II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1751

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to modify reporting

requirements and increase contribution limits, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 19, 1999

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

to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to

modify reporting requirements and increase contribution

limits, 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 ‘‘Citizens’ Right to

5 Know Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS.

7 (a) DISCLOSURE OF CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDI8 TURES ON THE INTERNET.—
2

•S 1751 IS

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 304 of the Federal

2 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434) is

3 amended by adding at the end the following:

4 ‘‘(d) REQUIRED DISCLOSURE ON THE INTERNET.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para6 graph (3), each political committee shall make avail7 able to the public on the Internet the information re8 quired under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of para9 graph (3) and paragraph (5)(A) of subsection (b),

10 not later than 14 days after—

11 ‘‘(A) the date on which the committee re12 ceives a contribution from or makes an expendi13 ture to a person, aggregating $200 or more

14 during the calendar year; and

15 ‘‘(B) each date on which the committee re16 ceives a contribution from or makes an expendi17 ture to such person, aggregating an additional

18 $200 or more during such calendar year.

19 ‘‘(2) USE OF INFORMATION.—Any information

20 made available under paragraph (1) may not be sold

21 or used by any person for the purpose of soliciting

22 contributions or donations or for any commercial

23 purpose, other than using the name and address of

24 any political committee to solicit contributions from

25 such committee.
3

•S 1751 IS

1 ‘‘(3) CANDIDATE.—

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a can3 didate or the candidate’s authorized committee,

4 the requirement under paragraph (1) that dis5 closure occur within 14 days shall only apply

6 during the period which begins 18 months be7 fore the date of the general election for the of8 fice for which such candidate is running and

9 ends on such date.

10 ‘‘(B) TIME PERIOD COVERED.—The first

11 disclosure required under subparagraph (A)

12 shall include aggregate contributions received

13 and expenditures made during the election cycle

14 for the office for which the candidate is seeking

15 and not previously made available under para16 graph (1).’’.

17 (2) DEFINITION OF ELECTION CYCLE.—Section

18 301 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971

19 (2 U.S.C. 431) is amended by adding at the end the

20 following:

21 ‘‘(20) ELECTION CYCLE.—The term ‘election

22 cycle’ means—

23 ‘‘(A) in the case of a candidate or the au24 thorized committees of a candidate, the period

25 beginning on the day after the date of the most
4

•S 1751 IS

1 recent general election for the specific office or

2 seat that the candidate seeks and ending on the

3 date of the next general election for that office

4 or seat; and

5 ‘‘(B) in the case of all other persons, the

6 period beginning on the first day following the

7 date of the last general election and ending on

8 the date of the next general election.’’.

9 (b) IDENTIFICATION OF CONTRIBUTORS NOT RE10 QUIRED FOR CERTAIN POLITICAL COMMITTEES.—Section

11 304(b)(3)(A) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

12 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(b)(3)(A)) is amended by inserting

13 ‘‘for a political party committee, ’’ before ‘‘person’’.

14 (c) DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN BROADCASTING

15 RECORDS.—Section 315 of the Communications Act of

16 1934 (47 U.S.C. 315) is amended by redesignating sub17 sections (c) and (d) as subsections (d) and (e), respec18 tively, and inserting after subsection (b) the following:

19 ‘‘(c) POLITICAL RECORD.—

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A licensee or operator of a

21 cable system shall maintain, and make available for

22 public inspection, a complete record of a request to

23 purchase broadcast time that—

24 ‘‘(A) is made by or on behalf of a legally

25 qualified candidate for Federal office; or
5

•S 1751 IS

1 ‘‘(B) will communicate a message that—

2 ‘‘(i) refers to a clearly identified can3 didate, Federal office holder, or national

4 political party; and

5 ‘‘(ii) is made for the purpose of influ6 encing a Federal election.

7 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF RECORD.—A record main8 tained under paragraph (1) shall contain informa9 tion regarding—

10 ‘‘(A) whether the request to purchase

11 broadcast time is accepted or rejected by the li12 censee or operator of a cable system;

13 ‘‘(B) the rate charged for the broadcast

14 time;

15 ‘‘(D) the date and time that the commu16 nication is aired;

17 ‘‘(E) the class of time that is purchased;

18 and

19 ‘‘(F) the name of the candidate, office

20 holder, or political party to which the commu21 nication refers and the office to which the can22 didate is seeking election (as applicable).

