I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7267 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to apply the restrictions on the use of campaign funds for personal use to the funds 

of leadership PACs and other political committees, to clarify the treatment of certain coordinated expenditures as contributions to candidates, 

to require the sponsors of certain political advertisements to identify 

the source of funds used for the advertisements, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 12, 2018 

Miss RICE of New York (for herself, Mr. KILMER, and Mr. GALLAGHER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

House Administration 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to 

apply the restrictions on the use of campaign funds 

for personal use to the funds of leadership PACs and 

other political committees, to clarify the treatment of 

certain coordinated expenditures as contributions to candidates, to require the sponsors of certain political advertisements to identify the source of funds used for the 

advertisements, 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 ‘‘Political Accountability 

3 and Transparency Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. APPLYING PERSONAL USE RESTRICTIONS TO LEAD5 ERSHIP PACS AND OTHER POLITICAL COM6 MITTEES. 

7 (a) APPLYING RESTRICTIONS.—Section 313(b) of the 

8 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 

9 30114(b)) is amended— 

10 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘or a receipt 

11 of any other political committee’’ after ‘‘subsection 

12 (a)’’; 

13 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘contribution 

14 or donation’’ and inserting ‘‘contribution, donation, 

15 or receipt’’; and 

16 (3) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘campaign or 

17 individual’s duties as a holder of Federal office’’ and 

18 inserting ‘‘campaign, the individual’s duties as a 

19 holder of Federal office, or the political committee’s 

20 political activities.’’. 

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

22 this section shall apply with respect to contributions and 

23 donations received on or after the date of the enactment 

24 of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF TREATMENT OF COORDINATED 

2 EXPENDITURES AS CONTRIBUTIONS. 

3 (a) TREATMENT AS CONTRIBUTION.—Section 

4 301(8)(A) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 

5 (52 U.S.C. 30101(8)(A)) is amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause (i); 

7 (2) by striking the period at the end of clause 

8 (ii) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

9 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

10 clause: 

11 ‘‘(iii) any payment made by any person for 

12 a coordinated expenditure (as such term is de13 fined in section 324) which is not otherwise 

14 treated as a contribution under clause (i) or 

15 clause (ii).’’. 

16 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 324 of such Act (52 

17 U.S.C. 30126) is amended to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 324. PAYMENTS FOR COORDINATED EXPENDITURES. 

19 ‘‘(a) COORDINATED EXPENDITURES.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 

21 301(8)(A)(iii), the term ‘coordinated expenditure’ 

22 means, with respect to a candidate, authorized com23 mittee, or political party— 

24 ‘‘(A) any payment for any communication 

25 which republishes, disseminates, or distributes, 

26 in whole or in substantial part, any video, 


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1 audio, written, graphic, or other form of cam2 paign material created or prepared by the can3 didate, an authorized committee of a candidate, 

4 or a committee of a political party, but does not 

5 include— 

6 ‘‘(i) any payment made by the can7 didate, the authorized committee, or the 

8 political party which created or prepared 

9 the material involved; or 

10 ‘‘(ii) any payment for the republica11 tion, dissemination, or distribution of the 

12 material involved for purposes of opposing 

13 the candidate, authorized committee, or 

14 political party which created or prepared 

15 the material involved; or 

16 ‘‘(B) any payment for a covered expendi17 ture described in subsection (c) which is made 

18 in cooperation, consultation, or concert with, or 

19 at the request or suggestion of, a candidate, an 

20 authorized committee of a candidate, or a polit21 ical committee of a political party, as defined in 

22 subsection (b). 

23 ‘‘(2) CLARIFICATION OF INDIVIDUALS TREATED

24 AS CANDIDATES.—For purposes of this section, an 

25 individual shall be treated as a candidate if the indiVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Dec 14, 2018 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7267.IH H7267

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1 vidual is a candidate at the time of a coordinated ex2 penditure, without regard to whether the individual 

3 was a candidate at the time the coordination oc4 curred, as described in subsection (b). 

