II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2269

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to ban soft money

donations, increase individual contribution limits to candidates, and increase disclosure for issue advocacy.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 22, 2000

Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself and Mr. TORRICELLI) introduced the following

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and

Administration

A BILL

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to

ban soft money donations, increase individual contribution limits to candidates, and increase disclosure for issue

advocacy.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. PROHIBITION ON SOFT MONEY OF NATIONAL

4 POLITICAL PARTY COMMITTEES.

5 Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

6 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended by adding at the

7 end the following:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 323. SOFT MONEY OF POLITICAL PARTIES.

2 ‘‘(a) NATIONAL COMMITTEES.—

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A national committee of a

4 political party (including a national congressional

5 campaign committee of a political party) and any of6 ficers or agents of such party committees, shall not

7 solicit, receive, or direct to another person a con8 tribution, donation, or transfer of funds, or spend

9 any funds, that are not subject to the limitations,

10 prohibitions, and reporting requirements of this Act.

11 ‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY.—This subsection shall

12 apply to an entity that is directly or indirectly estab13 lished, financed, maintained, or controlled by a na14 tional committee of a political party (including a na15 tional congressional campaign committee of a polit16 ical party), or an entity acting on behalf of a na17 tional committee, and an officer or agent acting on

18 behalf of any such committee or entity.

19 ‘‘(b) STATE, DISTRICT, AND LOCAL COMMITTEES.—

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An amount that is ex21 pended or disbursed by a State, district, or local

22 committee of a political party (including an entity

23 that is directly or indirectly established, financed,

24 maintained, or controlled by a State, district, or

25 local committee of a political party and an officer or

26 agent acting on behalf of such committee or entity)
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1 for Federal election activity shall be made from

2 funds subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and re3 porting requirements of this Act.

4 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL ELECTION ACTIVITY.—

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘Federal

6 election activity’ means—

7 ‘‘(i) voter registration activity during

8 the period that begins on the date that is

9 120 days before the date a regularly sched10 uled Federal election is held and ends on

11 the date of the election;

12 ‘‘(ii) voter identification, get-out-the13 vote activity, or generic campaign activity

14 conducted in connection with an election in

15 which a candidate for Federal office ap16 pears on the ballot (regardless of whether

17 a candidate for State or local office also

18 appears on the ballot); and

19 ‘‘(iii) a communication that refers to a

20 clearly identified candidate for Federal of21 fice (regardless of whether a candidate for

22 State or local office is also mentioned or

23 identified) and is made for the purpose of

24 influencing a Federal election (regardless
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1 of whether the communication is express

2 advocacy).

3 ‘‘(B) EXCLUDED ACTIVITY.—The term

4 ‘Federal election activity’ does not include an

5 amount expended or disbursed by a State, dis6 trict, or local committee of a political party

7 for—

8 ‘‘(i) campaign activity conducted sole9 ly on behalf of a clearly identified can10 didate for State or local office, provided

11 the campaign activity is not a Federal elec12 tion activity described in subparagraph

13 (A);

14 ‘‘(ii) a contribution to a candidate for

15 State or local office, provided the contribu16 tion is not designated or used to pay for a

17 Federal election activity described in sub18 paragraph (A);

19 ‘‘(iii) the costs of a State, district, or

20 local political convention;

21 ‘‘(iv) the costs of grassroots campaign

22 materials, including buttons, bumper stick23 ers, and yard signs, that name or depict

24 only a candidate for State or local office;
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1 ‘‘(v) the non-Federal share of a State,

2 district, or local party committee’s admin3 istrative and overhead expenses (but not

4 including the compensation in any month

5 of an individual who spends more than 20

6 percent of the individual’s time on Federal

7 election activity) as determined by a regu8 lation promulgated by the Commission to

9 determine the non-Federal share of a

10 State, district, or local party committee’s

11 administrative and overhead expenses; and

12 ‘‘(vi) the cost of constructing or pur13 chasing an office facility or equipment for

14 a State, district or local committee.

15 ‘‘(C) GENERIC CAMPAIGN ACTIVITY.—The

16 term ‘generic campaign activity’ means an ac17 tivity that promotes a political party and does

18 not promote a candidate or non-Federal can19 didate.

