I 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 20 
To reform the financing of Congressional elections by broadening participation 
by small dollar donors, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 5, 2014 
Mr. SARBANES (for himself, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. BARBER, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. 
BERA of California, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. 
BONAMICI, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. BRALEY of Iowa, Mr. CAR-
NEY, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. 
CLARKE of New York, Mr. CLAY, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. 
COHEN, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. COOPER, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. 
CUMMINGS, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. DELANEY, Ms. 
DELAURO, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. DOGGETT, 
Ms. EDWARDS, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. ESTY, Mr. 
FARR, Ms. FRANKEL of Florida, Ms. FUDGE, Ms. GABBARD, Mr. GAR-
CIA, Mr. GRAYSON, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, 
Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. GUTIE´RREZ, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HIMES, 
Mr. HOLT, Mr. HONDA, Mr. HORSFORD, Mr. HOYER, Mr. HUFFMAN, 
Mr. ISRAEL, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. JEFFRIES, Mr. JOHNSON of Geor-
gia, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. JONES, Ms. KAPTUR, 
Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. KILMER, Mr. KIND, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Ms. 
KUSTER, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Ms. LEE of Cali-
fornia, Mr. LEWIS, Mr. LOEBSACK, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. 
BEN RAY LUJA´N of New Mexico, Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of 
New Mexico, Mr. MAFFEI, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, 
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. MCCOLLUM, 
Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. MENG, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. 
GEORGE MILLER of California, Ms. MOORE, Mr. MORAN, Mr. MURPHY 
of Florida, Mr. NADLER, Mr. NOLAN, Ms. NORTON, Mr. O’ROURKE, Mr. 
PALLONE, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. PETERS 
of California, Mr. PETERS of Michigan, Ms. PINGREE of Maine, Mr. 
POCAN, Mr. POLIS, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. RUSH, Ms. LINDA 
T. SA´NCHEZ of California, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. SCHWARTZ, Mr. 
SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mr. SHERMAN, 
Mr. SIRES, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. 
SWALWELL of California, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. TONKO, Mr. 
VAN
HOLLEN, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. WALZ, Ms. 
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. WELCH, Mr. YARMUTH, Ms. 
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BROWNLEY of California, and Ms. CASTOR of Florida) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administra-
tion, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce and 
Ways and Means, 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 committee concerned 
A BILL 
To reform the financing of Congressional elections by broad-
ening participation by small dollar donors, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Government By the People Act of 2014’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
TITLE I—PARTICIPATION IN FUNDING OF ELECTIONS 
Subtitle A—My Voice Tax Credit 
Sec. 101. Refundable tax credit for congressional House campaign contribu-
tions. 
Subtitle B—My Voice Voucher Pilot Program 
Sec. 111. Establishment of pilot program. 
Sec. 112. Voucher program described. 
Sec. 113. Reports. 
Sec. 114. Election cycle defined. 
TITLE II—SMALL DOLLAR FINANCING OF CONGRESSIONAL 
ELECTION CAMPAIGNS 
Sec. 201. Benefits and eligibility requirements for candidates. 
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‘‘TITLE V—SMALL DOLLAR FINANCING OF CONGRESSIONAL 
ELECTION CAMPAIGNS 
‘‘Subtitle A—Benefits 
‘‘Sec. 501. Benefits for participating candidates. 
‘‘Sec. 502. Procedures for making payments. 
‘‘Sec. 503. Use of funds. 
‘‘Sec. 504. Qualified small dollar contributions described. 
‘‘Subtitle B—Eligibility and Certification 
‘‘Sec. 511. Eligibility. 
‘‘Sec. 512. Qualifying requirements. 
‘‘Sec. 513. Certification. 
‘‘Subtitle C—Requirements for Candidates Certified as Participating 
Candidates 
‘‘Sec. 521. Contribution and expenditure requirements. 
‘‘Sec. 522. Administration of campaign. 
‘‘Sec. 523. Preventing unnecessary spending of public funds. 
‘‘Sec. 524. Remitting unspent funds after election. 
‘‘Subtitle D—Enhanced Match Support 
‘‘Sec. 531. Enhanced support for general election. 
‘‘Sec. 532. Eligibility. 
‘‘Sec. 533. Amount. 
‘‘Sec. 534. Waiver of authority to retain portion of unspent funds after 
election. 
‘‘Subtitle E—Administrative Provisions 
‘‘Sec. 541. Freedom From Influence Fund. 
‘‘Sec. 542. Government by the People Oversight Commission. 
‘‘Sec. 543. Administration by Commission. 
‘‘Sec. 544. Violations and penalties. 
‘‘Sec. 545. Appeals process. 
‘‘Sec. 546. Indexing of amounts. 
‘‘Sec. 547. Election cycle defined. 
Sec. 202. Contributions and expenditures by multicandidate and political party 
political committees on behalf of participating candidates. 