5 ‘‘(3) TREATMENT OF EMPLOYEES, INDE6 PENDENT CONTRACTORS, AND AGENTS.—For pur7 poses of this section, any reference to a candidate, 

8 committee, officeholder, or political party includes— 

9 ‘‘(A) an employee or independent con10 tractor of the candidate, committee, office11 holder, or party, if such employee or contractor 

12 has executive or managerial authority (or acts 

13 under the direction or control of an employee or 

14 contractor who has such executive or manage15 rial authority) for the candidate, committee, of16 ficeholder, or political party at any time during 

17 the election cycle in which the expenditure is 

18 made (in the case of a candidate or committee 

19 for an election for the office of President) or 

20 during the 2-year period ending on the date the 

21 expenditure is made (in the case of a candidate 

22 or committee for an election for any other Fed23 eral office or any political party); or 

24 ‘‘(B) an agent (including an authorized 

25 fundraiser), whether paid or unpaid, of the canVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Dec 14, 2018 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7267.IH H7267

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1 didate, committee, officeholder, or party at any 

2 time during the election cycle in which the ex3 penditure is made (in the case of a candidate 

4 or committee for an election for the office of 

5 President) or during the 2-year period ending 

6 on the date the expenditure is made (in the 

7 case of a candidate or committee for an election 

8 for any other Federal office or any political 

9 party), without regard to whether the individual 

10 was such an agent at the time any of the co11 ordination described in subsection (b) occurred. 

12 ‘‘(4) EXCEPTIONS.—A payment shall not be 

13 treated as a coordinated expenditure under this sec14 tion if— 

15 ‘‘(A) the payment is for a communication 

16 which appears in a news story, commentary, or 

17 editorial distributed through the facilities of any 

18 broadcasting station, newspaper, magazine, or 

19 other periodical publication, unless such facili20 ties are owned or controlled by any political 

21 party, political committee, or candidate; or 

22 ‘‘(B) the payment is for a candidate debate 

23 or forum conducted pursuant to regulations 

24 adopted by the Commission pursuant to section 

25 304(f)(3)(B)(iii), or is for a communication 


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1 which solely promotes such a debate or forum 

2 and is made by or on behalf of the person spon3 soring the debate or forum. 

4 ‘‘(b) COORDINATION DESCRIBED.—For purposes of 

5 this section, a covered expenditure is made ‘in cooperation, 

6 consultation, or concert with, or at the request or sugges7 tion of,’ a candidate, an authorized committee of a can8 didate, or a political committee of a political party if any 

9 of the following apply: 

10 ‘‘(1) The covered expenditure is not made to11 tally independently of the candidate, committee, or 

12 political party. For purposes of the previous sen13 tence, a covered expenditure not made totally inde14 pendently of the candidate or committee includes 

15 any expenditure made pursuant to any express or 

16 implied agreement with, or any general or particular 

17 understanding with, or pursuant to any request by 

18 or communication with, the candidate, committee, or 

19 political party about the expenditure. 

20 ‘‘(2) During the 2-year period ending on the 

21 date the covered expenditure is made (in the case of 

22 a candidate or committee for an election for any 

23 other Federal office or any political party) or during 

24 the election cycle in which the covered expenditure 

25 is made (in the case of a candidate or committee for 


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1 an election for the office of President), the person 

2 making the covered expenditure was directly or indi3 rectly established, maintained, controlled, or prin4 cipally funded by the candidate, an immediate family 

5 member of the candidate, the committee, or party. 

6 For purposes of the previous sentence, an ‘imme7 diate family member’ means, with respect to a can8 didate, a father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sis9 ter, spouse, domestic partner, father-in-law, or 

10 mother-in-law. 

11 ‘‘(3) During the 2-year period ending on the 

12 date the covered expenditure is made (in the case of 

13 a candidate or committee for an election for any 

14 other Federal office or any political party) or during 

15 the election cycle in which the covered expenditure 

16 is made (in the case of a candidate or committee for 

17 an election for the office of President), the can18 didate, the committee, or political party solicited 

19 funds for, provided nonpublic fundraising informa20 tion or strategy to, appeared as a speaker or fea21 tured guest at a fundraiser for, or gave permission 

22 to be featured in fundraising efforts for, the person 

23 making the covered expenditure. The previous sen24 tence does not apply if the person making the cov25 ered expenditure is an organization described in secVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Dec 14, 2018 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7267.IH H7267

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1 tion 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

2 and exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of 

3 such Code. 

