II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1246

To reform the financing of Federal elections.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 1, 1997

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

referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration

A BILL

To reform the financing of Federal elections.

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 ‘‘Voter Empowerment

5 and Campaign Disclosure Act of 1997’’.

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

7 It is the sense of the Congress that because legal per8 manent residents of the United States are protected by

9 the Constitution, the residents have the right under the

10 First Amendment to legally express themselves through

11 expenditures and contributions that affect the political

12 and electoral process.
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1 SEC. 3. VOTER EMPOWERMENT BY INCREASE AND INDEX2 ING OF CONTRIBUTION LIMITS.

3 (a) INCREASE IN INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTION LIM4 ITS.—Section 315(a) of the Federal Election Campaign

5 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)) is amended—

6 (1) in paragraph (1)—

7 (A) by striking subparagraph (A) and in8 serting the following:

9 ‘‘(A)(i) to a local candidate (as defined in para10 graph (9)) and the candidate’s authorized commit11 tees with respect to any election for Federal office

12 that, in the aggregate, exceed $4,000; and

13 ‘‘(ii) to a non-local candidate and the can14 didate’s authorized committees with respect to any

15 election for Federal office that, in the aggregate, ex16 ceed $1,000;’’;

17 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking

18 ‘‘$20,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$60,000’’; and

19 (C) in subparagraph (C), by striking

20 ‘‘$5,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$15,000’’; and

21 (2) in paragraph (3)—

22 (A) by striking ‘‘$25,000’’ and inserting

23 ‘‘$75,000’’; and

24 (B) by striking the second sentence.

25 (b) DECREASE IN PAC CONTRIBUTION LIMIT.—Sec26 tion 315(a)(2)(A) of the Federal Election Campaign Act
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1 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(2)(A)) is amended by striking

2 ‘‘$5,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$4,000’’.

3 (c) DEFINITION OF LOCAL CANDIDATE.—Section

4 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2

5 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the

6 following:

7 ‘‘(9) LOCAL CANDIDATE.—In subsection (a), the

8 term ‘local candidate’ means a candidate seeking nomina9 tion for election to, or election to, the Senate or the House

10 of Representatives for the State in which the principal res11 idence (as this term is used in section 121 the Internal

12 Revenue Code of 1986) of the contributor is located.’’.

13 (d) INDEXING LIMITS.—Section 315(c) of the Fed14 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(c))

15 is amended—

16 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘subsection

17 (b) and subsection (d)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections

18 (a), (b), and (d)’’; and

19 (2) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking ‘‘means the

20 calendar year 1974.’’ and inserting ‘‘means—

21 ‘‘(i) for purposes of subsections (b) and

22 (d), calendar year 1974; and

23 ‘‘(ii) for purposes of subsection (a), cal24 endar year 1997.’’.
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1 SEC. 4. POLITICAL COMMITTEE EXPENDITURE REFORM.

2 (a) POLITICAL PARTY COMMITTEE EXPENDI3 TURES.—Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign

4 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a) is amended by striking sub5 section (d) and inserting the following:

6 ‘‘(d) POLITICAL PARTIES.—

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other

8 provision of law with respect to limitations on ex9 penditures or limitations on contributions, the na10 tional committee of a political party and a State

11 committee of a political party, including any subordi12 nate committee of a State committee, may make ex13 penditures in connection with the general election

14 campaign of candidates for Federal office.

15 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF EXPENDITURES.—An ex16 penditure made under paragraph (1) shall not be

17 treated as a contribution to or expenditure made by

18 the candidate in connection with whom the expendi19 ture is made for any purpose.’’.

