II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1838 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to clarify the treatment 

of coordinated expenditures as contributions to candidates, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 22, 2015 

Mr. LEAHY (for himself and Mr. UDALL) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to 

clarify the treatment of coordinated expenditures as contributions to candidates, 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 ‘‘Stop Super PAC-Can5 didate Coordination Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF TREATMENT OF COORDINATED 

2 EXPENDITURES AS CONTRIBUTIONS TO CAN3 DIDATES. 

4 (a) TREATMENT AS CONTRIBUTION TO CAN5 DIDATE.—Section 301(8)(A) of the Federal Election Cam6 paign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101(8)(A)) is amended— 

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

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

9 (ii) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

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

11 clause: 

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

13 (other than a candidate, an authorized com14 mittee of a candidate, or a political committee 

15 of a political party) for a coordinated expendi16 ture (as such term is defined in section 324) 

17 which is not otherwise treated as a contribution 

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

19 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 324 of such Act (52 

20 U.S.C. 30126) is amended to read as follows: 

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

22 ‘‘(a) COORDINATED EXPENDITURES.— 

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

24 301(8)(A)(iii), the term ‘coordinated expenditure’ 

25 means— 


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1 ‘‘(A) any expenditure, or any payment for 

2 a covered communication described in sub3 section (d), which is made in cooperation, con4 sultation, or concert with, or at the request or 

5 suggestion of, a candidate, an authorized com6 mittee of a candidate, a political committee of 

7 a political party, or agents of the candidate or 

8 committee, as defined in subsection (b); or 

9 ‘‘(B) any payment for any communication 

10 which republishes, disseminates, or distributes, 

11 in whole or in part, any video or broadcast or 

12 any written, graphic, or other form of campaign 

13 material prepared by the candidate or com14 mittee or by agents of the candidate or com15 mittee (including any excerpt or use of any 

16 video from any such broadcast or written, 

17 graphic, or other form of campaign material). 

18 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR PAYMENTS FOR CERTAIN

19 COMMUNICATIONS.—A payment for a communication 

20 (including a covered communication described in 

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

22 expenditure under this subsection if— 

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

24 story, commentary, or editorial distributed 

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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 pay19 ment, or any communication for which the payment 

20 is made, is not made entirely independently of the 

21 candidate, committee, or agents. For purposes of the 

22 previous sentence, a payment or communication not 

23 made entirely independently of the candidate or 

24 committee includes any payment or communication 

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1 standing with, or pursuant to any communication 

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

3 payment or communication. 

4 ‘‘(2) NO FINDING OF COORDINATION BASED

5 SOLELY ON SHARING OF INFORMATION REGARDING

6 LEGISLATIVE OR POLICY POSITION.—For purposes 

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

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

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

10 candidate or committee, solely on the grounds that 

11 the person or the person’s agent engaged in discus12 sions with the candidate or committee, or with any 

13 agent of the candidate or committee, regarding that 

14 person’s position on a legislative or policy matter 

15 (including urging the candidate or committee to 

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

17 communication between the person and the can18 didate or committee, or any agent of the candidate 

19 or committee, regarding the candidate’s or commit20 tee’s campaign advertising, message, strategy, pol21 icy, polling, allocation of resources, fundraising, or 

22 other campaign activities. 

23 ‘‘(3) NO EFFECT ON PARTY COORDINATION

24 STANDARD.—Nothing in this section shall be con25 strued to affect the determination of coordination 


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1 between a candidate and a political committee of a 

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

3 ‘‘(4) NO SAFE HARBOR FOR USE OF FIRE4 WALL.—A person shall be determined to have made 

5 a payment in cooperation, consultation, or concert 

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

7 or committee, in accordance with this section with8 out regard to whether or not the person established 

9 and used a firewall or similar procedures to restrict 

10 the sharing of information between individuals who 

11 are employed by or who are serving as agents for the 

12 person making the payment. 

13 ‘‘(c) PAYMENTS BY COORDINATED SPENDERS FOR

14 COVERED COMMUNICATIONS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) PAYMENTS MADE IN COOPERATION, CON16 SULTATION, OR CONCERT WITH CANDIDATES.—For 

17 purposes of subsection (a)(1)(A), if the person who 

18 makes a payment for a covered communication, as 

19 defined in subsection (d), is a coordinated spender 

20 under paragraph (2) with respect to the candidate 

21 as described in subsection (d)(1), the payment for 

22 the covered communication is made in cooperation, 

23 consultation, or concert with the candidate. 

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

25 purposes of this subsection, the term ‘coordinated 


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

2 authorized committee of a candidate, a person (other 

3 than a political committee of a political party) for 

4 which any of the following applies: 

5 ‘‘(A) During the 4-year period ending on 

6 the date on which the person makes the pay7 ment, the person was directly or indirectly 

8 formed or established by or at the request or 

9 suggestion of, or with the encouragement of, 

10 the candidate (including an individual who later 

11 becomes a candidate) or committee or agents of 

12 the candidate or committee, including with the 

13 approval of the candidate or committee or 

14 agents of the candidate or committee. 

15 ‘‘(B) The candidate or committee or any 

16 agent of the candidate or committee solicits 

17 funds, appears at a fundraising event, or en18 gages in other fundraising activity on the per19 son’s behalf during the election cycle involved, 

20 including by providing the person with names of 

21 potential donors or other lists to be used by the 

22 person in engaging in fundraising activity, re23 gardless of whether the person pays fair market 

24 value for the names or lists provided. For pur25 poses of this subparagraph, the term ‘election 


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1 cycle’ means, with respect to an election for 

2 Federal office, the period beginning on the day 

3 after the date of the most recent general elec4 tion for that office (or, if the general election 

5 resulted in a runoff election, the date of the 

6 runoff election) and ending on the date of the 

7 next general election for that office (or, if the 

8 general election resulted in a runoff election, 

9 the date of the runoff election). 