4 ‘‘(4) The covered expenditure is made on the 

5 basis of non-public information about the can6 didate’s, committee’s, or political party’s campaign 

7 needs or plans that the candidate, committee, or po8 litical party provided directly or indirectly to the per9 son making the covered expenditure, including infor10 mation about campaign messaging, strategy, fund11 raising, planned expenditures, or polling data. The 

12 previous sentence does not apply to communications 

13 between the person making the covered expenditure 

14 and the candidate, committee, or political party sole15 ly for the purpose of either engaging in discussions 

16 regarding the person’s position on a policy matter or 

17 regarding whether the person will endorse the can18 didate or party, so long as such communications do 

19 not include any nonpublic information about the 

20 candidate’s, committee’s, or party’s campaign needs 

21 or plans. 

22 ‘‘(5)(A) During the 2-year period ending on the 

23 date the covered expenditure is made (in the case of 

24 a candidate or committee for an election for any 

25 other Federal office or any political party) or during 


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1 the election cycle in which the covered expenditure 

2 is made (in the case of a candidate or committee for 

3 an election for the office of President), the person 

4 making the covered expenditure employed or other5 wise retained the services (other than accounting or 

6 legal services) of a person who, at any point during 

7 that cycle or two-year period— 

8 ‘‘(i) had executive or managerial authority 

9 for the candidate, committee, or party, whether 

10 paid or unpaid; 

11 ‘‘(ii) was authorized to raise or expend 

12 funds for the candidate, committee, or party 

13 and had nonpublic information from the can14 didate, committee, or party about the can15 didate’s, committee’s or party’s campaign’s 

16 needs or plans; or 

17 ‘‘(iii) provided the candidate, committee, or 

18 party with professional services (other than ac19 counting or legal services) related to campaign 

20 or fundraising strategy. 

21 ‘‘(B) Subparagraph (A) does not apply with re22 spect to a person employed or otherwise retained by 

23 a person making a covered expenditure if, at the 

24 time the person who was so employed or retained ex25 ercised the authority or provided the services deVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Dec 14, 2018 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7267.IH H7267

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1 scribed in clauses (i) through (iii) of such subpara2 graph, the person making the covered expenditure 

3 had in effect a firewall policy which meets the re4 quirements of subsection (d). 

5 ‘‘(c) COVERED EXPENDITURES.— 

6 ‘‘(1) CANDIDATES AND AUTHORIZED COMMIT7 TEES.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘cov8 ered expenditure’ means, with respect to a candidate 

9 or an authorized committee of a candidate, any of 

10 the following: 

11 ‘‘(A) An expenditure for a public commu12 nication (as defined in section 301(22)) 

13 which— 

14 ‘‘(i) expressly advocates for the nomi15 nation or election of the candidate or for 

16 the defeat of an opponent of the candidate 

17 (or contains the functional equivalent of 

18 express advocacy); 

19 ‘‘(ii) promotes or supports the can20 didate, or attacks or opposes an opponent 

21 of the candidate (regardless of whether the 

22 communication expressly advocates the 

23 election or defeat of a candidate or con24 tains the functional equivalent of express 

25 advocacy); or 


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1 ‘‘(iii) refers to the candidate or an op2 ponent of the candidate but is not de3 scribed in clause (i) or clause (ii), but only 

4 if, during the period which begins 120 days 

5 before the date of the primary election for 

6 the office involved and ends on the date of 

7 the general election for such office (or, if 

8 necessary, the date of a runoff election fol9 lowing such general election), the commu10 nication is disseminated in the jurisdiction 

11 of the office the candidate is seeking. 

12 ‘‘(B) An expenditure to pay for partisan 

13 voter activity (such as partisan voter registra14 tion, get-out-the-vote activity, phone banking, or 

15 generic campaign activity) in the jurisdiction of 

16 the office the candidate is seeking. 

17 ‘‘(C) An expenditure to pay for research, 

18 design or production costs, polling expenses, 

19 data analytics, creating or purchasing mailing 

20 or social media lists, or other activities related 

21 to the expenditures described in subparagraphs 

22 (A) or (B). 

