I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1641

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to eliminate PAC

contributions to individual House of Representatives candidates, to provide a tax credit and tax deduction for contributions to such candidates,

to provide for voluntary expenditure limitations in House of Representatives elections, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 29, 1999

Mr. REGULA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committees on

Ways and Means, and Commerce, 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 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to

eliminate PAC contributions to individual House of Representatives candidates, to provide a tax credit and tax

deduction for contributions to such candidates, to provide

for voluntary expenditure limitations in House of Representatives elections, 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Congressional Cam3 paign and Administrative Reform Act of 1999’’.

4 SEC. 2. BAN ON CONTRIBUTIONS BY MULTICANDIDATE PO5 LITICAL COMMITTEES TO CANDIDATES IN

6 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ELECTIONS.

7 Section 315(a)(2)(A) of the Federal Election Cam8 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(2)(A)) is amended

9 by inserting after ‘‘$5,000’’ the following: ‘‘, except that

10 in the case of a candidate for the office of Representative

11 in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Con12 gress, and the authorized committees of such a candidate,

13 a multicandidate political committee may not make any

14 contribution’’.

15 SEC. 3. INCOME TAX CREDIT FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO

16 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CAMPAIGNS.

17 (a) GENERAL RULE.—Subpart A of part IV of sub18 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of

19 1986 (relating to nonrefundable personal credits) is

20 amended by inserting after section 23 the following new

21 section:

22 ‘‘SEC. 24. CONTRIBUTIONS TO HOUSE OF REPRESENTA23 TIVES CAMPAIGNS.

24 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—In the case of an individual,

25 there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed

26 by this chapter for the taxable year an amount equal to
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1 all House of Representatives campaign contributions made

2 by the individual.

3 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT OF CREDIT.—The

4 credit allowed by subsection (a) for a taxable year shall

5 not exceed $50 ($100 in the case of a joint return).

6 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—

7 ‘‘(1) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CAMPAIGN

8 CONTRIBUTION.—

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘House of

10 Representatives campaign contribution’ means

11 a contribution or gift of money, payment of

12 which is made during the taxable year, to an in13 dividual who is a candidate for nomination or

14 election to the office of Representative in, or

15 Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Con16 gress in any primary, general, or special elec17 tion, and which—

18 ‘‘(i) is from a taxpayer (or either

19 spouse in case of a joint return) who is a

20 resident of the State in which the election

21 is held; and

22 ‘‘(ii) is solely for use by the recipient

23 to further his candidacy for nomination or

24 election to such office.
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1 ‘‘(B) STATE.—The term ‘State’ includes

2 the District of Columbia, any possession of the

3 United States, and the Commonwealth of Puer4 to Rico.

5 ‘‘(2) CANDIDATE.—The term ‘candidate’ means

6 an individual who—

7 ‘‘(A) publicly announces before the close of

8 the calendar year following the calendar year in

9 which the contribution or gift is made that he

10 is a candidate for nomination or election to one

11 of the offices specified in paragraph (1)(A); and

12 ‘‘(B) meets the qualifications prescribed by

13 law to hold such office.’’

14 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

15 for subpart A of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1

16 of such Code is amended by inserting after the item relat17 ing to section 23 the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 24. Contributions to House of Representatives campaigns.’’

18 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

19 this section shall apply to contributions paid after Decem20 ber 31, 2000, in taxable years ending after that date.

21 SEC. 4. INCOME TAX DEDUCTION FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO

22 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CAMPAIGNS.

23 (a) GENERAL RULE.—Part VII of subchapter B of

24 chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating

25 to additional itemized deductions for individuals) is
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1 amended by inserting after section 217 the following new

2 section:

3 ‘‘SEC. 218. CONTRIBUTIONS TO HOUSE OF REPRESENTA4 TIVES CAMPAIGNS.

5 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—In the case of an individual,

6 there shall be allowed as a deduction any House of Rep7 resentatives campaign contribution which is made by such

8 individual.