23 ‘‘(3) TIME TO MAINTAIN FILE.—The informa24 tion required under this subsection shall be placed in

25 a political file as soon as possible and shall be re-
6

•S 1751 IS

1 tained by the licensee or operator of a cable system

2 for a period of not less than 2 years.’’.

3 SEC. 3. MODIFICATION OF CONTRIBUTION LIMITS.

4 (a) CANDIDATE LIMIT.—Section 315(a)(1)(A) of the

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

6 441a(a)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘$1,000’’ and in7 serting ‘‘$5,000’’.

8 (b) PARTY LIMITS.—Section 315(a) of the Federal

9 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)) is

10 amended—

11 (1) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ‘‘$20,000’’

12 and inserting ‘‘$50,000’’; and

13 (2) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking ‘‘$15,000’’

14 and inserting ‘‘$50,000’’.

15 (c) STATE PARTY LIMIT.—Section 315(a) of the Fed16 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a))

17 is amended—

18 (1) in paragraph (1)—

19 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘or’’

20 at the end;

21 (B) in subparagraph (C)—

22 (i) by inserting ‘‘(other than a com23 mittee described in subparagraph (D))’’

24 after ‘‘committee’’; and
7

•S 1751 IS

1 (ii) by striking the period at the end

2 and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and

3 (C) by adding at the end the following:

4 ‘‘(D) to a political committee established and

5 maintained by a State committee of a political party

6 in any calendar year which, in the aggregate, exceed

7 $15,000.’’; and

8 (2) in paragraph (2)—

9 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘or’’

10 at the end;

11 (B) in subparagraph (C)—

12 (i) by inserting ‘‘(other than a com13 mittee described in subparagraph (D))’’

14 after ‘‘committee’’; and

15 (ii) by striking the period at the end

16 and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and

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

18 ‘‘(D) to a political committee established and

19 maintained by a State committee of a political party

20 in any calendar year which, in the aggregate, exceed

21 $15,000.’’.

22 (d) AGGREGATE LIMIT.—The first sentence of sec23 tion 315(a)(3) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

24 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(3)) is amended to read as follows:

25 ‘‘An individual shall not make an aggregate amount of
8

•S 1751 IS

1 contributions in any calendar year, described in subpara2 graphs (A) and (C) of paragraph (1) in excess of $50,000

3 and described in subparagraphs (B) and (D) of paragraph

4 (1) in excess of $50,000.’’.

5 SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES OF POLITICAL COM6 MITTEES.

7 (a) DEFINITION OF CONTRIBUTION.—Section

8 301(8)(B) of Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2

9 U.S.C. 431(8)(B)) is amended—

10 (1) in clause (xiii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the

11 end;

12 (2) in clause (xiv), by striking the period at the

13 end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

14 (3) by adding at the end the following:

15 ‘‘(xv) any amount received by a committee of a

16 political party specifically designated to defray the

17 cost of legal or accounting services or other services

18 required for compliance with this Act or chapter 95

19 or chapter 96 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986,

20 including the costs of developing and maintaining a

21 system of electronic recordkeeping and reporting.’’.

22 (b) DEFINITION OF EXPENDITURE.—Section

23 301(9)(B) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971

24 (2 U.S.C. 431(9)(B)) is amended—

25 (1) in clause (ix), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end;
9

•S 1751 IS

1 (2) in clause (x), by striking the period at the

2 end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

3 (3) by adding at the end the following:

4 ‘‘(xi) the payment by a committee of a political

5 party for the cost of legal or accounting services or

6 other services required for compliance with this Act

7 or chapter 95 or chapter 96 of the Internal Revenue

8 Code of 1986, including the costs of developing and

9 maintaining a system of electronic recordkeeping

10 and reporting.’’.

11 SEC. 4. TAX DEDUCTION FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO CERTAIN

12 POLITICAL COMMITTEES AND CANDIDATES.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part VII of subchapter B of chap14 ter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended

15 by redesignating section 222 as section 223 and inserting

16 after section 221 the following new section:

17 ‘‘SEC. 222. POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS.