23 ‘‘(2) POLITICAL PARTIES.—For purposes of this 

24 section, the term ‘covered expenditure’ means, with 

25 respect to a political party, any of the following: 


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1 ‘‘(A) An expenditure for a public commu2 nication (as defined in section 301(22)) 

3 which— 

4 ‘‘(i) expressly advocates for the nomi5 nation or election of a candidate of the 

6 party or for the defeat of an opponent of 

7 a candidate of the party, including a com8 munication which expressly advocates ge9 nerically for the election of candidates of 

10 the party or for the defeat of opponents of 

11 candidates of the party (or contains the 

12 functional equivalent of express advocacy); 

13 ‘‘(ii) promotes or supports a candidate 

14 of the party, or attacks or opposes an op15 ponent of a candidate of the party (regard16 less of whether the communication ex17 pressly advocates the election or defeat of 

18 a candidate or contains the functional 

19 equivalent of express advocacy); or 

20 ‘‘(iii) refers to a candidate of the 

21 party or an opponent of a candidate of the 

22 party but is not described in clause (i) or 

23 clause (ii), but only if, during the period 

24 which begins 120 days before the date of 

25 the primary election for the office involved 


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1 and ends on the date of the general elec2 tion for such office (or, if necessary, the 

3 date of a runoff election following such 

4 general election), the communication is dis5 seminated in the jurisdiction of the office 

6 the candidate is seeking. 

7 ‘‘(B) An expenditure to pay for partisan 

8 voter activity (such as partisan voter registra9 tion, get-out-the-vote activity, phone banking, or 

10 generic campaign activity) in the jurisdiction of 

11 the office a candidate of the party is seeking. 

12 ‘‘(C) An expenditure to pay for research, 

13 design or production costs, polling expenses, 

14 data analytics, creating or purchasing mailing 

15 or social media lists, or other activities related 

16 to the expenditures described in subparagraphs 

17 (A) or (B). 

18 ‘‘(d) FIREWALL POLICY REQUIREMENTS.—For pur19 poses of paragraph (5) of subsection (b), a firewall policy 

20 of a person making a covered expenditure meets the re21 quirements of this subsection if all of the following apply: 

22 ‘‘(1) The policy separates the specific staff of 

23 such person who provide services related to the mak24 ing of the covered expenditure from the distinct, spe25 cific staff who have engaged or will engage in any 


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1 of the authorities or services described in clauses (i) 

2 through (iii) of subparagraph (B) of paragraph (5) 

3 of subsection (b) with the candidate, authorized 

4 committee, or political party supported by the cov5 ered expenditure. 

6 ‘‘(2) The policy forbids owners of such person 

7 and executives, managers, and supervisors within 

8 such person’s organization, to simultaneously oversee 

9 the work of staff being separated by a firewall. 

10 ‘‘(3) The policy imposes a prohibition on the 

11 flow of strategic nonpublic information, including by 

12 imposing physical and technological separations, be13 tween such person and the candidate, committee, or 

14 party supported by the covered expenditure, and be15 tween the specific staff who are being separated by 

16 the firewall. 

17 ‘‘(4) The policy is memorialized in writing and 

18 distributed to all relevant staff (including consult19 ants) before such staff provide any services relating 

20 to the making of the covered expenditure, and the 

21 written policy described both the general firewall pol22 icy and any specific firewall created pursuant to 

23 such policy, and the person making the covered ex24 penditure provides such written policy upon request 

25 to the Commission. 


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1 ‘‘(e) NO LIMITATION ON APPLICATION OF OTHER

2 COORDINATION RULES.—Nothing in this section may be 

3 construed to limit the application of section 315(a)(7) to 

4 any contribution, expenditure, disbursement, or person.’’. 

5 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE; EFFECT ON EXISTING REGU6 LATIONS.— 

7 (1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

8 by this section shall apply with respect to payments 

9 made on or after the expiration of the 60-day period 

10 which begins on the date of the enactment of this 

11 Act, without regard to whether or not the Federal 

12 Election Commission has promulgated regulations in 

13 accordance with paragraph (2)(B) as of the expira14 tion of such period. 

