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107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 151

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to reform the financing

and conduct of campaigns for elections for Federal office, and for other

purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 3, 2001

Mr. PETRI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and

Means, for a period to be subsquently 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

reform the financing and conduct of campaigns for elections for Federal office, 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. DISCLOSURE AND REPORTS RELATING TO

4 POLLING BY TELEPHONE OR ELECTRONIC

5 DEVICE.

6 Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of

7 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended by adding at the

8 end the following new section:
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1 ‘‘DISCLOSURE AND REPORTS RELATING TO POLLING BY

2 TELEPHONE OR ELECTRONIC DEVICE

3 ‘‘SEC. 323. (a) DISCLOSURE TO RESPONDENTS.—

4 Any person who conducts a Federal election poll by tele5 phone or electronic device shall disclose to each respondent

6 the identity of the person paying the expenses of the poll.

7 The disclosure shall be made at the end of the interview

8 involved.

9 ‘‘(b) REPORTS TO COMMISSION.—In the case of any

10 Federal election poll by telephone or electronic device—

11 ‘‘(1) if the results are not to be made public,

12 the person who conducts the poll shall report to the

13 Commission the total cost of the poll and all sources

14 of funds for the poll; and

15 ‘‘(2) the person who conducts the poll shall re16 port to the Commission the total number of house17 holds contacted and include with such report a copy

18 of the poll questions.

19 ‘‘(c) FEDERAL ELECTION POLL DEFINED.—As used

20 in this section, the term ‘Federal election poll’ means a

21 survey—

22 ‘‘(1) in which the respondent is asked to state

23 opinions or views regarding a future election for

24 Federal office; and
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1 ‘‘(2) in which more than 1,200 households are

2 surveyed.’’.

3 SEC. 2. TAX CREDIT FOR CERTAIN POLITICAL CONTRIBU4 TIONS.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart A of part IV of sub6 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of

7 1986 (relating to nonrefundable personal credits) is

8 amended by inserting after section 25A the following new

9 section:

10 ‘‘SEC. 25B. CREDIT FOR POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS.

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual,

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

13 by this chapter for the taxable year an amount equal to

14 one-half of all political contributions, and all newsletter

15 fund contributions, paid by the taxpayer during the tax16 able year.

17 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.—

18 ‘‘(1) MAXIMUM CREDIT.—The credit allowed by

19 subsection (a) shall not exceed $100 ($200 in the

20 case of a joint return).

21 ‘‘(2) VERIFICATION.—The credit allowed by

22 subsection (a) shall be allowed, with respect to any

23 political contribution or newsletter fund contribution,

24 only if such contribution is verified in such manner

25 as the Secretary shall prescribe by regulation.
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1 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—

2 ‘‘(1) POLITICAL CONTRIBUTION.—The term

3 ‘political contribution’ means a contribution or gift

4 of money, or the fair market value of a contribution

5 or gift of property, to—

6 ‘‘(A) an individual who is a candidate for

7 nomination or election to any Federal, State, or

8 local elective public office in any primary, gen9 eral, or special election, for use by such indi10 vidual to further the candidacy of the individual

11 for nomination or election to such office,

12 ‘‘(B) any committee, association, or organi13 zation (whether or not incorporated) organized

14 and operated exclusively for the purposes of in15 fluencing, or attempting to influence, the nomi16 nation or election of one or more individuals

17 who are candidates for nomination or election

18 to any Federal, State, or local elective public of19 fice, for use by such committee, association, or

20 organization to further the candidacy of such

21 individual or individuals for nomination or elec22 tion to such office,

23 ‘‘(C) the national committee of a national

24 political party,
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1 ‘‘(D) the State committee of a national po2 litical party as designated by the national com3 mittee of such party, or

4 ‘‘(E) a local committee of a national polit5 ical party as designated by the State committee

6 of such party designated under subparagraph

7 (D).

8 ‘‘(2) NEWSLETTER FUND.—The term ‘news9 letter fund’ means a fund described in section

10 527(g)(1).

11 ‘‘(3) CANDIDATE.—The term ‘candidate’

12 means, with respect to any Federal, State, or local

13 elective public office, an individual who—

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

15 the calendar year following the calendar year in

16 which the political contribution is made that the

17 individual is a candidate for nomination or elec18 tion to such office; and

19 ‘‘(B) meets the qualifications prescribed by

20 law to hold such office.

