I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2388 
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require authorized 
committees and leadership PACs of candidates for election for Federal 
office to disburse funds remaining unexpended after the date of the 
election involved, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 8, 2021 
Ms. CASTOR of Florida (for herself, Mr. BILIRAKIS, and Mr. RASKIN) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju-
diciary, and in addition to the Committee on House Administration, for 
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to 
require authorized committees and leadership PACs of 
candidates for election for Federal office to disburse 
funds remaining unexpended after the date of the elec-
tion involved, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Honest Elections and 
Campaign, No Gain Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. REQUIRING AUTHORIZED COMMITTEES OF CAN-
DIDATES TO DISBURSE FUNDS REMAINING 
UNEXPENDED AFTER DATE OF ELECTION. 
(a) REQUIRING DISBURSEMENT.—Title III of the 
Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101 
et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 303 the fol-
lowing new section: 
‘‘SEC. 303A. DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS REMAINING UNEX-
PENDED AFTER DATE OF ELECTION. 
‘‘(a) REQUIRING DISBURSEMENT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each authorized committee 
or leadership PAC of a candidate shall, in accord-
ance with subsection (b) and prior to the expiration 
of the applicable disbursement period, disburse any 
funds of the committee or PAC before the earliest 
of— 
‘‘(A) the last day of the applicable dis-
bursement period; 
‘‘(B) the date on which the candidate first 
makes a lobbying contact or is employed or re-
tained to make a lobbying contact that would 
require registration under section 4 of the Lob-
bying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1603); 
or 
‘‘(C) the date on which the candidate be-
comes an agent of a foreign principal that 
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would require registration under section 2 of 
the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, 
as amended (22 U.S.C. 612). 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION
FOR
CANDIDATES
IN
NEXT 
ELECTION.—Paragraph (1) does not apply to the 
committee or PAC of a candidate who, prior to the 
first day of the applicable disbursement period, pro-
vides the appropriate State election official with the 
information and fees (if any) required under State 
law for the individual to qualify as a candidate for 
the next election for the office sought by the can-
didate or the next election for another Federal of-
fice. 
‘‘(3) APPLICABLE DISBURSEMENT PERIOD.—In 
this subsection, the ‘applicable disbursement period’ 
is, with respect to a candidate seeking election for 
an office, the 2-year period which begins on the day 
after the latest date on which an individual may pro-
vide the appropriate State election official with the 
information and fees (if any) required under State 
law for the individual to qualify as a candidate for 
the next election for such office. 
‘‘(b) RULES FOR DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS.— 
‘‘(1) PAYMENT OF OBLIGATIONS.—In carrying 
out subsection (a), an authorized committee or lead-
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ership PAC shall first disburse funds to pay obliga-
tions incurred in connection with the operation of 
the committee. 
‘‘(2) OTHER PERMITTED DISBURSEMENTS.—If, 
after disbursing all of the funds necessary to pay ob-
ligations under paragraph (1), funds of a committee 
or PAC remain unexpended, the committee or PAC 
may only disburse the funds for any of the following 
purposes, in such manner and combination as the 
committee or PAC considers appropriate: 
‘‘(A) To return to any person a contribu-
tion the person made to the committee or PAC. 
‘‘(B) To make a contribution to an organi-
zation described in section 170(c) of the Inter-
nal Revenue Code of 1986. 
‘‘(C) To make a transfer without limitation 
to a national, State, or local committee of a po-
litical party. 
‘‘(c) RESTRICTIONS
ON DISBURSEMENT
TO REL-
ATIVES.— 
‘‘(1) RESTRICTION.—In disbursing funds pur-
suant to the requirements of this section, an author-
ized committee or leadership PAC may not disburse 
funds to a relative of the candidate unless the funds 
are disbursed to pay an obligation of the committee 
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as described in paragraph (1) of subsection (b) 
which is reported by the committee or PAC as a dis-
bursement under section 304(b)(5) or which would 
be so reported if the amount of the disbursement 
were in excess of $200. 
‘‘(2) RELATIVE DEFINED.—In this subsection, 
the term ‘relative’ means, with respect to a can-
didate, an individual who is related to the candidate 
as father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, 
uncle, aunt, first cousin, nephew, niece, husband, 
wife, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daugh-
ter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, stepfather, 
stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, step-
sister, half brother, or half sister. 
‘‘(d) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘leader-
ship PAC’ has the meaning given such term in section 
304(i)(8)(B).’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO PER-
MITTED USES OF CONTRIBUTIONS.—Section 313(a) of 
such Act (52 U.S.C. 30114(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘A 
contribution’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to section 303A, a 
contribution’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to the regularly sched-
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uled general election for Federal office held in November 
2022 and each succeeding election for Federal office. 
SEC. 3. REQUIRING FORMER CANDIDATES SERVING AS 
REGISTERED LOBBYISTS TO CERTIFY COM-
PLIANCE WITH DISBURSEMENT REQUIRE-
MENTS. 
(a) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE.—Section 4(b) 
of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 
1603(b)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 
(5); 
(2) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (6) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by inserting after paragraph (6) the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(7) in the case of an individual who was a can-
didate for election for Federal office, a certification 
(under penalty of perjury) that each authorized com-
mittee and leadership PAC (as defined in section 
304(i)(8)(B) of the Federal Election Campaign Act 
of 1971) of the individual is in compliance with sec-
tion 303A of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 
1971 (relating to the disbursement of funds of the 
committee or leadership PAC which remain unex-
pended after the date of the election).’’. 
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(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall apply with respect to registration 
statements filed under section 4(a) of the Lobbying Dis-
closure Act on or after the date of the regularly scheduled 
general election for Federal office held in November 2022. 
SEC. 4. REQUIRING FORMER CANDIDATES SERVING AS 
FOREIGN AGENTS TO CERTIFY COMPLIANCE 
WITH DISBURSEMENT REQUIREMENTS. 
(a) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE.—Section 2(a) 
of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as 
amended (22 U.S.C. 612(a)) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (10) and (11) 
as paragraphs (11) and (12); and 
(2) by inserting after paragraph (9) the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(10) In the case of an individual who was a 
candidate for election for Federal office, a certifi-
cation (under penalty of perjury) that each author-
ized committee and leadership PAC (as defined in 
section 304(i)(8)(B) of the Federal Election Cam-
paign Act of 1971) of the individual is in compliance 
with section 303A of the Federal Election Campaign 
Act of 1971 (relating to the disbursement of funds 
of the committee or leadership PAC which remain 
unexpended after the date of the election).’’. 
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(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall apply with respect to registration 
statements filed under section 2 of the Foreign Agents 
Registration Act of 1938, as amended on or after the date 
of the regularly scheduled general election for Federal of-
fice held in November 2022. 
Æ 
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