20 ‘‘(c) FUNDRAISING COSTS.—An amount spent by a

21 national, State, district, or local committee of a political

22 party, by an entity that is established, financed, main23 tained, or controlled by a national, State, district, or local

24 committee of a political party, or by an agent or officer

25 of any such committee or entity, to raise funds that are
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1 used, in whole or in part, to pay the costs of a Federal

2 election activity shall be made from funds subject to the

3 limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements of

4 this Act.

5 ‘‘(d) TAX-EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS.—A national,

6 State, district, or local committee of a political party (in7 cluding a national congressional campaign committee of

8 a political party), an entity that is directly or indirectly

9 established, financed, maintained, or controlled by any

10 such national, State, district, or local committee or its

11 agent, and an officer or agent acting on behalf of any such

12 party committee or entity, shall not solicit any funds for,

13 or make or direct any donations to, an organization that

14 is described in section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue

15 Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation under section

16 501(a) of such Code (or has submitted an application for

17 determination of tax exempt status under such section).

18 ‘‘(e) CANDIDATES.—

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A candidate, individual

20 holding Federal office, agent of a candidate or indi21 vidual holding Federal office, or an entity directly or

22 indirectly established, financed, maintained or con23 trolled by or acting on behalf of one or more can24 didates or individuals holding Federal office, shall

25 not—
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1 ‘‘(A) solicit, receive, direct, transfer, or

2 spend funds in connection with an election for

3 Federal office, including funds for any Federal

4 election activity, unless the funds are subject to

5 the limitations, prohibitions, and reporting re6 quirements of this Act; or

7 ‘‘(B) solicit, receive, direct, transfer, or

8 spend funds in connection with any election

9 other than an election for Federal office or dis10 burse funds in connection with such an election

11 unless the funds—

12 ‘‘(i) are not in excess of the amounts

13 permitted with respect to contributions to

14 candidates and political committees under

15 paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 315(a);

16 and

17 ‘‘(ii) are not from sources prohibited

18 by this Act from making contributions with

19 respect to an election for Federal office.

20 ‘‘(2) STATE LAW.—Paragraph (1) does not

21 apply to the solicitation, receipt, or spending of

22 funds by an individual who is a candidate for a

23 State or local office in connection with such election

24 for State or local office if the solicitation, receipt,

25 or spending of funds is permitted under State law
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1 for any activity other than a Federal election activ2 ity.

3 ‘‘(3) FUNDRAISING EVENTS.—Notwithstanding

4 paragraph (1), a candidate may attend, speak, or be

5 a featured guest at a fundraising event for a State,

6 district, or local committee of a political party.’’.

7 SEC. 2. INCREASE IN INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTION LIMIT.

8 (a) INCREASE IN INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTION

9 LIMIT.—Section 315(a)(1)(A) of the Federal Election

10 Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(1)(A)) is

11 amended by striking ‘‘$1,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$3,000’’.

12 (b) INDEX OF AMOUNT.—Section 315(c) of the Fed13 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(c))

14 is amended—

15 (1) in paragraph (1)—

16 (A) by striking the second and third sen17 tences;

18 (B) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ before ‘‘At the be19 ginning’’; and

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

21 ‘‘(B) In any calendar year after 2001—

22 ‘‘(i) a limitation established by subsection

23 (a)(1)(A), (b), or (d) shall be increased by the per24 cent difference determined under subparagraph (A);

25 and
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1 ‘‘(ii) each amount so increased shall remain in

2 effect for the calendar year.’’; and

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

4 calendar year 1974’’ and inserting ‘‘means—

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

6 (d), calendar year 1974; and

7 ‘‘(ii) for purposes of subsection (a)(1)(A),

8 calendar year 2000’’.

9 (c) EFFECTIVE DATES.—

10 (1) SUBSECTION (a).—The amendment made

11 by subsection (a) shall apply with respect to elec12 tions occurring after December 31, 2000.

13 (2) SUBSECTION (b).—The amendments made

14 by subsection (b) shall apply to calendar years be15 ginning after December 31, 2001.