9 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.—

10 ‘‘(1) AMOUNT ALLOWED AS CREDIT.—This sec11 tion shall not apply with respect to any amount

12 which is allowed as a credit under section 24 (relat13 ing to contributions to House of Representatives

14 campaigns).

15 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT OF DEDUCTION.—The deduction

16 allowed by subsection (a) for a taxable year shall not

17 exceed an aggregate of $250 ($500 in the case of a

18 joint return).

19 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—Terms used in this section

20 which are also used in section 24 (relating to contributions

21 to House of Representatives campaigns) shall have the re22 spective meanings given such terms by section 24(c).’’

23 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

24 for part VII of subchapter B of chapter 1 of such Code
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1 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section

2 217 the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 218. Contributions to House of Representatives campaigns.’’

3 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

4 this section shall apply to contributions paid after Decem5 ber 31, 2000, in taxable years ending after that date.

6 SEC. 5. VOLUNTARY EXPENDITURE LIMITATIONS AND FREE

7 BROADCAST TIME FOR HOUSE OF REP8 RESENTATIVES GENERAL ELECTIONS.

9 The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2

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

11 following new title:

12 ‘‘TITLE V—VOLUNTARY EXPENDITURE LIMITA13 TIONS AND FREE BROADCAST TIME FOR

14 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES GENERAL

15 ELECTIONS

16 ‘‘DEFINITIONS

17 ‘‘SEC. 501. As used in this title, the term—

18 ‘‘(1) ‘eligible candidate’ means a candidate who

19 is eligible under section 502 to receive free broadcast

20 time;

21 ‘‘(2) ‘general election’ means any election which

22 will directly result in the election of a person to the

23 office of Representative in, or Delegate or Resident
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1 Commissioner to, the Congress but does not include

2 an open primary election; and

3 ‘‘(3) ‘election cycle’ means the term beginning

4 on the day after the date of the last previous general

5 election for Representative in, or Delegate or Resi6 dent Commissioner to, the Congress and ending on

7 the date of the next general election.

8 ‘‘ELIGIBILITY FOR FREE BROADCAST TIME

9 ‘‘SEC. 502. (a) LIMITATION ON CONTRIBUTIONS AND

10 EXPENDITURES.—To be eligible to receive free broadcast

11 time under section 315(c) of the Communications Act of

12 1934, a candidate for the office of Representative in, or

13 Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress who

14 qualifies for the general election ballot under State law

15 shall, not later than 7 days after such qualification, agree

16 in writing that the candidate and the candidate’s author17 ized committees—

18 ‘‘(1) has not and will not make any expenditure

19 which exceeds the limitation under section 503;

20 ‘‘(2) has not and will not accept any contribu21 tion which exceeds a limitation under section 315(a);

22 ‘‘(3) will deposit all payments received under

23 this section in a separate checking account in a de24 pository institution referred to in section 302(h)(1),

25 which shall contain only amounts so received and
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1 from which all expenditures of such amounts shall

2 be made; and

3 ‘‘(4) will furnish campaign records, evidence of

4 contributions, and other appropriate information to

5 the Commission.

6 ‘‘(b) SOURCE OF CONTRIBUTIONS.—To be eligible to

7 receive free broadcast time under section 315(c) of the

8 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 315(c)), a can9 didate for the office of Representative in, or Delegate or

10 Resident Commissioner to, the Congress who qualifies for

11 the general election ballot under State law shall certify to

12 the Commission that—

13 ‘‘(1) during the period beginning on January 1

14 of the calendar year preceding the year of a general

15 election, or in the case of a special election during

16 the period beginning on the day on which the va17 cancy occurs in the office involved, such candidate

18 and the authorized committees of such candidate

19 have received contributions aggregating 10 percent

20 of the applicable limitation under section 503(b);