18 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF DEDUCTION.—In the case of an

19 individual, there shall be allowed as a deduction for the

20 taxable year an amount equal to the lesser of—

21 ‘‘(1) the aggregate amount of qualified political

22 contributions made by the taxpayer during the tax23 able year, or

24 ‘‘(2) $100 ($200 in the case of a joint return).
10

•S 1751 IS

1 ‘‘(b) QUALIFIED POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS.—For

2 purposes of this section—

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec4 tion, the term ‘qualified political contributions’

5 means an amount paid or incurred to a—

6 ‘‘(A) candidate or candidate’s authorized

7 committee,

8 ‘‘(B) political committee of a national po9 litical party; or

10 ‘‘(C) qualified political committee.

11 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED POLITICAL COMMITTEE.—The

12 term ‘qualified political committee’ means a separate

13 segregated fund described in section 316(b)(2)(C) of

14 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2

15 U.S.C. 441b(b)(2)(C)) and maintained by a corpora16 tion, labor organization, membership organization,

17 cooperative, or corporation without capital stock

18 which is certified by the Federal Election Commis19 sion for the calendar year in which the taxable year

20 begins as meeting the voluntary disclosure require21 ments of section 324 of such Act.

22 ‘‘(c) VERIFICATION.—The credit allowed by sub23 section (a) shall be allowed, with respect to any contribu24 tion, only if such contribution is verified in such manner

25 as the Secretary shall prescribe by regulations.
11

•S 1751 IS

1 ‘‘(d) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this

2 section, the terms ‘authorized committee’, ‘candidate’,

3 ‘contribution’, and ‘political committee’ have the meaning

4 given those terms in section 301 of the Federal Election

5 Campaign Act of 1971.’’.

6 (b) VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENT.—Title

7 III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2

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

9 following:

10 ‘‘SEC. 324. VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENT.

11 ‘‘(a) DISCLOSURE.—An organization which main12 tains a separate segregated fund described in section

13 316(b)(2)(C) may elect to disclose disbursements made for

14 political activity during the 12-month period ending on

15 August 15 of a calendar year by filing an annual report

16 with the Commission under this section.

17 ‘‘(b) POLITICAL ACTIVITY.—In this section, the term

18 ‘political activity’ means activity in connection with any

19 election or candidate, including—

20 ‘‘(1) voter registration activity;

21 ‘‘(2) voter identification and get-out-the-vote ac22 tivity;

23 ‘‘(3) organizing and running direct mail cam24 paigns or phone banks;
12

•S 1751 IS

1 ‘‘(4) disbursements for broadcast time or print

2 advertising; and

3 ‘‘(5) polling.

4 ‘‘(c) FORM OF REPORT.—A report under subsection

5 (a) shall be filed annually with the Commission—

6 ‘‘(1) in such form and containing such informa7 tion as the Commission determines necessary, and

8 ‘‘(2) not later than September 1 of the calendar

9 year to which such report relates.

10 ‘‘(d) PUBLIC ACCESS.—

11 ‘‘(1) REPORT.—A report filed under subsection

12 (a) shall be made accessible to the public by the

13 Commission not later than September 30 of the cal14 endar year to which such report relates.

15 ‘‘(2) REPORTING ORGANIZATIONS.—Not later

16 than September 30 of each calendar year, the Com17 mission shall make available to the public a list of

18 each organization which elects to file a report under

19 subsection (a).

20 ‘‘(e) CERTIFICATION.—For purposes of section 222

21 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to political

22 contributions), not later than September 30 of each cal23 endar year, the Commission shall certify to the Secretary

24 of Treasury and each organization electing to report under
13

•S 1751 IS

1 this section the name of each organization which meets

2 the voluntary reporting requirements of this section.’’.

3 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec4 tions for part VII of subchapter B of chapter 1 of the

5 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking the

6 last item and inserting the following new items:

‘‘Sec. 222. Political contributions.

‘‘Sec. 223. Cross reference.’’

7 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

8 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after

9 the date of enactment of this Act.

10 SEC. 5. TREATMENT OF PERSONAL SERVICES PROVIDED IN

11 COORDINATION WITH A POLITICAL COM12 MITTEE.

13 Section 301(8)(A)(ii) of the Federal Election Cam14 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(8)(A)(ii)) is amended

15 by inserting ‘‘or in coordination with a political com16 mittee’’ after ‘‘committee’’.

Æ