I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5281 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to provide matching 

funds for candidates in elections for the House of Representatives, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 3, 2006 

Mr. LEACH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on House Administration 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to 

provide matching funds for candidates in elections for 

the House of Representatives, 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 ‘‘Campaign Reform Act 

5 of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MATCHING FUNDS FOR HOUSE CANDIDATES. 

7 (a) MATCHING FUNDS.—The Federal Election Cam8 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended by 

9 adding at the end the following new title: 


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1 ‘‘TITLE V—MATCHING FUNDS 

2 FOR HOUSE CANDIDATES 

3 ‘‘SEC. 501. AVAILABILITY OF MATCHING FUNDS. 

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible House of Representa5 tives candidate shall be entitled to receive payments under 

6 this title in support of the candidate’s campaign for elec7 tion in an amount equal to the amount of qualified con8 tributions received by the candidate, but not to exceed the 

9 aggregate matching payment limit under subsection (b). 

10 ‘‘(b) AGGREGATE MATCHING PAYMENT LIMIT FOR

11 CANDIDATE.—The aggregate matching payment limit 

12 with respect to an eligible House of Representatives can13 didate in an election is $175,000, subject to the following 

14 adjustments: 

15 ‘‘(1) If any opponent of the candidate who is 

16 not an eligible House of Representatives candidate 

17 receives contributions with respect to the election in 

18 an aggregate amount exceeding $500,000, the ag19 gregate matching payment limit shall be equal to the 

20 aggregate amount of contributions received by the 

21 opponent. 

22 ‘‘(2) In the case of an election which is a con23 tested primary election (as determined by the Com24 mission), if any opponent of the candidate receives 

25 contributions in an aggregate amount exceeding 


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1 $50,000, the aggregate matching payment limit shall 

2 be increased by $75,000. 

3 ‘‘(3) In the case of an election which is a runoff 

4 election, the aggregate matching payment limit shall 

5 be increased by $50,000. 

6 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED CONTRIBUTION DEFINED.—In this 

7 section, the term ‘qualified contribution’ means, with re8 spect to a candidate for an election, a contribution— 

9 ‘‘(1) which is made by an individual residing in 

10 the State in which the candidate seeks election 

11 whose aggregate contributions to the candidate for 

12 the election do not exceed $500; and 

13 ‘‘(2) which is in the form of a gift of money 

14 made by a written instrument that identifies the in15 dividual making the contribution. 

16 ‘‘(d) SOURCE OF PAYMENTS.—All payments made 

17 under this title shall be made from the House of Rep18 resentatives Election Campaign Account described in sec19 tion 503. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 502. ELIGIBLE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CAN21 DIDATE DEFINED. 

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this title, an ‘eli23 gible House of Representatives candidate’ means a can24 didate for the office of Representative in, or Delegate or 

25 Resident Commissioner to, the Congress who files a stateVerDate Aug 31 2005 18:26 May 07, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5281.IH H5281

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1 ment of participation with the Commission in which the 

2 candidate certifies each of the following: 

3 ‘‘(1) In the election cycle, the candidate has re4 ceived $10,000 in contributions from individuals. 

5 ‘‘(2) The candidate qualifies for the primary or 

6 general election ballot. 

7 ‘‘(3) The candidate has an opponent on the pri8 mary or general election ballot. 

9 ‘‘(4) The candidate will not receive contribu10 tions or make expenditures with respect to the elec11 tion in excess of— 

12 ‘‘(A) $500,000; or 

13 ‘‘(B) the aggregate matching payment 

14 limit for the candidate under section 501(b), 

15 whichever is greater. 

16 ‘‘(5) The candidate agrees to cooperate in the 

17 case of any audit by the Commission by furnishing 

18 such campaign records and other information as the 

19 Commission may require. 

20 ‘‘(b) REPAYMENT OF MATCHING FUNDS.—If an eli21 gible House of Representatives candidate receives con22 tributions or makes expenditures in excess of the spending 

23 limit specified in subsection (a)(4), the candidate shall 

24 repay the House of Representatives Election Campaign 


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1 Account described in section 503 an amount equal to the 

2 amounts spent in excess of such limit. 

3 ‘‘SEC. 503. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ELECTION CAM4 PAIGN ACCOUNT. 

5 ‘‘(a) ACCOUNT.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall main7 tain in the Presidential Election Campaign Fund es8 tablished by section 9006(a) of the Internal Revenue 

9 Code of 1986, in addition to any other accounts 

10 maintained under such section, a separate account 

11 to be known as the House of Representatives Elec12 tion Campaign Account. 

13 ‘‘(2) AMOUNTS.—The Secretary shall deposit in 

14 the Account, for use by eligible House of Represent15 atives candidates— 

16 ‘‘(A) the amounts available after the Sec17 retary determines that the amounts in the Pres18 idential Election Campaign Fund necessary for 

19 payments under subtitle H of the Internal Rev20 enue Code of 1986 are adequate; 

21 ‘‘(B) any repayments made under section 

22 502(b); and 

23 ‘‘(C) any amount appropriated pursuant to 

24 the supplemental authorization described in 

25 paragraph (3). 


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1 ‘‘(3) SUPPLEMENTAL AUTHORIZATION.—If the 

2 Secretary issues a certification that amounts in the 

3 Account will not be adequate to make payments 

4 under this title during a fiscal year, there are au5 thorized to be appropriated for such fiscal year for 

6 deposit in the Account such sums as may be nec7 essary to ensure that amounts in the Account will be 

8 adequate to make such payments (as provided by the 

9 Secretary in the certification). 

10 ‘‘(4) AVAILABILITY.—All amounts in the Ac11 count shall remain available without fiscal year limi12 tation. 

13 ‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION AND PAYMENT.— 

14 ‘‘(1) CERTIFICATION.—Except as provided in 

15 paragraphs (2) and (3), not later than 5 days after 

16 receiving a request for payment under this title from 

17 an eligible House of Representatives candidate, the 

18 Commission shall submit to the Secretary of the 

19 Treasury a certification for payment of the amount 

20 to which a candidate is entitled under section 501. 

21 Upon receipt of such a certification, the Secretary 

22 shall promptly pay to the candidate from the House 

23 of Representatives Election Campaign Account 

24 maintained pursuant to subsection (a) the amount 

25 certified by the Commission. 


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1 ‘‘(2) PAYMENTS.—The initial payment under 

2 this section to an eligible candidate shall be $10,000. 

3 All payments shall be— 

4 ‘‘(A) made not later than 48 hours after 

5 certification under paragraph (1); and 

6 ‘‘(B) subject to proportional reduction in 

7 the case of an insufficient balance in the Ac8 count maintained pursuant to subsection (a). 

9 ‘‘(3) INCORRECT REQUEST.—If the Commission 

10 determines that any portion of a request is incorrect, 

11 the Commission shall withhold the certification for 

12 that portion only and inform the candidate as to 

13 how the candidate may correct the request.’’. 

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

15 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to elections occur16 ring after December 2006. 

Æ 


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