Act and amendments made 

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

19 amendment to any person or circumstance, shall not be 

20 affected by the holding. 

21 SEC. 302. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

22 Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the amend23 ments made by this Act shall apply with respect to elec24 tions occurring after January 1, 2016. 

Æ 


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