I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1316

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to repeal the limit 

on the aggregate amount of campaign contributions that may be made 

by individuals during an election cycle, to repeal the limit on the amount 

of expenditures political parties may make on behalf of their candidates 

in general elections for Federal office, to allow State and local parties 

to make certain expenditures using nonfederal funds, to restore certain 

rights to exempt organizations under the Internal Revenue Code of 

1986, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 15, 2005

Mr. PENCE (for himself and Mr. WYNN) 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 

repeal the limit on the aggregate amount of campaign 

contributions that may be made by individuals during 

an election cycle, to repeal the limit on the amount 

of expenditures political parties may make on behalf 

of their candidates in general elections for Federal office, 

to allow State and local parties to make certain expenditures using nonfederal funds, to restore certain rights 

to exempt organizations under the Internal Revenue 

Code of 1986, and for other purposes.
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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 ‘‘527 Fairness Act of 

5 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REPEAL OF AGGREGATE LIMIT ON CONTRIBUTIONS 

7 BY INDIVIDUALS. 

8 (a) REPEAL OF LIMIT.—Section 315(a) of the Fed9 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)) 

10 is amended by striking paragraph (3). 

11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

12 (1) INDEXING.—Section 315(c) of such Act (2 

13 U.S.C. 441a(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘(a)(3),’’ 

14 each place it appears in paragraphs (1)(B)(i), 

15 (1)(C), and (2)(B)(ii). 

16 (2) INCREASE IN LIMITS FOR SENATE CAN17 DIDATES FACING WEALTHY OPPONENTS.—Section 

18 315(i)(1)(C) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441a(i)(1)(C)) is 

19 amended—

20 (A) by amending clause (i) to read as fol21 lows: 

22 ‘‘(i) 2 times the threshold amount, but 

23 not over 4 times that amount, the in24 creased limit shall be 3 times the applica25 ble limit;’’; 
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1 (B) by amending clause (ii) to read as fol2 lows: 

3 ‘‘(ii) 4 times the threshold amount, 

4 but not over 10 times that amount, the in5 creased limit shall be 6 times the applica6 ble limit; and’’; and 

7 (C) in clause (iii)—

8 (i) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub9 clause (I), 

10 (ii) by striking subclause (II), and 

11 (iii) by redesignating subclause (III) 

12 as subclause (II). 

13 (3) INCREASE IN LIMITS FOR HOUSE CAN14 DIDATES FACING WEALTHY OPPONENTS.—Section 

15 315A(a)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441a–1(a)(1)) is 

16 amended—

17 (A) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub18 paragraph (A); 

19 (B) by striking subparagraph (B); and 

20 (C) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as 

21 subparagraph (B). 
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1 SEC. 3. REPEAL OF LIMIT ON AMOUNT OF PARTY EXPENDI2 TURES ON BEHALF OF CANDIDATES IN GEN3 ERAL ELECTIONS. 

4 (a) REPEAL OF LIMIT.—Section 315(d) of the Fed5 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(d)) 

6 is amended—

7 (1) in paragraph (1)—

8 (A) by striking ‘‘(1) Notwithstanding’’ and 

9 inserting ‘‘Notwithstanding’’, 

10 (B) by striking ‘‘expenditures or limita11 tions on’’ and inserting ‘‘amounts of expendi12 tures or contributions’’, and 

13 (C) by striking ‘‘Federal office, subject to 

14 the limitations contained in paragraphs (2), (3), 

15 and (4) of this subsection’’ and inserting ‘‘Fed16 eral office in any amount’’; and 

17 (2) by striking paragraphs (2), (3), and (4). 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

19 (1) INDEXING.—Section 315(c) of such Act (2 

20 U.S.C. 441a(c)) is amended—

21 (A) in paragraph (1)(B)(i), by striking 

22 ‘‘(d),’’; and 

23 (B) in paragraph (2)(B)(i), by striking 

24 ‘‘subsections (b) and (d)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub25 section (b)’’. 
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1 (2) INCREASE IN LIMITS FOR SENATE CAN2 DIDATES FACING WEALTHY OPPONENTS.—Section 

3 315(i) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441a(i)(1)) is amend4 ed—

5 (A) in paragraph (1)(C), as amended by 

6 section 2(b)(2)(C), by amending clause (iii) to 

7 read as follows: 

8 ‘‘(iii) 10 times the threshold amount, 

9 the increased limit shall be 6 times the ap10 plicable limit.’’; 

11 (B) in paragraph (2)(A) in the matter pre12 ceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘, and a party 

13 committee shall not make any expenditure,’’; 

14 (C) in paragraph (2)(A)(ii), by striking 

15 ‘‘and party expenditures previously made’’; and 

16 (D) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking ‘‘and 

17 a party shall not make any expenditure’’. 

18 (3) INCREASE IN LIMITS FOR HOUSE CAN19 DIDATES FACING WEALTHY OPPONENTS.—Section 

20 315A(a) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441a–1(a)) is amend21 ed—

22 (A) in paragraph (1), as amended by sec23 tion 2(b)(3), by striking ‘‘exceeds $350,000—’’ 

24 and all that follows and inserting the following: 

25 ‘‘exceeds $350,000, the limit under subsection 
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1 (a)(1)(A) with respect to the candidate shall be 

2 tripled.’’; 

3 (B) in paragraph (3)(A) in the matter pre4 ceding clause (i), ‘‘, and a party committee 

5 shall not make any expenditure,’’; 

6 (C) in paragraph (3)(A)(ii), by striking 

7 ‘‘and party expenditures previously made’’; and 

8 (D) in paragraph (3)(B), by striking ‘‘and 

9 a party shall not make any expenditure’’. 