15 (2) REPEAL OF EXISTING REGULATIONS ON CO16 ORDINATION.—Effective upon the expiration of the 

17 60-day period which begins on the date of the enact18 ment of this Act— 

19 (A) the regulations on coordinated commu20 nications adopted by the Federal Election Com21 mission which are in effect on the date of the 

22 enactment of this Act (as set forth in 11 CFR 

23 Part 109, Subpart C, under the heading ‘‘Co24 ordination’’) are repealed; and 


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1 (B) the Federal Election Commission shall 

2 promulgate new regulations on coordinated 

3 communications which reflect the amendments 

4 made by this Act. 

5 (3) TERMINATION OF VALIDITY OF ADVISORY

6 OPINIONS.—To the extent that any advisory opinion 

7 issued by the Federal Election Commission prior to 

8 expiration of the period described in paragraph (2) 

9 was based on the regulations referred to in subpara10 graph (A) of paragraph (2), the validity of the opin11 ion is hereby terminated, and no person may rely 

12 upon the opinion with respect to conduct occurring 

13 after the expiration of such period. 

14 SEC. 4. EXPANSION OF DEFINITION OF PUBLIC COMMU15 NICATION. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (22) of section 301 of 

17 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 

18 30101(22)) is amended by striking ‘‘or satellite commu19 nication’’ and inserting ‘‘satellite, paid Internet, or paid 

20 digital communication’’. 

21 (b) TREATMENT OF CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDI22 TURES.—Section 301 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30101) is 

23 amended— 

24 (1) in paragraph (8)(B)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘on broadcasting stations, 

2 or in newspapers, magazines, or similar types of 

3 general public political advertising’’ in clause 

4 (v) and inserting ‘‘in any public communica5 tion’’; 

6 (B) by striking ‘‘broadcasting, newspaper, 

7 magazine, billboard, direct mail, or similar type 

8 of general public communication or political ad9 vertising’’ in clause (ix)(1) and inserting ‘‘pub10 lic communication’’; and 

11 (C) by striking ‘‘but not including the use 

12 of broadcasting, newspapers, magazines, bill13 boards, direct mail, or similar types of general 

14 public communication or political advertising’’ 

15 in clause (x) and inserting ‘‘but not including 

16 use in any public communication’’; and 

17 (2) in paragraph (9)(B)— 

18 (A) by striking clause (i) and inserting the 

19 following: 

20 ‘‘(i) any news story, commentary, or 

21 editorial distributed through the facilities 

22 of any broadcasting station or any print, 

23 online, or digital newspaper, magazine, 

24 blog, publication, or periodical, unless such 

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1 ties are owned or controlled by any polit2 ical party, political committee, or can3 didate;’’; and 

4 (B) by striking ‘‘on broadcasting stations, 

5 or in newspapers, magazines, or similar types of 

6 general public political advertising’’ in clause 

7 (iv) and inserting ‘‘in any public communica8 tion’’. 

9 (c) DISCLOSURE AND DISCLAIMER STATEMENTS.— 

10 Subsection (a) of section 318 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

11 30120) is amended— 

12 (1) by striking ‘‘financing any communication 

13 through any broadcasting station, newspaper, maga14 zine, outdoor advertising facility, mailing, or any 

15 other type of general public political advertising’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘financing any public communication’’; 

17 and 

18 (2) by striking ‘‘solicits any contribution 

19 through any broadcasting station, newspaper, maga20 zine, outdoor advertising facility, mailing, or any 

21 other type of general public political advertising’’ 

22 and inserting ‘‘solicits any contribution through any 

23 public communication’’. 


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

2 this section shall apply with respect to communications 

3 disseminated on or after January 1, 2019. 

4 SEC. 5. EXPANSION OF DEFINITION OF ELECTIONEERING 

5 COMMUNICATION. 

6 (a) EXPANSION TO ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS.— 

7 (1) APPLICATION TO QUALIFIED INTERNET AND

8 DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (A) of 

10 section 304(f)(3) of the Federal Election Cam11 paign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104(f)(3)(A)) 

12 is amended by striking ‘‘or satellite communica13 tion’’ each place it appears in clauses (i) and 

14 (ii) and inserting ‘‘satellite, or qualified Inter15 net or digital communication’’. 