21 ‘‘(4) NATIONAL POLITICAL PARTY.—The term

22 ‘national political party’ means—

23 ‘‘(A) in the case of political contributions

24 made during a taxable year of the taxpayer in

25 which the electors of President and Vice Presi-
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1 dent are chosen, a political party presenting

2 candidates or electors for such offices on the of3 ficial election ballot of ten or more States; or

4 ‘‘(B) in the case of political contributions

5 made during any other taxable year of the tax6 payer, a political party which met the qualifica7 tions described in subparagraph (A) in the last

8 preceding election of a President and Vice

9 President.

10 ‘‘(5) STATE AND LOCAL.—The term ‘State’

11 means the various States and the District of Colum12 bia; and the term ‘local’ means a political subdivi13 sion or part thereof, or two or more political subdivi14 sions or parts thereof, of a State.’’.

15 ‘‘(d) CROSS REFERENCES.—

‘‘For transfer of appreciated property to a political organization, see section 84.

‘‘For certain indirect contributions to political

parties, see section 276.’’.

16 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec17 tions for subpart A of part IV of subchapter A of chapter

18 1 of such Code (relating to nonrefundable personal cred19 its) is amended by inserting after the item relating to sec20 tion 25A the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 25B. Credit for political contributions.’’

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

22 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after
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1 December 31 of the calendar year in which this Act is

2 enacted.

3 SEC. 3. PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN FUND.

4 (a) REPEAL OF PROVISIONS CONCERNING PRESI5 DENTIAL CAMPAIGN FUND.—The following provisions of

6 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 are hereby repealed:

7 (1) Part VIII of subchapter A of chapter 61 of

8 subtitle F of such Code (relating to designation of

9 income tax payments to Presidential Election Cam10 paign Fund).

11 (2) Subtitle H (relating to financing of Presi12 dential election campaigns).

13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

14 (1) TABLE OF PARTS.—The table of parts of

15 subchapter A of chapter 61 of subtitle F of such

16 Code is amended by striking the item relating to

17 part VIII.

18 (2) TABLE OF SUBTITLES.—The table of sub19 titles of such Code is amended by striking the item

20 relating to subtitle H.

21 (c) EFFECTIVE DATES.—

22 (1) DESIGNATION OF INCOME TAX PAYMENTS

23 TO FUND.—The amendment made by subsection

24 (a)(1) applies to taxable years beginning after De25 cember 31, 1999.
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1 (2) FINANCING OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

2 CAMPAIGNS.—The amendment made by subsection

3 (a)(2) shall take effect on the date that is 2 years

4 after the date of the enactment of this Act, except

5 that no payment may be made from the Presidential

6 Election Campaign Fund or the Presidential Pri7 mary Matching Payment Account with respect to

8 any Presidential election occurring more than 2

9 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.

10 (d) AMOUNTS REMAINING IN FUNDS.—The Sec11 retary of the Treasury shall deposit into the Treasury of

12 the United States as miscellaneous receipts any amounts

13 that remain, on the date that is 2 years after the date

14 of the enactment of this Act, in the Presidential Election

15 Campaign Fund or the Presidential Primary Matching

16 Payment Account.

17 SEC. 4. REQUIRING MAJORITY OF SENATE AND HOUSE OF

18 REPRESENTATIVES CANDIDATE FUNDS TO

19 COME FROM INDIVIDUALS RESIDING IN THE

20 STATE IN WHICH THE ELECTION IS HELD.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 315 of the Federal Elec22 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a) is amended

23 by adding at the end the following new subsection:

24 ‘‘(i)(1) A candidate for the office of Senator or Rep25 resentative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to,
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1 the Congress may not accept contributions with respect

2 to an election cycle from persons other than local indi3 vidual residents totaling in excess of the total of contribu4 tions accepted from local individual residents (as deter5 mined on the basis of the most recent information included

6 in reports pursuant to section 304(d).

7 ‘‘(2) In determining the amount of contributions ac8 cepted by a candidate for purposes of this subsection, con9 tributions of the candidate’s personal funds shall be sub10 ject to the following rules:

11 ‘‘(A) To the extent that the amount of the con12 tribution does not exceed the limitation on contribu13 tions made by an individual under subsection

14 (a)(1)(A), such contribution shall be treated as any

15 other contribution.

16 ‘‘(B) The portion (if any) of the contribution

17 which exceeds the limitation on contributions which

18 may be made by an individual under subsection

19 (a)(1)(A) shall be allocated in accordance with para20 graph (8).

21 ‘‘(3) In determining the amount of contributions ac22 cepted by a candidate for purposes of this subsection, con23 tributions from a political party or a political party com24 mittee shall be allocated in accordance with paragraph (8).
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1 ‘‘(4) In determining the amount of contributions ac2 cepted by a candidate for purposes of this subsection, any

3 funds remaining in the candidate’s campaign account

4 after the filing of the post-general election report under

5 section 304(a)(2)(A)(ii) for the most recent general elec6 tion shall be allocated in accordance with paragraph (8).

7 ‘‘(5) In determining the amount of contributions ac8 cepted by a candidate for purposes of this subsection, any

9 contributions accepted pursuant to subsection (j) which

10 are from persons other than local individual residents shall

11 be allocated in accordance with paragraph (8).

