I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3683

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit use of

labor organization dues and fees for political activities, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 19, 1996

Mr. TIAHRT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on House Oversight

A BILL

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to

prohibit use of labor organization dues and fees for political activities, 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 ‘‘Congressional Cam5 paign Integrity Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON USE OF LABOR ORGANIZATION

7 DUES AND FEES FOR POLITICAL ACTIVITIES.

8 Section 316 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

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

10 the following new subsection:
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1 ‘‘(c)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this

2 Act or any other law, it shall be unlawful for a labor orga3 nization to use dues or fees—

4 ‘‘(A) to make contributions or expenditures

5 with respect to any Federal election; or

6 ‘‘(B) to support or promote any political activ7 ity or organization.

8 ‘‘(2) As used in this subsection, the term ‘dues or

9 fees’ means, with respect to a labor organization, any

10 amount of dues or fees required to be paid to such labor

11 organization by reason of the employment of the individual

12 who pays the dues or fees.’’.

13 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF PERSONAL LOANS BY CAN14 DIDATES TO THEIR CAMPAIGNS.

15 Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

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

17 the following new subsection:

18 ‘‘(i) A candidate for Federal office may not make any

19 loan to a campaign committee of the candidate or other20 wise provide reimbursable financial support for the cam21 paign of the candidate.’’.
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1 SEC. 4. EQUALIZATION OF MULTICANDIDATE POLITICAL

2 COMMITTEE CANDIDATE CONTRIBUTION

3 LIMITATION WITH LIMITATION APPLICABLE

4 TO OTHER PERSONS.

5 (a) PERSONS GENERALLY.—Section 315(a)(1)(A) of

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

7 441a(a)(1)(A)) is amended by striking out ‘‘$1,000’’ and

8 inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘$2,000’’.

9 (b) MULTICANDIDATE POLITICAL COMMITTEES.—

10 Section 315(a)(2)(A) of the Federal Election Campaign

11 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(2)(A)) is amended by

12 striking out ‘‘$5,000’’ and inserting in lieu thereof

13 ‘‘$2,000’’.

14 SEC. 5. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ELECTION LIMITA15 TION ON CONTRIBUTIONS FROM PERSONS

16 OTHER THAN IN-STATE INDIVIDUAL RESI17 DENTS.

18 Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

19 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a), as amended by section 3, is fur20 ther amended by adding at the end the following new sub21 section:

22 ‘‘(j)(1) A candidate for the office of Representative

23 in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress

24 may not, with respect to an election, accept contributions

25 from persons other than in-State individual residents to-
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1 taling the same as, or in excess of, the total of contribu2 tions accepted 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 SEC. 6. SOFT MONEY OF POLITICAL PARTIES.

8 Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

9 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended by adding at the

10 end the following new section:

11 ‘‘SOFT MONEY OF POLITICAL PARTIES

12 ‘‘SEC. 323. (a) A national committee of a political

13 party, including the national congressional campaign com14 mittees of a political party, and any officers or agents of

15 such party committees, shall not solicit or receive any con16 tributions, donations, or transfers of funds, or spend any

17 funds, not subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and re18 porting requirements of this Act. This subsection shall

19 apply to any entity that is established, financed, main20 tained, or controlled by a national committee of a political

21 party, including the national congressional campaign com22 mittees of a political party, and any officers or agents of

23 such party committees.

24 ‘‘(b)(1) Any amount expended or disbursed by a

25 State, district, or local committee of a political party, dur26 ing a calendar year in which a Federal election is held,
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1 for any activity which might affect the outcome of a Fed2 eral election, including but not limited to any voter reg3 istration and get-out-the-vote activity, any generic cam4 paign activity, and any communication that identifies a

5 Federal candidate (regardless of whether a State or local

6 candidate is also mentioned or identified) shall be made

7 from funds subject to the limitations, prohibitions and re8 porting requirements of this Act.

9 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to expenditures

10 or disbursements made by a State, district or local com11 mittee of a political party for—

12 ‘‘(A) a contribution to a candidate other than

13 for Federal office, provided that such contribution is

14 not designated or otherwise earmarked to pay for ac15 tivities described in paragraph (1);

16 ‘‘(B) the costs of a State or district/local politi17 cal convention;

18 ‘‘(C) the non-Federal share of a State, district

19 or local party committee’s administrative and over20 head expenses (but not including the compensation

21 in any month of any individual who spends more

22 than 20 percent of his or her time on activity during

23 such month which may affect the outcome of a Fed24 eral election). For purposes of this provision, the

25 non-Federal share of a party committee’s adminis-
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1 trative and overhead expenses shall be determined by

2 applying the ratio of the non-Federal disbursements

3 to the total Federal expenditures and non-Federal

4 disbursements made by the committee during the

5 previous presidential election year to the committee’s

6 administrative and overhead expenses in the election

7 year in question;

8 ‘‘(D) the costs of grassroots campaign mate9 rials, including buttons, bumper stickers, and yard

10 signs, which materials solely name or depict a State

11 or local candidate; or

12 ‘‘(E) the cost of any campaign activity con13 ducted solely on behalf of a clearly identified State

14 or local candidate, provided that such activity is not

15 a get-out-the-vote activity or any other activity cov16 ered by paragraph (1).

17 ‘‘(3) Any amount spent by a national, State, district

18 or local committee or entity of a political party to raise

19 funds that are used, in whole or in part, to pay the costs

20 of any activity covered by paragraph (1) shall be made

21 from funds subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and re22 porting requirements of this Act. This paragraph shall

23 apply to any entity that is established, financed, main24 tained, or controlled by a State, district or local committee

25 of a political party or any agent or officer of such party
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1 committee in the same manner as it applies to that com2 mittee.