20 (b) INCREASE IN PAC CONTRIBUTION LIMITS.—Sec21 tion 315(a)(2) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

22 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(2)) is amended—

23 (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘$15,000’’

24 and inserting ‘‘$45,000’’; and

25 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘$5,000’’

26 and inserting ‘‘$15,000’’.
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1 (c) DEFINITION OF EXPRESS ADVOCACY.—Section

2 301 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2

3 U.S.C. 431) is amended—

4 (1) by striking paragraph (17) and inserting

5 the following:

6 ‘‘(17) INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURE.—

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘independ8 ent expenditure’ means an expenditure that—

9 ‘‘(i) contains express advocacy; and

10 ‘‘(ii) is made without cooperation or

11 consultation with any candidate, or any au12 thorized committee or agent of such can13 didate, and that is not made in concert

14 with, or at the request or suggestion of,

15 any candidate, or any authorized commit16 tee or agent of such candidate.’’; and

17 (2) by adding at the end the following:

18 ‘‘(20) EXPRESS ADVOCACY.—The term ‘express

19 advocacy’ includes a communication that conveys a

20 message that advocates the election or defeat of a

21 clearly identified candidate by using an expression

22 such as ‘vote for,’ ‘elect,’ ‘support,’ ‘vote against,’

23 ‘defeat,’ ‘reject,’ ‘(name of candidate) for Congress,’

24 ‘vote pro-life,’ or ‘vote pro-choice,’ accompanied by

25 a listing or picture of a clearly identified candidate
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1 described as ‘pro-life’ or ‘pro-choice,’ ‘reject the in2 cumbent,’ or a similar expression.’’.

3 SEC. 5. INCREASED DISCLOSURE.

4 (a) CLARIFICATION OF DEFINITION OF COOPERA5 TION OR CONSULTATION.—Section 301(17) of the Federal

6 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(17)) (as

7 amended by section 4(c)) is amended by adding at the end

8 the following:

9 ‘‘(B) COOPERATION OR CONSULTATION.—

10 The term ‘cooperation or consultation’ does not

11 include a consultation solely for the purpose of

12 determining the factual accuracy of information

13 about the candidate to be used in connection

14 with a voter guide or information about a vot15 ing record (as those terms are defined in regu16 lation by the Commission).’’.

17 (b) MONTHLY REPORTING.—Section 304(a)(2) of the

18 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C.

19 434(a)(2)) is amended—

20 (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A),

21 by striking ‘‘Senate’’ and inserting ‘‘Senate or politi22 cal committee of a national party’’;

23 (2) in subparagraph (A) by striking ‘‘the follow24 ing reports:’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘a

25 monthly report, that shall be filed no later than the
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1 20th day after the last day of each month and shall

2 be complete as of the last day of the month; and’’;

3 and

4 (3) in subparagraph (B)—

5 (A) by striking ‘‘(i)’’ and inserting ‘‘(i)(I)

6 in the case of a principal campaign committee

7 of a candidate,’’;

8 (B) by redesignating clause (ii) as sub9 clause (II);

10 (C) in clause (i)(II), as redesignated by

11 clause (ii), by striking the period at the end and

12 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

13 (D) by adding at the end the following:

14 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a political committee of

15 a national party, reports shall be filed under

16 paragraph (4)(A)(iv).’’.

17 SEC. 6. FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION REFORM.

18 (a) INCREASE IN PENALTY FOR KNOWING AND

19 WILLFUL VIOLATIONS.—Section 309(a)(5)(B) of the Fed20 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C.

21 437g(a)(5)(B)) is amended by striking ‘‘the greater of

22 $10,000 or an amount equal to 200 percent’’ and inserting

23 ‘‘the greater of $15,000 or an amount equal to 300 per24 cent’’.
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1 (b) ATTORNEY’S FEES.—Section 309(a)(8) of the

2 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C.

3 4437g(a)(8)) is amended by adding at the end the follow4 ing:

5 ‘‘(D) In any proceeding under this paragraph in

6 which the defendant substantially prevails on sub7 stantive grounds, the court may, in addition to any

8 judgment awarded to the defendant, allow reason9 able attorney’s fees and other costs of the civil ac10 tion.’’.