12 ‘‘(6)(A) Any candidate who accepts contributions that

13 exceed the limitation under this subsection, as determined

14 on the basis of information included in reports pursuant

15 to section 304(d), shall pay to the Commission at the time

16 of the filing of the report which contains the information,

17 for deposit in the Treasury, an amount equal to 3 times

18 the amount of the excess contributions (or, in the case

19 of a candidate described in subparagraph (C), an amount

20 equal to 5 times the amount of the excess contributions

21 plus a civil penalty in an amount determined by the Com22 mission).

23 ‘‘(B) Any amounts paid by a candidate under this

24 paragraph shall be paid from contributions subject to the
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1 limitations and prohibitions of this title, including the lim2 itation under this subsection.

3 ‘‘(C) A candidate described in this subparagraph is

4 a candidate who accepts contributions that exceed the lim5 itation under this subsection as of the last day of the pe6 riod ending on the 20th day before an election or any pe7 riod ending after such 20th day and before or on the 20th

8 day after such election.

9 ‘‘(7) As used in this subsection, the term ‘local indi10 vidual resident’ means an individual who resides in the

11 State in which the election involved is held.

12 ‘‘(8) For purposes of this subsection, any amounts

13 allocated in accordance with this paragraph shall be allo14 cated as follows:

15 ‘‘(A) 50 percent of such amounts shall be

16 deemed to be contributions from local individual

17 residents.

18 ‘‘(B) 50 percent of such amounts shall be

19 deemed to be contributions from persons other than

20 local individual residents.’’.

21 (b) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Section 304 of

22 such Act (2 U.S.C. 434) is amended by adding at the end

23 the following new subsection:

24 ‘‘(d) Each principal campaign committee of a can25 didate for the Senate or the House of Representatives
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1 shall include the following information in reports filed

2 under subsection (a)(2) and subsection (a)(6)(A):

3 ‘‘(1) With respect to each report filed under

4 such subsection—

5 ‘‘(A) the total contributions received by the

6 committee with respect to the election cycle in7 volved from local individual residents (as de8 fined in section 315(i)(7)), as of the last day of

9 the period covered by the report;

10 ‘‘(B) the total contributions received by the

11 committee with respect to the election cycle in12 volved which are not from local individual resi13 dents, as of the last day of the period covered

14 by the report; and

15 ‘‘(C) a certification as to whether the con16 tributions reported comply with the limitation

17 under section 315(i), as of the last day of the

18 period covered by the report.

19 ‘‘(2) In the case of the first report filed under

20 such subsection which covers the period which begins

21 19 days before an election and ends 20 days after

22 the election—

23 ‘‘(A) the total contributions received by the

24 committee with respect to the election cycle in25 volved from local individual residents (as de-
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1 fined in section 315(i)(7)), as of the last day of

2 such period;

3 ‘‘(B) the total contributions received by the

4 committee with respect to the election cycle in5 volved which are not from local individual resi6 dents, as of the last day of such period; and

7 ‘‘(C) a certification as to whether the con8 tributions reported comply with the limitation

9 under section 315(i), as of the last day of such

10 period.’’.

11 SEC. 5. PROHIBITING BUNDLING OF CONTRIBUTIONS TO

12 CANDIDATES BY POLITICAL ACTION COMMIT13 TEES AND LOBBYISTS.

14 Section 316 of the Federal Election Campaign Act

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

16 the following new subsection:

17 ‘‘(c)(1) No political action committee or person re18 quired to register under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of

19 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) may act as an intermediary

20 or conduit with respect to a contribution to a candidate

21 for Federal office.

22 ‘‘(2) In this subsection, the term ‘political action com23 mittee’ means any political committee which is not—

24 ‘‘(A) the principal campaign committee of a

25 candidate; or
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1 ‘‘(B) a political party committee.’’.

2 SEC. 6. MODIFICATION OF LIMITATIONS ON CONTRIBU3 TIONS WHEN CANDIDATES SPEND OR CON4 TRIBUTE LARGE AMOUNTS OF PERSONAL

5 FUNDS.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 315 of the Federal Elec7 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a), as amended

8 by section 4(a), is further amended by adding at the end

9 the following new subsection:

10 ‘‘(j)(1) Notwithstanding subsection (a), if in a gen11 eral election a House candidate makes expenditures of per12 sonal funds (including contributions by the candidate to

13 the candidate’s authorized campaign committee) in an

14 amount in excess of the amount of the limitation estab15 lished under subsection (a)(1)(A) and less than or equal

16 to $150,000 (as reported under section 304(a)(2)(A)), a

17 political party committee may make contributions to an

18 opponent of the House candidate without regard to any

19 limitation otherwise applicable to such contributions under

20 subsection (a), except that the opponent may not accept

21 aggregate contributions under this paragraph in an

22 amount greater than the greatest amount of personal

23 funds expended (including contributions to the candidate’s

24 authorized campaign committee) by any House candidate

25 (other than such opponent) with respect to the election
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1 (as reported in a notification submitted under section

2 304(a)(6)(B)).