21 ‘‘(2) 80 percent of such contributions have

22 come from individuals residing in such candidate’s

23 State; and

24 ‘‘(3) at least one other candidate has qualified

25 for the general election ballot.
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1 ‘‘(c) CONTRIBUTIONS TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT FOR

2 PURPOSES OF LIMITATION.—For purposes of subsection

3 (b)(1), in determining the amount of contributions re4 ceived by a candidate and the candidate’s authorized

5 committees—

6 ‘‘(1) no contribution other than a contribution

7 of money made by a written instrument which iden8 tifies the person making the contribution shall be

9 taken into account;

10 ‘‘(2) no contribution that is considered a con11 tribution by an intermediary under section 315(a)(8)

12 shall be taken into account; and

13 ‘‘(3) no contribution received from any person

14 other than an individual shall be taken into account,

15 and no contribution received from an individual shall

16 be taken into account to the extent such contribution

17 exceeds $500 when added to the amount of all other

18 contributions made by such individual to or for the

19 benefit of such candidate during the applicable pe20 riod specified in paragraph (1).

21 ‘‘LIMITATION ON EXPENDITURES FOR PARTICIPATING

22 CANDIDATES

23 ‘‘SEC. 503. (a) PERSONAL FUNDS.—A candidate who

24 receives free broadcast time under section 315(c) of the

25 Communications Act of 1934 for a general election shall

26 not make expenditures during that election cycle from the
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1 personal funds of such candidate, which, in the aggregate,

2 exceed $40,000.

3 ‘‘(b) AGGREGATE EXPENDITURES.—Except as pro4 vided in subsection (c) and section 504, a candidate who

5 receives free broadcast time under section 315(c) of the

6 Communications Act of 1934 for a general election shall

7 not make expenditures during the election cycle that cover

8 such general election which, in the aggregate, exceed

9 $500,000.

10 ‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL EXPENDITURES PERMITTED FOR

11 RUNOFF ELECTIONS.—A candidate who receives free

12 broadcast time under section 315(c) of the Communica13 tions Act of 1934 and who participates in a primary runoff

14 election may make additional expenditures for such pri15 mary runoff election which in the aggregate do not exceed

16 $150,000.

17 ‘‘(d) EXCEPTION WHEN OTHER CANDIDATES EX18 CEED LIMITATIONS.—An eligible candidate may make ex19 penditures without regard to the limitations set forth in

20 this section if any candidate in the same general election

21 makes aggregate expenditures during the election cycle

22 which exceed the amount of the limitation set forth in sub23 section (b).

24 ‘‘(e) INDEXING OF AMOUNTS.—The limitations es25 tablished by subsections (b) and (c) shall be adjusted in
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1 the manner provided in section 315(c), except that, for

2 the purposes of such adjustment, the base period shall be

3 calendar year 1996.

4 ‘‘REFERENCE TO COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1934

5 ‘‘SEC. 504. An eligible candidate shall be entitled to

6 receive free radio and television broadcast time under sec7 tion 315(c) of the Communications Act of 1934.’’.

8 SEC. 6. ALLOCATION TO HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

9 CANDIDATES OF FREE BROADCAST TIME FOR

10 POLITICAL ADVERTISING.

11 (a) CONDITION OF LICENSE RENEWAL.—Section

12 309(h) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.

13 309(h)) is amended by inserting before the period at the

14 end the following: ‘‘; and (4) every broadcast station li15 cense issued under this Act shall be subject to the free

16 broadcast time obligations imposed by section 315(c)’’.

17 (b) FREE TIME OBLIGATIONS.—Section 315 of the

18 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 315) is

19 amended—

20 (1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as

21 subsections (d) and (e); and

22 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol23 lowing new subsection:

24 ‘‘(c)(1) Each licensee for a broadcasting station shall

25 annually make available free broadcast time for political

26 advertising in accordance with the requirements of this
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1 subsection. The Commission shall not renew the license

2 of any licensee who substantially fails or refuses to comply

3 with the requirements of this subsection, but such licensee

4 shall not be subject to any other sanction or remedy for

5 such failure or refusal.