16 SEC. 3. DISCLOSURE OF ELECTIONEERING COMMUNICA17 TIONS.

18 Section 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

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

20 the following:

21 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS ON ELECTION22 EERING COMMUNICATIONS.—

23 ‘‘(1) STATEMENT REQUIRED.—Every person

24 who makes a disbursement for electioneering com25 munications in an aggregate amount in excess of
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1 $10,000 during any calendar year shall, within 48

2 hours of each disclosure date, file with the Commis3 sion a statement containing the information de4 scribed in paragraph (2).

5 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF STATEMENT.—Each state6 ment required to be filed under this subsection shall

7 be made under penalty of perjury and shall contain

8 the following information:

9 ‘‘(A) The identification of the person mak10 ing the disbursement, of any entity sharing or

11 exercising direction or control over the activities

12 of such person, and of the custodian of the

13 books and accounts of the person making the

14 disbursement.

15 ‘‘(B) The State of incorporation and the

16 principal place of business of the person making

17 the disbursement.

18 ‘‘(C) The amount of each disbursement

19 during the period covered by the statement and

20 the identification of the person to whom the

21 disbursement was made.

22 ‘‘(D) The elections to which the election23 eering communications pertain and the names

24 (if known) of the candidates identified or to be

25 identified.
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1 ‘‘(E) If the disbursements were paid out of

2 a segregated account to which only individuals

3 could contribute, the names and addresses of all

4 contributors who contributed an aggregate

5 amount of $3,000 or more to that account dur6 ing the period beginning on the first day of the

7 preceding calendar year and ending on the dis8 closure date.

9 ‘‘(F) If the disbursements were paid out of

10 funds not described in subparagraph (E), the

11 names and addresses of all contributors who

12 contributed an aggregate amount of $3,000 or

13 more to the organization or any related entity

14 during the period beginning on the first day of

15 the preceding calendar year and ending on the

16 disclosure date.

17 ‘‘(G) Whether or not any electioneering

18 communication is made in coordination, co19 operation, consultation, or concert with, or at

20 the request or suggestion of, any candidate or

21 any authorized committee, any political party or

22 committee, or any agent of the candidate, polit23 ical party, or committee and if so, the identi24 fication of any candidate, party, committee, or

25 agent involved.
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1 ‘‘(3) ELECTIONEERING COMMUNICATION.—For

2 purposes of this subsection—

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘election4 eering communication’ means any broadcast

5 from a television or radio broadcast station

6 which—

7 ‘‘(i) refers to a clearly identified can8 didate for Federal office;

9 ‘‘(ii) is made (or scheduled to be

10 made) within—

11 ‘‘(I) 60 days before a general,

12 special, or runoff election for such

13 Federal office; or

14 ‘‘(II) 30 days before a primary or

15 preference election, or a convention or

16 caucus of a political party that has

17 authority to nominate a candidate, for

18 such Federal office; and

19 ‘‘(iii) is broadcast from a television or

20 radio broadcast station whose audience in21 cludes the electorate for such election, con22 vention, or caucus.

23 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.—Such term shall not

24 include—
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1 ‘‘(i) communications appearing in a

2 news story, commentary, or editorial dis3 tributed through the facilities of any

4 broadcasting station, unless such facilities

5 are owned or controlled by any political

6 party, political committee, or candidate; or

7 ‘‘(ii) communications which constitute

8 expenditures or independent expenditures

9 under this Act.

10 ‘‘(4) DISCLOSURE DATE.—For purposes of this

11 subsection, the term ‘disclosure date’ means—

12 ‘‘(A) the first date during any calendar

13 year by which a person has made disbursements

14 for electioneering communications aggregating

15 in excess of $10,000; and

16 ‘‘(B) any other date during such calendar

17 year by which a person has made disbursements

18 for electioneering communications aggregating

19 in excess of $10,000 since the most recent dis20 closure date for such calendar year.

21 ‘‘(5) CONTRACTS TO DISBURSE.—For purposes

22 of this subsection, a person shall be treated as hav23 ing made a disbursement if the person has con24 tracted to make the disbursement.
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1 ‘‘(6) COORDINATION WITH OTHER REQUIRE2 MENTS.—Any requirement to report under this sub3 section shall be in addition to any other reporting

4 requirement under this Act.’’.

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