10 SEC. 4. INDEXING OF LIMITS ON AMOUNT OF CONTRIBU11 TIONS MADE TO OR BY MULTICANDIDATE PO12 LITICAL COMMITTEES. 

13 (a) INDEXING.—Section 315(c)(1) of the Federal 

14 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(c)(1)) is 

15 amended by inserting after ‘‘(a)(1)(B)’’ each place it ap16 pears in subparagraphs (B)(i) and (C) the following: 

17 ‘‘(a)(1)(C), (a)(2),’’. 

18 (b) TIMING OF INCREASE.—Section 315(c)(1)(B) of 

19 such Act (2 U.S.C. 441a(c)(1)(B)) is amended in the mat20 ter preceding clause (i) by striking ‘‘after 2002’’ and in21 serting ‘‘after 2002 (or, in the case of the limitations es22 tablished under subsection (a)(1)(C) or (a)(2), after 

23 2004)’’. 
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1 (c) DETERMINATION OF BASE YEAR.—Section 

2 315(c)(2)(B) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441a(c)(2)(B)) is 

3 amended—

4 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause (i); 

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

6 (ii) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

8 clause: 

9 ‘‘(iii) for purposes of subsections (a)(1)(C) 

10 and (a)(2), calendar year 2003.’’. 

11 SEC. 5. PERMITTING EXPENDITURES FOR ELECTION12 EERING COMMUNICATIONS BY CERTAIN OR13 GANIZATIONS. 

14 (a) PERMITTING ORGANIZATIONS TO MAKE EXPEND15 ITURES FOR CERTAIN TARGETED ELECTIONEERING COM16 MUNICATIONS.—Section 316(c) of the Federal Election 

17 Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441b(c)) is amended by 

18 striking paragraph (6). 

19 (b) EXPANDING TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONS ELIGI20 BLE TO MAKE EXPENDITURES.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 316(c) of such Act 

22 (2 U.S.C. 441b(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘section 

23 501(c)(4) organization’’ each place it appears in 

24 paragraphs (2), (3)(A), and (4)(B) and inserting 

25 ‘‘section 501(c)(4), (5), or (6) organization’’. 
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1 (2) DEFINITION.—Section 316(c)(4)(A)(i) of 

2 such Act (2 U.S.C. 441b(c)(4)(A)(i)) is amended by 

3 striking ‘‘section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue 

4 Code of 1986’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (4), (5), or 

5 (6) of section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code 

6 of 1986’’. 

7 (c) CLARIFICATION OF EFFECT ON TAX TREATMENT

8 OF EXPENDITURES.—Section 316(c)(5) of such Act (2 

9 U.S.C. 441b(c)(5)) is amended by striking the period at 

10 the end and inserting the following: ‘‘, or to affect the 

11 treatment under such Code of any expenditures described 

12 in section 527(e) of such Code which are made by a sec13 tion 501(c)(4), (5), or (6) organization.’’. 

14 SEC. 6. EXPANDING ABILITY OF CORPORATIONS AND 

15 LABOR ORGANIZATIONS TO COMMUNICATE 

16 WITH MEMBERS. 

17 (a) TYPES OF COMMUNICATIONS PERMITTED.—Sec18 tion 316(b)(4)(B) of the Federal Election Campaign Act 

19 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441b(b)(4)(B)) is amended by striking 

20 ‘‘only by mail addressed’’ and inserting ‘‘only by commu21 nications addressed or otherwise delivered’’. 

22 (b) SOLICITATIONS BY TRADE ASSOCIATIONS.—Sec23 tion 316(b)(4)(D) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441b(b)(4)(D)) 

24 is amended by striking ‘‘to the extent that’’ and all that 

25 follows and inserting a period. 
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1 SEC. 7. PERMITTING STATE AND LOCAL POLITICAL PAR2 TIES TO USE NONFEDERAL FUNDS FOR 

3 VOTER REGISTRATION AND SAMPLE BAL4 LOTS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 301(20) of the Federal 

6 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(20)) is 

7 amended—

8 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking clause (i) 

9 and redesignating clauses (ii) through (iv) as clauses 

10 (i) through (iii); and 

11 (2) in subparagraph (B)—

12 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘subpara13 graph (A)(i) or (ii)’’ and inserting ‘‘subpara14 graph (A)(i)’’; 

15 (B) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause 

16 (iii); 

17 (C) by striking the period at the end of 

18 clause (iv); and 

19 (D) by adding at the end the following new 

20 clauses: 

21 ‘‘(v) voter registration activities; and 

22 ‘‘(vi) the costs incurred with the prep23 aration of a sample ballot for an election 

24 in which a candidate for Federal office and 

25 a candidate for State or local office ap26 pears on the ballot, if the sample ballot in-
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1 cludes the names of every candidate for 

2 Federal office listed on the sample ballot.’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—(1) Section 

4 304(f)(3)(B)(iv) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 434(f)(3)(B)(iv)) 

5 is amended by striking ‘‘section 301(20)(A)(iii)’’ and in6 serting ‘‘section 301(20)(A)(ii)’’. 

7 (2) Section 323 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441i) is 

8 amended—

9 (A) in subsection (b)(2)(A), by striking ‘‘clause 

10 (i) or (ii)’’ and inserting ‘‘clause (i)’’; 

11 (B) in subsection (e)(4), by striking ‘‘clauses (i) 

12 and (ii)’’ each place it appears in subparagraphs (A) 

13 and (B) and inserting ‘‘clause (i)’’; and 

14 (C) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘section 

15 301(20)(A)(iii)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

16 301(20)(A)(ii)’’. 

17 SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

18 The amendments made by this Act shall apply with 

19 respect to elections for Federal office occurring after 

20 2004.

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