11 SEC. 7. RIGHTS OF EMPLOYEES RELATING TO THE PAY12 MENT AND USE OF LABOR ORGANIZATION

13 DUES.

14 (a) PAYMENT OF DUES.—

15 (1) RIGHTS OF EMPLOYEES.—Section 7 of the

16 National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 157) is

17 amended by striking ‘‘membership’’ and all that fol18 lows and inserting the following: ‘‘the payment to a

19 labor organization of dues or fees related to collec20 tive bargaining, contract administration, or griev21 ance adjustment necessary to performing the duties

22 of exclusive representation as a condition of employ23 ment as authorized in section 8(a)(3).’’.

24 (2) UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES.—Section

25 8(a)(3) of the National Labor Relations Act (29
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1 U.S.C. 158(a)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘member2 ship therein’’ and inserting ‘‘the payment to such

3 labor organization of dues or fees related to collec4 tive bargaining, contract administration, or griev5 ance adjustment necessary to performing the duties

6 of exclusive representation’’.

7 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR USE OF DUES FOR CERTAIN

8 PURPOSES.—

9 (1) WRITTEN AGREEMENT.—Section 8 of the

10 National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158) is

11 amended by adding at the end the following:

12 ‘‘(h)(1) An employee subject to an agreement between

13 an employer and a labor organization requiring the pay14 ment of dues or fees to such organization as authorized

15 in subsection (a)(3) may not be required to pay to such

16 organization, nor may such organization accept payment

17 of, any dues or fees not related to collective bargaining,

18 contract administration, or grievance adjustment nec19 essary to performing the duties of exclusive representation

20 unless the employee has agreed to pay such dues or fees

21 in a signed written agreement that shall be renewed be22 tween the first day of September and the first day of Octo23 ber of each year.

24 ‘‘(2) Such signed written agreement shall include a

25 ratio, certified by an independent auditor, of the dues or
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1 fees related to collective bargaining, contract administra2 tion, or grievance adjustment necessary to performing the

3 duties of exclusive representation and the dues or fees re4 lated to other purposes.’’.

5 (2) WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT.—Section 302(c)(4)

6 of the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947 (29

7 U.S.C. 186) is amended by inserting before the

8 semicolon the following: ‘‘: Provided further, That no

9 amount may be deducted for dues unrelated to col10 lective bargaining, contract administration, or griev11 ance adjustment necessary to performing the duties

12 of exclusive representation unless a written assign13 ment authorizes such a deduction’’.

14 (c) NOTICE TO EMPLOYEES RELATING TO THE PAY15 MENT AND USE OF DUES.—Section 8 of the National

16 Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158) (as amended by sub17 section (b)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the follow18 ing:

19 ‘‘(i)(1) An employer shall post a notice that informs

20 the employees of their rights under section 7 of this Act

21 and clarifies to such employees that an agreement requir22 ing the payment of dues or fees to a labor organization

23 as a condition of employment as authorized in subsection

24 (a)(3) may only require that employees pay to such organi25 zation any dues or fees related to collective bargaining,
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1 contract administration, or grievance adjustment nec2 essary to performing the duties of exclusive representa3 tion. A copy of such notice shall be provided to each em4 ployee not later than 10 days after the first day of employ5 ment.

6 ‘‘(2) The notice described in paragraph (1) shall be

7 of such size and in such form as the Board shall prescribe

8 and shall be posted in conspicuous places in and about

9 the plants and offices of such employer, including all

10 places where notices to employees are customarily post11 ed.’’.

12 (d) EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION IN THE AFFAIRS OF

13 A LABOR ORGANIZATION.—Section 8(b)(1) of the Na14 tional Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158(b)(1)) is

15 amended by striking ‘‘therein;’’ and inserting the follow16 ing: ‘‘therein, except that, an employee who is subject to

17 an agreement between an employer and a labor organiza18 tion requiring as a condition of employment the payment

19 of dues or fees to such organization as authorized in sub20 section (a)(3) and who pays such dues or fees shall have

21 the same right to participate in the affairs of the organiza22 tion related to collective bargaining, contract administra23 tion, or grievance adjustment as any member of the orga24 nization;’’.

