I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 679 
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to apply the restric-
tions on the use of campaign funds for personal use to the funds 
of leadership PACs and other political committees, to clarify the treat-
ment 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 
JANUARY 17, 2019 
Miss RICE of New York (for herself, Mr. KILMER, and Mr. GALLAGHER) in-
troduced 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 can-
didates, to require the sponsors of certain political adver-
tisements to identify the source of funds used for the 
advertisements, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Political Accountability 
and Transparency Act’’. 
SEC. 2. APPLYING PERSONAL USE RESTRICTIONS TO LEAD-
ERSHIP PACS AND OTHER POLITICAL COM-
MITTEES. 
(a) APPLYING RESTRICTIONS.—Section 313(b) of the 
Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 
30114(b)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘or a receipt 
of any other political committee’’ after ‘‘subsection 
(a)’’; 
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘contribution 
or donation’’ and inserting ‘‘contribution, donation, 
or receipt’’; and 
(3) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘campaign or 
individual’s duties as a holder of Federal office’’ and 
inserting ‘‘campaign, the individual’s duties as a 
holder of Federal office, or the political committee’s 
political activities.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to contributions and 
donations received on or after the date of the enactment 
of this Act. 
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SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF TREATMENT OF COORDINATED 
EXPENDITURES AS CONTRIBUTIONS. 
(a) 
TREATMENT
AS
CONTRIBUTION.—Section 
301(8)(A) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 
(52 U.S.C. 30101(8)(A)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause (i); 
(2) by striking the period at the end of clause 
(ii) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new 
clause: 
‘‘(iii) any payment made by any person for 
a coordinated expenditure (as such term is de-
fined in section 324) which is not otherwise 
treated as a contribution under clause (i) or 
clause (ii).’’. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 324 of such Act (52 
U.S.C. 30126) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 324. PAYMENTS FOR COORDINATED EXPENDITURES. 
‘‘(a) COORDINATED EXPENDITURES.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—For purposes of section 
301(8)(A)(iii), the term ‘coordinated expenditure’ 
means, with respect to a candidate, authorized com-
mittee, or political party— 
‘‘(A) any payment for any communication 
which republishes, disseminates, or distributes, 
in whole or in substantial part, any video, 
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audio, written, graphic, or other form of cam-
paign material created or prepared by the can-
didate, an authorized committee of a candidate, 
or a committee of a political party, but does not 
include— 
‘‘(i) any payment made by the can-
didate, the authorized committee, or the 
political party which created or prepared 
the material involved; or 
‘‘(ii) any payment for the republica-
tion, dissemination, or distribution of the 
material involved for purposes of opposing 
the candidate, authorized committee, or 
political party which created or prepared 
the material involved; or 
‘‘(B) any payment for a covered expendi-
ture described in subsection (c) which is made 
in cooperation, consultation, or concert with, or 
at the request or suggestion of, a candidate, an 
authorized committee of a candidate, or a polit-
ical committee of a political party, as defined in 
subsection (b). 
‘‘(2) CLARIFICATION OF INDIVIDUALS TREATED 
AS CANDIDATES.—For purposes of this section, an 
individual shall be treated as a candidate if the indi-
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vidual is a candidate at the time of a coordinated ex-
penditure, without regard to whether the individual 
was a candidate at the time the coordination oc-
curred, as described in subsection (b). 
‘‘(3) 
TREATMENT
OF
EMPLOYEES, 
INDE-
PENDENT CONTRACTORS, AND AGENTS.—For pur-
poses of this section, any reference to a candidate, 
committee, officeholder, or political party includes— 
‘‘(A) an employee or independent con-
tractor of the candidate, committee, office-
holder, or party, if such employee or contractor 
has executive or managerial authority (or acts 
under the direction or control of an employee or 
contractor who has such executive or manage-
rial authority) for the candidate, committee, of-
ficeholder, or political party at any time during 
the election cycle in which the expenditure is 
made (in the case of a candidate or committee 
for an election for the office of President) or 
during the 2-year period ending on the date the 
expenditure is made (in the case of a candidate 
or committee for an election for any other Fed-
eral office or any political party); or 
‘‘(B) an agent (including an authorized 
fundraiser), whether paid or unpaid, of the can-
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