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

11 managed by the candidate or committee or by 

12 any person who, during the 4-year period end13 ing on the date on which the person makes the 

14 payment, has been employed or retained as a 

15 political, campaign media, or fundraising ad16 viser or consultant for the candidate or com17 mittee or for any other entity directly or indi18 rectly controlled by the candidate or committee, 

19 or has held a formal position with the candidate 

20 or committee. 

21 ‘‘(D) The person has retained the profes22 sional services of any person who, during the 2- 

23 year period ending on the date on which the 

24 person makes the payment, has provided or is 

25 providing professional services relating to the 


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1 campaign to the candidate or committee. For 

2 purposes of this subparagraph, the term ‘pro3 fessional services’ includes any services in sup4 port of the candidate’s or committee’s campaign 

5 activities, including advertising, message, strat6 egy, policy, polling, allocation of resources, 

7 fundraising, and campaign operations, but does 

8 not include accounting or legal services. 

9 ‘‘(E) The person is established, directed, or 

10 managed by a member of the immediate family 

11 of the candidate, or the person or any officer or 

12 agent of the person has had more than inci13 dental discussions about the candidate’s cam14 paign with a member of the immediate family 

15 of the candidate. For purposes of this subpara16 graph, the term ‘immediate family’ has the 

17 meaning given such term in section 9004(e) of 

18 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

19 ‘‘(d) COVERED COMMUNICATION DEFINED.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec21 tion, the term ‘covered communication’ means, with 

22 respect to a candidate or an authorized committee of 

23 a candidate, a public communication (as defined in 

24 section 301(22)) which— 


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1 ‘‘(A) expressly advocates the election of the 

2 candidate or the defeat of an opponent of the 

3 candidate (or contains the functional equivalent 

4 of express advocacy); 

5 ‘‘(B) promotes or supports the candidate, 

6 or attacks or opposes an opponent of the can7 didate (regardless of whether the communica8 tion expressly advocates the election or defeat 

9 of a candidate or contains the functional equiv10 alent of express advocacy); or 

11 ‘‘(C) refers to the candidate or an oppo12 nent of the candidate but is not described in 

13 subparagraph (A) or subparagraph (B), but 

14 only if the communication is disseminated dur15 ing the applicable election period. 

16 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE ELECTION PERIOD.—In para17 graph (1)(B), the ‘applicable election period’ with re18 spect to a communication means— 

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

20 refers to a candidate in a general, special, or 

21 runoff election, the 120-day period which ends 

22 on the date of the election; or 

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

24 refers to a candidate in a primary or preference 

25 election, or convention or caucus of a political 


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1 party that has authority to nominate a can2 didate, the 60-day period which ends on the 

3 date of the election or convention or caucus. 

4 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULES FOR COMMUNICATIONS IN5 VOLVING CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES.—For pur6 poses of this subsection, a public communication 

7 shall not be considered to be a covered communica8 tion with respect to a candidate for election for an 

9 office other than the office of President or Vice 

10 President unless it is publicly disseminated or dis11 tributed in the jurisdiction of the office the can12 didate is seeking. 

13 ‘‘(e) PENALTY.— 

14 ‘‘(1) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT.—Any per15 son who knowingly and willfully commits a violation 

16 of this Act by making a contribution which consists 

17 of a payment for a coordinated expenditure shall be 

18 fined an amount equal to the greater of— 

19 ‘‘(A) in the case of a person who makes a 

20 contribution which consists of a payment for a 

21 coordinated expenditure in an amount exceeding 

22 the applicable contribution limit under this Act, 

23 300 percent of the amount by which the 

24 amount of the payment made by the person ex25 ceeds such applicable contribution limit; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) in the case of a person who is prohib2 ited under this Act from making a contribution 

3 in any amount, 300 percent of the amount of 

4 the payment made by the person for the coordi5 nated expenditure. 

6 ‘‘(2) JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY.—Any di7 rector, manager or officer of a person who is subject 

8 to a penalty under paragraph (1) shall be jointly and 

9 severally liable for any amount of such penalty that 

10 is not paid by the person prior to the expiration of 

11 the 1-year period which begins on the date the Com12 mission imposes the penalty or the 1-year period 

13 which begins on the date of the final judgment fol14 lowing any judicial review of the Commission’s ac15 tion, whichever is later.’’. 

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. 3. CLARIFICATION OF BAN ON FUNDRAISING FOR 

16 SUPER PACS BY FEDERAL CANDIDATES AND 

17 OFFICEHOLDERS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 323(e)(1) of the Federal 

19 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30125(e)(1)) 

20 is amended— 

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

22 (A); 

23 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub24 paragraph (B) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 


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1 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub2 paragraph: 

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

4 funds to or on behalf of any political committee 

5 which accepts donations or contributions that 

6 do not comply with the limitations, prohibitions, 

7 and reporting requirements of this Act (or to or 

8 on behalf of any account of a political com9 mittee which is established for the purpose of 

10 accepting such donations or contributions), or 

11 to or on behalf of any political organization 

12 under section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code 

13 of 1986 which accepts such donations or con14 tributions (other than a committee of a State or 

15 local political party or a candidate for election 

16 for State or local office).’’. 

17 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

18 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to elections occur19 ring after January 1, 2016. 

Æ 


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