326 
cation of an individual as a participating candidate 
under this title pursuant to subparagraph (A) or sub-
paragraph (C) of paragraph (1) a total of 3 times, 
the individual may not be certified as a participating 
candidate under this title with respect to any subse-
quent election. 
‘‘(c) VOLUNTARY WITHDRAWAL FROM PARTICIPATING 
DURING QUALIFYING PERIOD.—At any time during the 
Small Dollar Democracy qualifying period described in sec-
tion 511(c), a candidate may withdraw from participation 
in the program under this title by submitting to the Com-
mission a statement of withdrawal (without regard to 
whether or not the Commission has certified the candidate 
as a participating candidate under this title as of the time 
the candidate submits such statement), so long as the can-
didate has not submitted a request for payment under sec-
tion 502. 
‘‘(d) PARTICIPATING CANDIDATE DEFINED.—In this 
title, a ‘participating candidate’ means a candidate for the 
office of Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commis-
sioner to, the Congress who is certified under this section 
as eligible to receive benefits under this title. 
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‘‘Subtitle C—Requirements for Can-
didates 
Certified 
as 
Partici-
pating Candidates 
‘‘SEC. 521. CONTRIBUTION AND EXPENDITURE REQUIRE-
MENTS. 
‘‘(a) PERMITTED SOURCES OF CONTRIBUTIONS AND 
EXPENDITURES.—Except as provided in subsection (c), a 
participating candidate with respect to an election shall, 
with respect to all elections occurring during the election 
cycle for the office involved, accept no contributions from 
any source and make no expenditures from any amounts, 
other than the following: 
‘‘(1) Qualified small dollar contributions. 
‘‘(2) Payments under this title. 
‘‘(3) Contributions from political committees es-
tablished and maintained by a national or State po-
litical party, subject to the applicable limitations of 
section 315. 
‘‘(4) Subject to subsection (b), personal funds of 
the candidate or of any immediate family member of 
the candidate (other than funds received through 
qualified small dollar contributions). 
‘‘(5) Contributions from individuals who are oth-
erwise permitted to make contributions under this 
Act, subject to the applicable limitations of section 
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315, except that the aggregate amount of contribu-
tions a participating candidate may accept from any 
individual with respect to any election during the 
election cycle may not exceed $1,000. 
‘‘(6) Contributions from multicandidate political 
committees, subject to the applicable limitations of 
section 315. 
‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULES FOR PERSONAL FUNDS.— 
‘‘(1) LIMIT ON AMOUNT.—A candidate who is 
certified as a participating candidate may use per-
sonal funds (including personal funds of any imme-
diate family member of the candidate) so long as— 
‘‘(A) the aggregate amount used with re-
spect to the election cycle (including any period 
of the cycle occurring prior to the candidate’s 
certification as a participating candidate) does 
not exceed $50,000; and 
‘‘(B) the funds are used only for making di-
rect payments for the receipt of goods and serv-
ices which constitute authorized expenditures in 
connection with the election cycle involved. 
‘‘(2) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER DEFINED.—In 
this subsection, the term ‘immediate family member’ 
means, with respect to a candidate— 
‘‘(A) the candidate’s spouse; 
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‘‘(B) a child, stepchild, parent, grand-
parent, brother, half-brother, sister, or half-sister 
of the candidate or the candidate’s spouse; and 
‘‘(C) the spouse of any person described in 
subparagraph (B). 
‘‘(c) EXCEPTIONS.— 
‘‘(1) EXCEPTION FOR CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED 
PRIOR TO FILING OF STATEMENT OF INTENT.—A can-
didate who has accepted contributions that are not de-
scribed in subsection (a) is not in violation of sub-
section (a), but only if all such contributions are— 
‘‘(A) returned to the contributor; 
‘‘(B) submitted to the Commission for de-
posit in the Freedom From Influence Fund es-
tablished under section 541; or 
‘‘(C) spent in accordance with paragraph 
(2). 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION
FOR
EXPENDITURES
MADE 
PRIOR TO FILING OF STATEMENT OF INTENT.—If a 
candidate has made expenditures prior to the date the 
candidate files a statement of intent under section 
511(a)(1) that the candidate is prohibited from mak-
ing under subsection (a) or subsection (b), the can-
didate is not in violation of such subsection if the ag-
gregate amount of the prohibited expenditures is less 
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than the amount referred to in section 512(a)(2) (re-
lating to the total dollar amount of qualified small 
dollar contributions which the candidate is required 
to obtain) which is applicable to the candidate. 