Sec. 203. Prohibiting use of contributions by participating candidates for pur-
poses other than campaign for election. 
TITLE III—OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS 
Sec. 301. Expanding requirement to disclose bundlers who are registered lobby-
ists to all bundlers. 
Sec. 302. Petition for certiorari. 
Sec. 303. Filing by all candidates with Commission. 
Sec. 304. Electronic filing of FEC reports. 
Sec. 305. Effective date. 
TITLE IV—EXPANDING CANDIDATE ACCESS TO ADVERTISING 
Sec. 401. Broadcasts by candidates. 
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TITLE V—CONTRIBUTIONS TO FREEDOM FROM INFLUENCE 
FUND 
Sec. 501. Voluntary contributions to the Freedom From Influence Fund. 
TITLE VI—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 
Sec. 601. Severability. 
TITLE I—PARTICIPATION IN 
FUNDING OF ELECTIONS 
Subtitle A—My Voice Tax Credit 
SEC. 101. REFUNDABLE TAX CREDIT FOR CONGRESSIONAL 
HOUSE CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub-
chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 (relating to refundable credits) is amended by insert-
ing after section 36B the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 36C. CREDIT FOR CONGRESSIONAL HOUSE CAM-
PAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual, 
there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed 
by this subtitle an amount equal to 50 percent of the 
qualified My Voice Federal congressional House campaign 
contributions paid or incurred by the taxpayer during the 
taxable year. 
‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) DOLLAR
LIMITATION.—The amount of 
qualified My Voice Federal congressional House 
campaign contributions taken into account under 
subsection (a) for the taxable year shall not exceed 
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$50 (twice such amount in the case of a joint re-
turn). 
‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON CONTRIBUTIONS TO FED-
ERAL
CONGRESSIONAL
HOUSE
CANDIDATES.—No 
credit shall be allowed under this section to any tax-
payer for any taxable year if such taxpayer made ag-
gregate contributions in excess of $300 during the 
taxable year to— 
‘‘(A) any single Federal congressional 
House candidate, or 
‘‘(B) any political committee established 
and maintained by a national political party. 
‘‘(3) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—No credit 
shall be allowed under this section to any taxpayer 
unless the taxpayer provides the Secretary with such 
information as the Secretary may require to verify 
the taxpayer’s eligibility for the credit and the 
amount of the credit for the taxpayer. 
‘‘(4) INELIGIBILITY OF INDIVIDUALS RECEIVING 
MY VOICE VOUCHERS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No credit shall be al-
lowed under this section with respect to any in-
dividual for any taxable year which occurs dur-
ing an election cycle in which such individual 
received a My Voice Voucher under subtitle B 
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of title I of the Government By the People Act 
of 2014. In the case of a joint return with re-
spect to which this paragraph applies to one of 
the spouses, such return shall not be treated as 
a joint return for purposes of determining the 
dollar limitation under paragraph (1). 
‘‘(B) ELECTION CYCLE DEFINED.—In sub-
paragraph (A), the term ‘election cycle’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 114 of the 
Government By the People Act of 2014. 
‘‘(c) QUALIFIED MY VOICE FEDERAL CONGRES-
SIONAL HOUSE CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS.—For pur-
poses of this section, the term ‘My Voice Federal congres-
sional House campaign contribution’ means any contribu-
tion of cash by an individual to a Federal congressional 
House candidate or to a political committee established 
and maintained by a national political party if such con-
tribution is not prohibited under the Federal Election 
Campaign Act of 1971. 
‘‘(d) 
FEDERAL
CONGRESSIONAL
HOUSE
CAN-
DIDATE.—For purposes of this section— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘Federal congres-
sional House candidate’ means any candidate for 
election to the office of Representative in, or Dele-
gate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress. 
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‘‘(2) TREATMENT
OF
AUTHORIZED
COMMIT-
TEES.—Any contribution made to an authorized 
committee of a Federal congressional House can-
didate shall be treated as made to such candidate. 
‘‘(e) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a taxable 
year beginning after 2015, the $50 amount under 
subsection (b)(1) shall be increased by an amount 
equal to— 
‘‘(A) such dollar amount, multiplied by 
‘‘(B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter-
mined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar 
year in which the taxable year begins, deter-
mined by substituting ‘calendar year 2014’ for 
‘calendar year 1992’ in subparagraph (B) 
thereof. 
‘‘(2) ROUNDING.—If any amount as adjusted 
under subparagraph (A) is not a multiple of $5, 
such amount shall be rounded to the nearest mul-
tiple of $5.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) Section 6211(b)(4)(A) of such Code is 
amended by inserting ‘‘36C,’’ after ‘‘36B,’’. 
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(2) Section 1324(b)(2) of title 31, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘36C,’’ after 
‘‘36B,’’. 