25 (e) DISCLOSURE TO EMPLOYEES.—
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1 (1) EXPENSES REPORTING.—Section 201(b) of

2 the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure

3 Act of 1959 (29 U.S.C. 431(b)) is amended by add4 ing at the end the following: ‘‘Every labor organiza5 tion shall be required to attribute and report ex6 penses by function classification in such detail as

7 necessary to allow the members of such organization

8 or the employees required to pay any dues or fees

9 to such organization to determine whether such ex10 penses were related to collective bargaining, contract

11 administration, or grievance adjustment necessary to

12 performing the duties of exclusive representation or

13 were related to other purposes.’’.

14 (2) REPORT INFORMATION.—Section 201(c) of

15 the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure

16 Act of 1959 (29 U.S.C. 431(c)) is amended—

17 (A) by inserting ‘‘and employees required

18 to pay any dues or fees to such organization’’

19 after ‘‘members’’;

20 (B) by striking ‘‘suit of any member of

21 such organization’’ and inserting ‘‘suit of any

22 member of such organization or employee re23 quired to pay any dues or fees to such organiza24 tion’’; and
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1 (C) by striking ‘‘such member’’ and insert2 ing ‘‘such member or employee’’.

3 (3) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Labor

4 shall promulgate a regulation as necessary to carry

5 out the amendments made by this subsection not

6 later than 120 days after the date of enactment of

7 this Act.

8 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect

9 on the date of enactment of this Act, except that the re10 quirements contained in the amendments made by sub11 sections (b) and (c) shall take effect 60 days after the

12 date of enactment of this Act.

13 SEC. 8. PROHIBITION OF FUNDRAISING ON FEDERAL PROP14 ERTY.

15 Section 607 of title 18, United States Code, is

16 amended—

17 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘or donation

18 of money or anything else of value made by any per19 son to a national committee of a political party’’

20 after ‘‘Act of 1971’’; and

21 (2) in subsection (b)—

22 (A) by inserting ‘‘or donations’’ after ‘‘con23 tributions’’ each place it appears;

24 (B) by inserting ‘‘or donation’’ after ‘‘con25 tribution’’; and
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1 (C) by inserting ‘‘donator’’ after ‘‘contribu2 tor’’.

3 SEC. 9. LIMIT ON USE OF THE FRANKING PRIVILEGE.

4 Section 3210(a)(6) of title 39, United States Code,

5 is amended—

6 (1) in subparagraph (A)—

7 (A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by

8 striking ‘‘Congress may not’’ and inserting ‘‘the

9 House of Representatives may not’’; and

10 (B) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘60 days (or,

11 in the case of a Member of the House, fewer

12 than 90 days)’’ and inserting ‘‘90 days’’; and

13 (2) by striking subparagraph (C) and inserting

14 the following:

15 ‘‘(C)(i) A Member of the Senate shall not

16 mail any mass mailing as franked mail during

17 a year in which there will be an election for the

18 seat held by the Member during the period be19 tween January 1 of that year and the date of

20 the general election for that office, unless the

21 Member has made a public announcement that

22 the Member will not be a candidate for reelec23 tion to that office in that year.

24 ‘‘(ii) A Member of the Senate shall not

25 mail any mass mailing as franked mail if the
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1 mass mailing is postmarked fewer than 60 days

2 before the date of any primary election or gen3 eral election (whether regular, special, or run4 off) for any national, State, or local office in

5 which the Member is a candidate for election.’’.

6 SEC. 10. EFFECTIVE DATE.

7 Except as otherwise provided in this Act, this Act and

8 the amendments made by this Act shall apply to elections

9 occurring and filing periods beginning after December 31,

10 1998.

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