‘‘(3) EXCEPTION
FOR
CAMPAIGN
SURPLUSES 
FROM
A
PREVIOUS
ELECTION.—Notwithstanding 
paragraph (1), unexpended contributions received by 
the candidate or an authorized committee of the can-
didate with respect to a previous election may be re-
tained, but only if the candidate places the funds in 
escrow and refrains from raising additional funds for 
or spending funds from that account during the elec-
tion cycle in which a candidate is a participating 
candidate. 
‘‘(4) EXCEPTION FOR CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED 
BEFORE THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS TITLE.—Con-
tributions received and expenditures made by the can-
didate or an authorized committee of the candidate 
prior to the effective date of this title shall not con-
stitute a violation of subsection (a) or (b). Unex-
pended contributions shall be treated the same as 
campaign surpluses under paragraph (3), and ex-
penditures made shall count against the limit in 
paragraph (2). 
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‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULE FOR COORDINATED PARTY EX-
PENDITURES.—For purposes of this section, a payment 
made by a political party in coordination with a partici-
pating candidate shall not be treated as a contribution to 
or as an expenditure made by the participating candidate. 
‘‘(e) PROHIBITION ON JOINT FUNDRAISING COMMIT-
TEES.— 
‘‘(1) PROHIBITION.—An authorized committee of 
a candidate who is certified as a participating can-
didate under this title with respect to an election may 
not establish a joint fundraising committee with a po-
litical committee other than another authorized com-
mittee of the candidate. 
‘‘(2) STATUS
OF
EXISTING
COMMITTEES
FOR 
PRIOR ELECTIONS.—If a candidate established a joint 
fundraising committee described in paragraph (1) 
with respect to a prior election for which the can-
didate was not certified as a participating candidate 
under this title and the candidate does not terminate 
the committee, the candidate shall not be considered 
to be in violation of paragraph (1) so long as that 
joint fundraising committee does not receive any con-
tributions or make any disbursements during the elec-
tion cycle for which the candidate is certified as a 
participating candidate under this title. 
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‘‘(f) PROHIBITION ON LEADERSHIP PACS.— 
‘‘(1) PROHIBITION.—A candidate who is certified 
as a participating candidate under this title with re-
spect to an election may not associate with, establish, 
finance, maintain, or control a leadership PAC. 
‘‘(2) STATUS OF EXISTING LEADERSHIP PACS.— 
If a candidate established, financed, maintained, or 
controlled a leadership PAC prior to being certified as 
a participating candidate under this title and the 
candidate does not terminate the leadership PAC, the 
candidate shall not be considered to be in violation of 
paragraph (1) so long as the leadership PAC does not 
receive any contributions or make any disbursements 
during the election cycle for which the candidate is 
certified as a participating candidate under this title. 
‘‘(3) LEADERSHIP PAC DEFINED.—In this sub-
section, the term ‘leadership PAC’ has the meaning 
given such term in section 304(i)(8)(B). 
‘‘SEC. 522. ADMINISTRATION OF CAMPAIGN. 
‘‘(a) SEPARATE ACCOUNTING
FOR VARIOUS PER-
MITTED CONTRIBUTIONS.—Each authorized committee of a 
candidate certified as a participating candidate under this 
title— 
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‘‘(1) shall provide for separate accounting of 
each type of contribution described in section 521(a) 
which is received by the committee; and 
‘‘(2) shall provide for separate accounting for the 
payments received under this title. 