6 ‘‘(2) A licensee subject to this subsection shall allot

7 free broadcast time to each qualified political candidate

8 in accordance with the following standards:

9 ‘‘(A) Such licensee shall allot an equal amount,

10 but not less than 1 hour, of free broadcast time each

11 even-numbered year to each qualified political can12 didate in a statewide or national election. In the case

13 of a station whose market does not encompass all of

14 a congressional district, such licensee may apportion

15 to each qualified candidate from such district a frac16 tion of such 1 hour that is equal to the fraction of

17 such district’s population that resides within such

18 market, as determined in accordance with regula19 tions prescribed by the Commission.

20 ‘‘(B) The free broadcast time allotted to any

21 candidate under subparagraph (A) shall be com22 posed of units of varying lengths of not more than

23 5 minutes nor less than 30 seconds, as determined

24 by negotiation between such organization and the li25 censee.
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1 ‘‘(C) The broadcast time allotted by any li2 censee shall be allotted so that—

3 ‘‘(i) at least one-half is broadcast during

4 the hours of 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.;

5 ‘‘(ii) during any election year, at least two6 thirds is broadcast during the 2 months imme7 diately preceding election day and at least one8 half is broadcast during the 3 weeks imme9 diately preceding election day;

10 ‘‘(iii) each qualified candidate is allotted

11 free broadcast time that is comparable, by time

12 of day and day of week, to the time allotted to

13 other qualified candidates for the same office;

14 and

15 ‘‘(iv) no broadcaster shall allot more than

16 2 hours per week of free broadcast time for po17 litical advertising and, if the amount of time re18 quired to be allotted by this paragraph would

19 exceed 2 hours, the time required to be allotted

20 each qualified candidate shall be reduced pro21 portionately.

22 ‘‘(D) The broadcast time shall be used solely

23 for programming consisting of unedited segments in

24 which the candidate speaks directly to the audience.
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1 ‘‘(3) A candidate shall be treated as a qualified polit2 ical candidate for purposes of paragraph (2)(A) if the can3 didate is an eligible candidate for purposes of section 501

4 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.

5 ‘‘(4) A licensee allots free broadcast time as required

6 by this subsection by broadcasting statements without re7 muneration or compensation in any form, whether by pub8 lic or private funds, tax deduction or credit, or otherwise.

9 ‘‘(5) Nothing in this subsection, and no use of free

10 broadcast time allotted under this subsection, shall be con11 strued to restrict or otherwise affect the purchase of ad12 vertising time under subsection (b) of this section.’’.

13 SEC. 7. BAN ON SOFT MONEY.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Federal Election

15 Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended

16 by adding at the end the following new section:

17 ‘‘LIMITATIONS AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR

18 AMOUNTS PAID FOR MIXED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES

19 ‘‘SEC. 323. (a) IN GENERAL.—Any payment by the

20 national committee of a political party or a State com21 mittee of a political party for a mixed political activity—

22 ‘‘(1) shall be subject to limitation and reporting

23 under this Act as if such payment were an expendi24 ture; and

25 ‘‘(2) may be paid only from an account that is

26 subject to the requirements of this Act.
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1 ‘‘(b) MIXED POLITICAL ACTIVITY DEFINED.—As

2 used in this section, the term ‘mixed political activity’

3 means, with respect to a payment by the national com4 mittee of a political party or a State committee of a polit5 ical party, an activity, such as a voter registration pro6 gram, a get-out-the-vote drive, or general political adver7 tising, that is both for the purpose of influencing an elec8 tion for Federal office and for any purpose unrelated to

9 influencing an election for Federal office.’’.

10 (b) REPEAL OF BUILDING FUND EXCEPTION TO THE

11 DEFINITION OF THE TERM ‘‘CONTRIBUTION’’.—Section

12 301(8)(B) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 431(8)(B)) is amended—

13 (1) by striking clause (viii); and

14 (2) by redesignating clauses (ix) through (xiv)

15 as clauses (viii) through (xiii).