(3) The table of sections for subpart C of part 
IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after the 
item relating to section 36B the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 36C. Credit for congressional House campaign contributions.’’. 
(c) FORMS.—The Secretary of the Treasury, or his 
designee, shall ensure that the credit for contributions to 
Federal congressional House candidates allowed under 
section 36C of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as 
added by this section, may be claimed on Forms 1040EZ 
and 1040A. 
(d) ADMINISTRATION.—At the request of the Sec-
retary of the Treasury, the Federal Election Commission 
shall provide the Secretary of the Treasury with such in-
formation and other assistance as the Secretary may rea-
sonably require to administer the credit allowed under sec-
tion 36C of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as added 
by this section. 
(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 
the date of the enactment of this Act. 
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Subtitle B—My Voice Voucher Pilot 
Program 
SEC. 111. ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROGRAM. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Government by the Peo-
ple Oversight Commission established under section 542 
of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (as added 
by section 201) (hereafter in this subtitle referred to as 
the ‘‘Commission’’) shall establish a pilot program under 
which the Commission shall select 3 eligible States to oper-
ate a voucher pilot program which is described in section 
112. 
(b) ELIGIBILITY OF STATES.—A State is eligible to 
be selected to operate a voucher pilot program under this 
subtitle if the State submits to the Commission (at such 
time during the application period and in such form as 
the Commission may require) an application containing— 
(1) information and assurances that the State 
will operate a voucher program which contains the 
elements described in section 112(a); 
(2) information and assurances that the State 
will establish fraud prevention mechanisms described 
in section 112(b); 
(3) information and assurances that the State 
will establish a commission to oversee and implement 
the program as described in section 112(c); 
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(4) information and assurances that the State 
will submit reports as required under section 113; 
and 
(5) such other information and assurances as 
the Commission may require. 
(c) TIMING OF PROGRAM.— 
(1) ISSUANCE
OF
INITIAL
GUIDANCE.—Not 
later than 90 days after the appointment of a 
quorum of its members, the Commission shall issue 
initial guidance regarding the process by which 
States may apply to operate voucher pilot programs 
under this subtitle and initial guidance regarding the 
implementation of such programs. 
(2) SELECTION OF PARTICIPATING STATES.— 
The Commission shall select the 3 States which will 
operate voucher pilot programs under this subtitle 
not later than 90 days before the end of the applica-
tion period. 
(3) PERIOD
OF
OPERATION
OF
PROGRAM.— 
Each State selected to operate a voucher pilot pro-
gram under this subtitle shall operate such program 
during each of the 3 election cycles which begin after 
the application period, and shall ensure that the pro-
gram is ready to be operated not later than the first 
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January 1 of the first election cycle which begins 
after the application period. 
(4) TERMINATION.—Each voucher pilot pro-
gram under this subtitle shall terminate as of the 
first day after the third election cycle during which 
the State operated the program. 
(d) REIMBURSEMENT
OF COSTS.—Upon receiving 
the report submitted by a State under section 113 with 
respect to an election cycle, the Commission shall transmit 
a payment to the State in an amount equal to the reason-
able costs incurred by the State in operating the voucher 
pilot program under this subtitle during the cycle. 
(e) APPLICATION PERIOD DEFINED.—In this section, 
the term ‘‘application period’’ means the first election 
cycle which begins after the date of the enactment of this 
Act. 
SEC. 112. VOUCHER PROGRAM DESCRIBED. 
(a) GENERAL ELEMENTS OF PROGRAM.— 
(1) ELEMENTS DESCRIBED.—The elements of a 
voucher pilot program operated by a State under 
this subtitle are as follows: 
(A) The State shall provide each qualified 
individual upon the individual’s request with a 
voucher worth $50 to be known as a ‘‘My Voice 
Voucher’’ during the election cycle which will be 
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SEC. 113. REPORTS. 
(a) ELECTION CYCLE REPORTS.—Not later than 6 
months after each election cycle during which a State op-
erates a voucher pilot program under this subtitle, the 
State shall submit a report to the Commission analyzing 
the operation and effectiveness of the program during the 
cycle and including such other information as the Commis-
sion may require. 
(b) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after 
the termination of the voucher pilot programs under this 
subtitle, each State which operated such a program shall 
submit a final report to the Commission on the operation 
of the program during the previous election cycles, and 
shall include in each such report such recommendations 
as the State considers appropriate regarding the expan-
sion of the pilot program to all States and territories, 
along with such other recommendations and other infor-
mation as the Commission may require. 
SEC. 114. ELECTION CYCLE DEFINED. 
In this subtitle, the term ‘‘election cycle’’ means the 
period beginning on the day after the date of the most 
recent regularly scheduled general election for Federal of-
fice and ending on the date of the next regularly scheduled 
general election for Federal office. 
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