‘‘(b) ENHANCED DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION ON 
DONORS.— 
‘‘(1) MANDATORY
IDENTIFICATION
OF
INDIVID-
UALS MAKING QUALIFIED SMALL DOLLAR CONTRIBU-
TIONS.—Each authorized committee of a partici-
pating candidate under this title shall elect, in ac-
cordance with section 304(b)(3)(A), to include in the 
reports the committee submits under section 304 the 
identification of each person who makes a qualified 
small dollar contribution to the committee. 
‘‘(2) MANDATORY DISCLOSURE THROUGH INTER-
NET.—Each authorized committee of a participating 
candidate under this title shall ensure that all infor-
mation reported to the Commission under this Act 
with respect to contributions and expenditures of the 
committee is available to the public on the internet 
(whether through a site established for purposes of this 
subsection, a hyperlink on another public site of the 
committee, or a hyperlink on a report filed electroni-
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cally with the Commission) in a searchable, sortable, 
and downloadable manner. 
‘‘SEC. 523. PREVENTING UNNECESSARY SPENDING OF PUB-
LIC FUNDS. 
‘‘(a) MANDATORY SPENDING OF AVAILABLE PRIVATE 
FUNDS.—An authorized committee of a candidate certified 
as a participating candidate under this title may not make 
any expenditure of any payments received under this title 
in any amount unless the committee has made an expendi-
ture in an equivalent amount of funds received by the com-
mittee which are described in paragraphs (1), (3), (4), (5), 
and (6) of section 521(a). 
‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—Subsection (a) applies to an au-
thorized committee only to the extent that the funds referred 
to in such subsection are available to the committee at the 
time the committee makes an expenditure of a payment re-
ceived under this title. 
‘‘SEC. 524. REMITTING UNSPENT FUNDS AFTER ELECTION. 
‘‘(a) REMITTANCE REQUIRED.—Not later than the 
date that is 180 days after the last election for which a 
candidate certified as a participating candidate qualifies 
to be on the ballot during the election cycle involved, such 
participating candidate shall remit to the Commission for 
deposit in the Freedom From Influence Fund established 
under section 541 an amount equal to the balance of the 
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payments received under this title by the authorized com-
mittees of the candidate which remain unexpended as of 
such date. 
‘‘(b) PERMITTING
CANDIDATES
PARTICIPATING
IN 
NEXT ELECTION CYCLE TO RETAIN PORTION OF UNSPENT 
FUNDS.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), a participating 
candidate may withhold not more than $100,000 from the 
amount required to be remitted under subsection (a) if the 
candidate files a signed affidavit with the Commission that 
the candidate will seek certification as a participating can-
didate with respect to the next election cycle, except that 
the candidate may not use any portion of the amount with-
held until the candidate is certified as a participating can-
didate with respect to that next election cycle. If the can-
didate fails to seek certification as a participating can-
didate prior to the last day of the Small Dollar Democracy 
qualifying period for the next election cycle (as described 
in section 511), or if the Commission notifies the candidate 
of the Commission’s determination does not meet the re-
quirements for certification as a participating candidate 
with respect to such cycle, the candidate shall immediately 
remit to the Commission the amount withheld. 
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‘‘Subtitle D—Enhanced Match 
Support 
‘‘SEC. 531. ENHANCED SUPPORT FOR GENERAL ELECTION. 
‘‘(a) AVAILABILITY OF ENHANCED SUPPORT.—In ad-
dition to the payments made under subtitle A, the Commis-
sion shall make an additional payment to an eligible can-
didate under this subtitle. 
‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—A candidate shall use the addi-
tional payment under this subtitle only for authorized ex-
penditures in connection with the election involved. 
‘‘SEC. 532. ELIGIBILITY. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A candidate is eligible to receive 
an additional payment under this subtitle if the candidate 
meets each of the following requirements: 
‘‘(1) The candidate is on the ballot for the gen-
eral election for the office the candidate seeks. 
‘‘(2) The candidate is certified as a partici-
pating candidate under this title with respect to the 
election. 
‘‘(3) During the enhanced support qualifying pe-
riod, the candidate receives qualified small dollar con-
tributions in a total amount of not less than $50,000. 