16 SEC. 8. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ELECTION LIMITA17 TION ON CONTRIBUTIONS FROM PERSONS

18 OTHER THAN IN-STATE INDIVIDUAL RESI19 DENTS.

20 Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

21 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a) is amended by adding at the end

22 the following new subsection:

23 ‘‘(i)(1) At least 80 percent of the contributions ac24 cepted by a candidate for the office of Representative in,

25 or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress
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1 with respect to a reporting period for an election shall be

2 from in-State individual residents.

3 ‘‘(2) As used in this subsection, the term ‘in-State

4 individual resident’ means an individual who resides in the

5 State in which the congressional district involved is lo6 cated.

7 ‘‘(3)(A) Any candidate who accepts contributions that

8 exceed the limitation under this subsection with respect

9 to the pre-election report period or the post-election report

10 period shall pay to the Commission, for deposit in the

11 Treasury, an amount equal to 5 times the amount of the

12 excess contributions plus a civil penalty in an amount de13 termined by the Commission.

14 ‘‘(B) Any candidate who accepts contributions that

15 exceed the limitation under this subsection with respect

16 to a period other than a period referred to in subpara17 graph (A) shall pay to the Commission, for deposit in the

18 Treasury, an amount equal to 3 times the amount of the

19 excess contributions.

20 ‘‘(C) Each report under section 304(a)(6) shall in21 clude a certification by the treasurer of the committee that

22 the contributions reported do not exceed the limitation

23 under this subsection.’’.
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1 SEC. 9. INCREASED LIMITATION AMOUNT FOR CERTAIN

2 CONTRIBUTIONS TO POLITICAL COMMITTEES

3 OF STATE POLITICAL PARTIES.

4 Section 315(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Election Cam5 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(1)(B)) is amended

6 by inserting after ‘‘national’’ the following: ‘‘or State’’.

7 SEC. 10. DISCLOSURE OF ELECTION-RELATED ACTIVITY BY

8 CORPORATIONS, LABOR ORGANIZATIONS

9 AND NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS.

10 Section 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

11 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434) is amended by adding at the end

12 the following new subsection:

13 ‘‘(d) Any corporation, labor organization, or non14 profit organization that makes a payment for a commu15 nication or other activity that—

16 ‘‘(1) relates to any election for Federal office;

17 and

18 ‘‘(2) in the case of a corporation or labor orga19 nization, by reason of subparagraph (A) or (B) of

20 paragraph (2) of section 316(b), is not a contribu21 tion or expenditure;

22 shall report such payment to the Commission in the same

23 manner as a contribution or expenditure, as the case may

24 be, is reported by a principal campaign committee of a

25 candidate for the House of Representatives or the Senate

26 under this section.’’.
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1 SEC. 11. PROHIBITION OF BUNDLING OF CONTRIBUTIONS

2 TO CANDIDATES BY POLITICAL ACTION COM3 MITTEES AND LOBBYISTS.

4 Section 316 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

5 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441b) is amended by adding at the end

6 the following new subsection:

7 ‘‘(c) No nonparty multicandidate political committee

8 or person required to register under the Lobbying Disclo9 sure Act of 1995 may act as an intermediary or conduit

10 with respect to a contribution to a candidate for Federal

11 office.’’.

12 SEC. 12. SEVERABILITY.

13 If any provision of this Act or any amendment made

14 by this Act, or the application of any such provision to

15 any person or circumstance is held invalid, the validity of

16 any other such provision, and the application of such pro17 vision to other persons and circumstances shall not be af18 fected thereby.

19 SEC. 13. EFFECTIVE DATE.

20 Except as may otherwise be specifically provided, this

21 Act and the amendments made by this Act shall apply

22 with respect to elections occurring after 2000.

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