I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 471 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase the frequency 

of disclosure of information by political organizations and to improve 

the linkage between databases for public disclosure of election-related 

information maintained by the Department of the Treasury and the 

Federal Election Commission. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 1, 2005 

Mr. LARSON of Connecticut introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee 

on House Administration, 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 increase 

the frequency of disclosure of information by political 

organizations and to improve the linkage between databases for public disclosure of election-related information 

maintained by the Department of the Treasury and the 

Federal Election Commission. 

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. INCREASED FREQUENCY OF DISCLOSURE BY 

2 POLITICAL ORGANIZATIONS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (2) of section 527(j) 

4 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to required 

5 disclosure) is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(2) REQUIRED DISCLOSURES.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A political organiza8 tion which accepts a contribution, or makes an 

9 expenditure, for an exempt function during any 

10 calendar year shall file with the Secretary the 

11 reports required by subparagraphs (B) and (C), 

12 or the reports described in subparagraph (D). 

13 ‘‘(B) ELECTION YEARS.— 

14 ‘‘(i) MONTHLY DISCLOSURES FOR OR15 GANIZATIONS RECEIVING OR EXPENDING

16 $25,000 OR MORE IN ELECTION YEAR.—In 

17 the case of an organization that has, or 

18 has reason to expect to have, contributions 

19 which equal or exceed $25,000, or expendi20 tures which equal or exceed $25,000, for 

21 an exempt function in a calendar year in 

22 which a regularly scheduled election is 

23 held, the reports required by this clause 

24 are monthly reports, beginning with the 

25 first month of the calendar year in which 

26 a contribution is accepted or expenditure is 
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1 made. Such reports shall be filed not later 

2 than the 20th day after the last day of the 

3 month and shall be complete as of the last 

4 day of the month. 

5 ‘‘(ii) QUARTERLY DISCLOSURES FOR

6 ORGANIZATIONS RECEIVING OR EXPENDING

7 LESS THAN $25,000.—Except as provided 

8 by clause (i), in the case of contributions 

9 accepted or expenditures made during a 

10 calendar year in which a regularly sched11 uled election is held, the reports required 

12 by this clause are quarterly reports, begin13 ning with the first quarter of the calendar 

14 year in which a contribution is accepted or 

15 expenditure is made. Such reports shall be 

16 complete as of the last day of the quarter 

17 and shall be filed— 

18 ‘‘(I) for each of the first three 

19 calendar quarters not later than the 

20 15th day after the last day of the cal21 endar quarter, and 

22 ‘‘(II) for the calendar quarter 

23 ending on December 31 not later than 

24 January 31 of the following calendar 

25 year. 
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1 ‘‘(iii) CHANGE TO MONTHLY REPORT2 ING WHEN CONTRIBUTIONS OR EXPENDI3 TURES IN EXCESS OF $25,000.—An organi4 zation which, at any time during the elec5 tion year, is required to report under 

6 clause (ii), and receives contributions in ex7 cess of $25,000 or makes expenditures in 

8 excess of $25,000, shall be subject to 

9 clause (i) beginning with the next report10 ing period in which such excess first oc11 curs. The first report required in a cal12 endar year under clause (i) by reason of 

13 this clause shall include a monthly report 

14 for each of the preceding months of such 

15 calendar year in which the organization 

16 would have been required to report under 

17 clause (i) if such clause applied without re18 gard to this clause. 

19 ‘‘(iv) PRE- AND POST-ELECTION RE20 PORTS.—With respect to a regularly sched21 uled election, the reports required by this 

22 clause are— 

23 ‘‘(I) a pre-election report, which 

24 shall be filed not later than the 12th 

25 day before (or posted by registered or 
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1 certified mail not later than the 15th 

2 day before) any election with respect 

3 to which the organization makes a 

4 contribution or expenditure and which 

5 shall be complete as of the 20th day 

6 before the election, and 

7 ‘‘(II) a post-general election re8 port, which shall be filed not later 

9 than the 30th day after the general 

10 election and which shall be complete 

11 as of the 20th day after such general 

12 election. 

13 ‘‘(C) NONELECTION YEAR.—In the case of 

14 a calendar year other than a calendar year in 

15 which a regularly scheduled election is held, the 

16 reports required by this subparagraph are a re17 port covering the period beginning January 1 

18 and ending June 30, which shall be filed no 

19 later than July 31 and a report covering the pe20 riod beginning July 1 and ending December 31, 

21 which shall be filed no later than January 31 

22 of the following calendar year, 

23 ‘‘(D) ELECTION TO FILE MONTHLY RE24 PORTS.—An organization may elect to file 

25 monthly reports for the calendar year, begin-
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1 ning with the first month of the calendar year 

2 in which a contribution is accepted or expendi3 ture is made. Each such report for a month 

4 shall be filed not later than the 20th day after 

5 the last day of the month and shall be complete 

6 as of the last day of the month. In lieu of filing 

7 reports otherwise due under this subparagraph 

8 in November and December of any year in 

9 which a regularly scheduled general election is 

10 held, a pre-general election report shall be filed 

11 in accordance with subparagraph (B)(iv)(I), a 

12 post-general election report shall be filed in ac13 cordance with subparagraph (B)(iv)(II), and a 

14 year end report shall be filed not later than 

15 January 31 of the following calendar year.’’. 

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

17 this section shall apply to years beginning after December 

18 31, 2005. 

19 SEC. 2. IMPROVED ELECTRONIC DISCLOSURE AND LINK20 AGE WITH FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treasury, in 

22 consultation with the Federal Election Commission, shall 

23 take such actions as may be necessary to increase disclo24 sure to the public by improving the database and disclo25 sure system for reports required to be filed by political 
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1 organizations under section 527 of the Internal Revenue 

2 Code of 1986. 

3 (b) IMPROVED LINKAGE WITH FEDERAL ELECTION

4 COMMISSION.—The Secretary of the Treasury and the 

5 Federal Election Commission shall take such actions as 

6 may be necessary to improve the linkage between the data7 bases for public disclosure of election-related information 

8 maintained by the Department of the Treasury and the 

9 Federal Election Commission. 

10 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary of the 

11 Treasury and the Federal Election Commission shall each 

12 submit reports to the Congress on the actions taken under 

13 subsections (a) and (b). The first report shall be an in14 terim report submitted not later than July 15, 2005, and 

15 the second report shall be a final report submitted not 

16 later than January 15, 2006. 

17 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

18 authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec19 essary to carry out this section. 

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