‘‘(4) During the enhanced support qualifying pe-
riod, the candidate submits to the Commission a re-
quest for the payment which includes— 
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‘‘(A) a statement of the number and amount 
of qualified small dollar contributions received 
by the candidate during the enhanced support 
qualifying period; 
‘‘(B) a statement of the amount of the pay-
ment the candidate anticipates receiving with re-
spect to the request; and 
‘‘(C) such other information and assurances 
as the Commission may require. 
‘‘(5) After submitting a request for the addi-
tional payment under paragraph (4), the candidate 
does not submit any other application for an addi-
tional payment under this subtitle. 
‘‘(b) ENHANCED SUPPORT QUALIFYING PERIOD DE-
SCRIBED.—In this subtitle, the term ‘enhanced support 
qualifying period’ means, with respect to a general election, 
the period which begins 60 days before the date of the elec-
tion and ends 14 days before the date of the election. 
‘‘SEC. 533. AMOUNT. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), the 
amount of the additional payment made to an eligible can-
didate under this subtitle shall be an amount equal to 50 
percent of— 
‘‘(1) the amount of the payment made to the 
candidate under section 501(b) with respect to the 
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qualified small dollar contributions which are re-
ceived by the candidate during the enhanced support 
qualifying period (as included in the request sub-
mitted by the candidate under section 532(a)(4)); or 
‘‘(2) in the case of a candidate who is not eligi-
ble to receive a payment under section 501(b) with re-
spect to such qualified small dollar contributions be-
cause the candidate has reached the limit on the ag-
gregate amount of payments under subtitle A for the 
election cycle under section 501(c), the amount of the 
payment which would have been made to the can-
didate under section 501(b) with respect to such 
qualified small dollar contributions if the candidate 
had not reached such limit. 
‘‘(b) LIMIT.—The amount of the additional payment 
determined under subsection (a) with respect to a candidate 
may not exceed $500,000. 
‘‘(c) NO EFFECT ON AGGREGATE LIMIT.—The amount 
of the additional payment made to a candidate under this 
subtitle shall not be included in determining the aggregate 
amount of payments made to a participating candidate 
with respect to an election cycle under section 501(c). 
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‘‘SEC. 534. WAIVER OF AUTHORITY TO RETAIN PORTION OF 
UNSPENT FUNDS AFTER ELECTION. 
‘‘Notwithstanding section 524(a)(2), a candidate who 
receives an additional payment under this subtitle with re-
spect to an election is not permitted to withhold any portion 
from the amount of unspent funds the candidate is required 
to remit to the Commission under section 524(a)(1). 
‘‘Subtitle E—Administrative 
Provisions 
‘‘SEC. 541. FREEDOM FROM INFLUENCE FUND. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 
Treasury a fund to be known as the ‘Freedom From Influ-
ence Fund’. 
‘‘(b) AMOUNTS HELD BY FUND.—The Fund shall con-
sist of the following amounts: 
‘‘(1) DEPOSITS.—Amounts deposited into the 
Fund under— 
‘‘(A) section 521(c)(1)(B) (relating to excep-
tions to contribution requirements); 
‘‘(B) section 523 (relating to remittance of 
unused payments from the Fund); and 
‘‘(C) section 544 (relating to violations). 
‘‘(2) INVESTMENT RETURNS.—Interest on, and 
the proceeds from, the sale or redemption of any obli-
gations held by the Fund under subsection (c). 
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‘‘(c) INVESTMENT.—The Commission shall invest por-
tions of the Fund in obligations of the United States in 
the same manner as provided under section 9602(b) of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 
‘‘(d) USE OF FUND TO MAKE PAYMENTS TO PARTICI-
PATING CANDIDATES.— 
‘‘(1) 
PAYMENTS
TO
PARTICIPATING
CAN-
DIDATES.—Amounts in the Fund shall be available 
without further appropriation or fiscal year limita-
tion to make payments to participating candidates as 
provided in this title. 