3 ‘‘(2) If a House candidate makes expenditures of per4 sonal funds (including contributions by the candidate to

5 the candidate’s authorized campaign committee) with re6 spect to an election in an amount greater than $150,000

7 (as reported under section 304(a)(2)(A)), the following

8 rules shall apply:

9 ‘‘(A) In the case of a general election, the limi10 tations under subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2) (insofar

11 as such limitations apply to political party commit12 tees and to individuals) shall not apply to contribu13 tions to the candidate or to any opponent of the can14 didate, except that neither the candidate nor any op15 ponent may accept aggregate contributions under

16 this subparagraph and paragraph (1) in an amount

17 greater than the greatest amount of personal funds

18 (including contributions to the candidate’s author19 ized campaign committee) expended by any House

20 candidate with respect to the election (as reported

21 in a notification submitted under section

22 304(a)(6)(B)).

23 ‘‘(B) In the case of an election other than a

24 general election, the limitations under subsection

25 (a)(1) (insofar as such limitations apply to individ-
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1 uals) shall not apply to contributions to the can2 didate or to any opponent of the candidate, except

3 that neither the candidate or any opponent may ac4 cept aggregate contributions under this subpara5 graph in an amount greater than the greatest

6 amount of personal funds (including contributions to

7 the candidate’s authorized campaign committee) ex8 pended by any House candidate with respect to the

9 election (as reported in a notification submitted

10 under section 304(a)(6)(B)).

11 ‘‘(3) In this subsection, the term ‘House candidate’

12 means a candidate in an election for the office of Rep13 resentative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to,

14 the Congress.’’.

15 (b) NOTIFICATION OF EXPENDITURES OF PERSONAL

16 FUNDS.—Section 304(a)(6) of such Act (2 U.S.C.

17 434(a)(6)) is amended—

18 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as sub19 paragraph (C); and

20 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol21 lowing new subparagraph:

22 ‘‘(B)(i) The principal campaign committee of a

23 House candidate (as defined in section 315(j)(3)) shall

24 submit the following notifications relating to expenditures
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1 of personal funds by such candidate (including contribu2 tions by the candidate to such committee):

3 ‘‘(I) A notification of the first such expenditure

4 (or contribution) by which the aggregate amount of

5 personal funds expended (or contributed) with re6 spect to an election exceeds the amount of the limi7 tation established under section 315(a)(1)(A) for

8 elections in the year involved.

9 ‘‘(II) A notification of each such expenditure

10 (or contribution) which, taken together with all such

11 expenditures (and contributions) in any amount not

12 included in the most recent report under this sub13 paragraph, totals $5,000 or more.

14 ‘‘(III) A notification of the first such expendi15 ture (or contribution) by which the aggregate

16 amount of personal funds expended with respect to

17 the election exceeds the level applicable under sec18 tion 315(j)(2) for elections in the year involved.

19 ‘‘(ii) Each of the notifications submitted under clause

20 (i)—

21 ‘‘(I) shall be submitted not later than 24 hours

22 after the expenditure or contribution which is the

23 subject of the notification is made;

24 ‘‘(II) shall include the name of the candidate,

25 the office sought by the candidate, and the date of
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1 the expenditure or contribution and amount of the

2 expenditure or contribution involved; and

3 ‘‘(III) shall include the total amount of all such

4 expenditures and contributions made with respect to

5 the same election as of the date of expenditure or

6 contribution which is the subject of the notifica7 tion.’’.

8 SEC. 7. DEFINITION AMENDMENT.

9 Paragraph (19) of section 301 of the Federal Elec10 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(19)) is amend11 ed to read as follows:

12 ‘‘(19) The term ‘expressly advocating’ means that—

13 ‘‘(A) the qualifications, views, or fitness for of14 fice of the candidate are discussed; or

15 ‘‘(B) a voter is urged to vote for or against the

16 specified candidate.’’.

17 SEC. 8. REDUCTION IN LIMITATION AMOUNT APPLICABLE

18 TO CONTRIBUTIONS BY MULTICANDIDATE

19 POLITICAL COMMITTEES TO CANDIDATES.

20 Section 315(a)(2)(A) of the Federal Election Cam21 paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(2)(A)) is amended

22 by striking ‘‘$5,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$2,000’’.
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1 SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE.

2 Except as otherwise provided, the amendments made

3 by this Act shall apply with respect to elections occurring

4 after December 31, 2001.

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