16 (B) QUALIFIED INTERNET OR DIGITAL

17 COMMUNICATION.—Paragraph (3) of section 

18 304(f) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30104(f)) is 

19 amended by adding at the end the following 

20 new subparagraph: 

21 ‘‘(D) QUALIFIED INTERNET OR DIGITAL

22 COMMUNICATION.—The term ‘qualified Internet 

23 or digital communication’ means any commu24 nication which is placed or promoted for a fee 

25 on any public-facing website, Web application, 


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1 or digital application (including a social net2 work, ad network, or search engine).’’. 

3 (2) NONAPPLICATION OF RELEVANT ELEC4 TORATE TO ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS.—Section 

5 304(f)(3)(A)(i)(III) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

6 30104(f)(3)(A)(i)(III)) is amended by inserting ‘‘any 

7 broadcast, cable, or satellite’’ before ‘‘communica8 tion’’. 

9 (3) NEWS EXEMPTION.—Section 

10 304(f)(3)(B)(i) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

11 30104(f)(3)(B)(i)) is amended to read as follows: 

12 ‘‘(i) a communication appearing in a 

13 news story, commentary, or editorial dis14 tributed through the facilities of any 

15 broadcasting station or any online or dig16 ital newspaper, magazine, blog, publica17 tion, or periodical, unless such broad18 casting, online, or digital facilities are 

19 owned or controlled by any political party, 

20 political committee, or candidate;’’. 

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

22 this section shall apply with respect to communications 

23 made on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 6. DISCLOSURE OF TRUE IDENTITY OF SOURCE OF 

2 FUNDING OF CAMPAIGN ADVERTISEMENTS. 

3 (a) REQUIRING BEST EFFORTS TO DETERMINE

4 TRUE SOURCE OF FUNDS USED TO PAY FOR CAMPAIGN

5 ADVERTISEMENTS.—Section 318 of the Federal Election 

6 Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30120) is amended by 

7 adding at the end the following new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(e) REQUIRING BEST EFFORTS TO DETERMINE

9 TRUE SOURCE OF FUNDS USED TO PAY FOR CERTAIN

10 ADVERTISEMENTS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) BEST EFFORTS REQUIRED.—The person 

12 making a disbursement of funds for a communica13 tion described in paragraph (3) of subsection (a) 

14 shall make best efforts to determine the true source 

15 of the funds used for the disbursement to ensure 

16 that the names of the persons included in the state17 ment required under such paragraph are the names 

18 of the persons who served as the true source of such 

19 funds. For purposes of this paragraph, such best ef20 forts shall include the making of multiple requests 

21 (if necessary) to contributors to determine whether 

22 the funds provided by the contributors were trans23 ferred (either directly or indirectly) by other persons. 

24 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF POLITICAL COMMIT25 TEES.—For purposes of this subsection, a political 

26 committee shall not be considered a source of funds 


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1 used for a disbursement for a communication de2 scribed in paragraph (3) of subsection (a), other 

3 than an account of a political committee established 

4 for the purpose of accepting donations or contribu5 tions that do not comply with the contribution limits 

6 or source prohibitions under this Act.’’. 

7 (b) INCLUSION IN ADVERTISEMENTS OF IDENTIFICA8 TION OF TOP THREE FUNDERS.—Section 318 of such Act 

9 (52 U.S.C. 30120), as amended by subsection (a), is fur10 ther amended by adding at the end the following new sub11 section: 

12 ‘‘(f) DISCLOSURE OF TOP THREE FUNDERS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) REQUIRING DISCLOSURE IN CERTAIN AD14 VERTISEMENTS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT.—Any communication 

16 described in paragraph (3) of subsection (a), 

17 shall, in addition to including the information 

18 required under such paragraph and under para19 graph (2) of subsection (d), include the Top 

20 Three Funders list (if applicable). 

21 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSION OF COMMUNICATIONS

22 PAID FOR BY POLITICAL PARTIES.—This sub23 section does not apply with respect to a commu24 nication paid for exclusively by a political com25 mittee of a political party. 