3 ‘‘(c) No national, State, district or local committee

4 of a political party shall solicit any funds for or make any

5 donations to any organization that is exempt from Federal

6 taxation under section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue

7 Code of 1986.

8 ‘‘(d)(1) No candidate for Federal office, individual

9 holding Federal office, or any agent of such candidate or

10 officeholder, may solicit or receive (A) any funds in con11 nection with any Federal election unless such funds are

12 subject to the limitations, prohibitions and reporting re13 quirements of this Act; (B) any funds that are to be ex14 pended in connection with any election for other than a

15 Federal election unless such funds are not in excess of

16 the amounts permitted with respect to contributions to

17 Federal candidates and political committees under section

18 315(a) (1) and (2), and are not from sources prohibited

19 from making contributions by this Act with respect to elec20 tion for Federal office. This paragraph shall not apply to

21 the solicitation or receipt of funds by an individual who

22 is a candidate for a non-Federal office if such activity is

23 permitted under State law for such individual’s non-Fed24 eral campaign committee.
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1 ‘‘(2)(A) No candidate for Federal office or individual

2 holding Federal office may directly or indirectly establish,

3 maintain, finance or control any organization described in

4 section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 if

5 such organization raises funds from the public.

6 ‘‘(B) No candidate for Federal office or individual

7 holding Federal office may raise funds for any organiza8 tion described in section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue

9 Code of 1986 if the activities of the organization include

10 voter registration or get-out-the-vote campaigns.

11 ‘‘(C) For purposes of this paragraph, an individual

12 shall be treated as holding Federal office if such individ13 ual—

14 ‘‘(i) holds a Federal office; or

15 ‘‘(ii) holds a position described in level I of the

16 Executive Schedule under 5312 of title 5, United

17 States Code.’’.

18 SEC. 7. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

19 (a) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Section 304 of the

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

21 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub22 section:

23 ‘‘(d) POLITICAL COMMITTEES.—(1) A political com24 mittee other than a national committee of a political party,

25 any congressional campaign committee of a political party,
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1 and any subordinate committee of either, to which section

2 325(b)(1) applies shall report all receipts and disburse3 ments.

4 ‘‘(2) Any political committee other than the commit5 tees of a political party shall report any receipts or dis6 bursements that are used in connection with a Federal

7 election.

8 ‘‘(3) If a political committee has receipts or disburse9 ments to which this subsection applies from any person

10 aggregating in excess of $200 for any calendar year, the

11 political committee shall separately itemize its reporting

12 for such person in the same manner as required in sub13 section (b) (3)(A), (5), or (6).

14 ‘‘(4) Reports required to be filed under this sub15 section shall be filed for the same time periods required

16 for political committees under subsection (a).’’.

17 (b) REPORTS BY STATE COMMITTEES.—Section 304

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

19 434), as amended by subsection (a), is further amended

20 by adding at the end the following new subsection:

21 ‘‘(e) FILING OF STATE REPORTS.—In lieu of any re22 port required to be filed by this Act, the Commission may

23 allow a State committee of a political party to file with

24 the Commission a report required to be filed under State
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1 law if the Commission determines such reports contain

2 substantially the same information.’’.

3 (c) OTHER REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—

4 (1) AUTHORIZED COMMITTEES.—Section

5 304(b)(4) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

6 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(b)(4)) is amended—

7 (A) by striking out ‘‘and’’ at the end of

8 subparagraph (H);

9 (B) by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub10 paragraph (I); and

11 (C) by adding at the end the following new

12 subparagraph:

13 ‘‘(J) in the case of an authorized commit14 tee, disbursements for the primary election, the

15 general election, and any other election in which

16 the candidate participates;’’.

17 (2) NAMES AND ADDRESSES.—Section

18 304(b)(5)(A) of the Federal Election Campaign Act

19 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(b)(5)(A)) is amended—

20 (A) by striking out ‘‘within the calendar

21 year’’; and

22 (B) by inserting ‘‘, and the election to

23 which the operating expenditure relates’’ after

24 ‘‘operating expenditure’’.
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1 SEC. 8. SOFT MONEY OF PERSONS OTHER THAN POLITICAL

2 PARTIES.

3 Section 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

4 of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434), as amended by section 7, is fur5 ther amended by adding at the end the following new sub6 section:

7 ‘‘(f) ELECTION ACTIVITY OF PERSONS OTHER THAN

8 POLITICAL PARTIES.—(1)(A)(i) If any person to which

9 section 325 does not apply makes (or obligates to make)

10 disbursements for activities described in section 325(b)(1)

11 in excess of $2,000, such person shall file a statement—

12 ‘‘(I) within 48 hours after the disbursements

13 (or obligations) are made; or

14 ‘‘(II) in the case of disbursements (or obliga15 tions) that are required to be made within 20 days

16 of the election, within 24 hours after such disburse17 ments (or obligations) are made.

18 ‘‘(ii) An additional statement shall be filed each time

19 additional disbursements aggregating $2,000 are made (or

20 obligated to be made) by a person described in clause (i).

21 ‘‘(B) This paragraph shall not apply to—

22 ‘‘(i) a candidate or a candidate’s authorized

23 committees; or

24 ‘‘(ii) an independent expenditure (as defined in

25 section 301(17)).
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1 ‘‘(2) Any statement under this section shall be filed

2 with the Commission and shall contain such information

3 as the Commission shall prescribe, including whether the

4 disbursement is in support of, or in opposition to, 1 or

5 more candidates or any political party.’’.

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