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1 ‘‘(2) METHOD OF CONVEYANCE OF STATEMENT

2 THROUGH VIDEO FORMAT.—In the case of a commu3 nication to which this subsection applies which is 

4 transmitted through a video format (including 

5 through television or through the Internet or similar 

6 digital format if the transmission includes a video 

7 component), the information required under para8 graph (1) shall appear in writing at the end of the 

9 communication in a clearly readable manner, with a 

10 reasonable degree of color contrast between the 

11 background and the printed statement, for a period 

12 of at least 4 seconds. 

13 ‘‘(3) METHOD OF CONVEYANCE OF STATEMENT

14 THROUGH AUDIO FORMAT.—In the case of a commu15 nication to which this subsection applies which is 

16 transmitted in audio format (including through radio 

17 or through the Internet or similar digital format if 

18 the transmission includes an audio component), the 

19 information required under paragraph (1) shall in20 clude, in a clearly spoken manner, the following 

21 audio statement: ‘Top funders include 

22 lllllll’, with the blank filled in with the 

23 names of the persons on the Top Three Funders list. 

24 ‘‘(4) METHOD OF CONVEYANCE OF STATEMENT

25 THROUGH TEXT AND IMAGES.—In the case of a 


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1 communication to which this subsection applies 

2 which is a printed communication or which is trans3 mitted through the Internet or similar digital man4 ner and is not described in paragraphs (2) or para5 graph (3), the information required under paragraph 

6 (1) shall appear in a clearly readable manner, with 

7 a reasonable degree of color contrast between the 

8 background and the printed statement. 

9 ‘‘(5) TOP THREE FUNDERS LIST DEFINED.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘Top Three 

11 Funders list’ means, with respect to a commu12 nication, a list of the three persons who, during 

13 the 12-month period ending on the date of the 

14 transmission of the communication or the date 

15 on which funds were disbursed for the commu16 nication (whichever is earlier), provided the 

17 largest payments of any type in an aggregate 

18 amount exceeding the applicable threshold to 

19 the person who is paying for the communication 

20 and the amount of the payments each such per21 son provided. If two or more people provided 

22 the third largest of such payments, the person 

23 who provided the most recent of such payments 

24 shall be included on the Top Three Funders 

25 list. 


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1 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN PAY2 MENTS.—For purposes of subparagraph (A), in 

3 determining the amount of payments made by 

4 a person to a person paying for a communica5 tion, there shall be excluded the following: 

6 ‘‘(i) Any amounts provided in the or7 dinary course of any trade or business con8 ducted by the person paying for the com9 munication or in the form of investments 

10 in the person paying for the communica11 tion. 

12 ‘‘(ii) Any payment which the person 

13 prohibited, in writing, from being used for 

14 communications under this section, but 

15 only if the person paying for the commu16 nication agreed to follow the prohibition 

17 and deposited the payment in an account 

18 which is segregated from any account used 

19 to make payments for such communica20 tions. 

21 ‘‘(6) APPLICABLE THRESHOLD DEFINED.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of sub23 paragraph (A), the ‘applicable threshold’ with 

24 respect to a communication is— 


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1 ‘‘(i) $10,000, if the funds used to pay 

2 for the costs of the communication were 

3 derived exclusively from a separate, seg4 regated account which meets the require5 ments of subparagraph (B); or 

6 ‘‘(ii) $50,000, if the funds used to pay 

7 for the costs of the communication were 

8 not derived exclusively from such an ac9 count. 

10 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS FOR ACCOUNTS.—An 

11 account meets the requirements of this sub12 paragraph if— 

13 ‘‘(i) the account is separate and seg14 regated from the general fund of the per15 son paying for the costs of communications 

16 which are subject to the requirements of 

17 this subsection; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) the account does not include any 

19 funds transferred from the general treas20 ury of the person paying for the costs of 

21 such communications unless the funds 

22 were transferred during the 12-month pe23 riod ending on the date of the transmission 

24 of the communication or the date on which 

25 funds were disbursed for the communicaVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Dec 14, 2018 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7267.IH H7267

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1 tion (whichever is earlier) and the person 

2 who provided the funds to the general 

3 treasury gave written permission for the 

4 funds to be transferred to the account.’’. 

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

6 this section shall apply with respect to communications 

7 made on or after January 1, 2019. 

Æ 


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