‘‘(2) MANDATORY REDUCTION OF PAYMENTS IN 
CASE OF INSUFFICIENT AMOUNTS IN FUND.— 
‘‘(A) ADVANCE AUDITS BY COMMISSION.— 
Not later than 90 days before the first day of 
each election cycle (beginning with the first elec-
tion cycle that begins after the date of the enact-
ment of this title), the Commission shall— 
‘‘(i) audit the Fund to determine 
whether the amounts in the Fund will be 
sufficient to make payments to partici-
pating candidates in the amounts provided 
in this title during such election cycle; and 
‘‘(ii) submit a report to Congress de-
scribing the results of the audit. 
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‘‘(B) REDUCTIONS
IN
AMOUNT
OF
PAY-
MENTS.— 
‘‘(i) AUTOMATIC
REDUCTION
ON
PRO 
RATA BASIS.—If, on the basis of the audit 
described in subparagraph (A), the Commis-
sion determines that the amount antici-
pated to be available in the Fund with re-
spect to the election cycle involved is not, or 
may not be, sufficient to satisfy the full en-
titlements of participating candidates to 
payments under this title for such election 
cycle, the Commission shall reduce each 
amount which would otherwise be paid to a 
participating candidate under this title by 
such pro rata amount as may be necessary 
to ensure that the aggregate amount of pay-
ments anticipated to be made with respect 
to the election cycle will not exceed the 
amount anticipated to be available for such 
payments in the Fund with respect to such 
election cycle. 
‘‘(ii) RESTORATION OF REDUCTIONS IN 
CASE
OF
AVAILABILITY
OF
SUFFICIENT 
FUNDS DURING ELECTION CYCLE.—If, after 
reducing the amounts paid to participating 
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candidates with respect to an election cycle 
under clause (i), the Commission determines 
that there are sufficient amounts in the 
Fund to restore the amount by which such 
payments were reduced (or any portion 
thereof), to the extent that such amounts are 
available, the Commission may make a 
payment on a pro rata basis to each such 
participating candidate with respect to the 
election cycle in the amount by which such 
candidate’s payments were reduced under 
clause (i) (or any portion thereof, as the 
case may be). 
‘‘(iii) NO
USE
OF
AMOUNTS
FROM 
OTHER SOURCES.—In any case in which 
the Commission determines that there are 
insufficient moneys in the Fund to make 
payments to participating candidates under 
this title, moneys shall not be made avail-
able from any other source for the purpose 
of making such payments. 
‘‘(e) USE OF FUND TO MAKE OTHER PAYMENTS.—In 
addition to the use described in subsection (d), amounts in 
the Fund shall be available without further appropriation 
or fiscal year limitation— 
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‘‘(1) to make payments to States under the My 
Voice Voucher Program under the Government By the 
People Act of 2019, subject to reductions under section 
5101(f)(3) of such Act; 
‘‘(2) to make payments to candidates under 
chapter 95 of subtitle H of the Internal Revenue Code 
of 1986, subject to reductions under section 9013(b) of 
such Code; and 
‘‘(3) to make payments to candidates under 
chapter 96 of subtitle H of the Internal Revenue Code 
of 1986, subject to reductions under section 9043(b) of 
such Code. 
‘‘(f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 
on the date of the enactment of this title. 
‘‘SEC. 542. REVIEWS AND REPORTS BY GOVERNMENT AC-
COUNTABILITY OFFICE. 
‘‘(a) REVIEW OF SMALL DOLLAR FINANCING.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—After each regularly sched-
uled general election for Federal office, the Comp-
troller General of the United States shall conduct a 
comprehensive review of the Small Dollar financing 
program under this title, including— 
‘‘(A) the maximum and minimum dollar 
amounts of qualified small dollar contributions 
under section 504; 
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‘‘(B) the number and value of qualified 
small dollar contributions a candidate is re-
quired to obtain under section 512(a) to be eligi-
ble for certification as a participating candidate; 
‘‘(C) the maximum amount of payments a 
candidate may receive under this title; 
‘‘(D) the overall satisfaction of partici-
pating candidates and the American public with 
the program; and 
‘‘(E) such other matters relating to financ-
ing of campaigns as the Comptroller General de-
termines are appropriate. 
‘‘(2) CRITERIA FOR REVIEW.—In conducting the 
review under subparagraph (A), the Comptroller Gen-
eral shall consider the following: 
‘‘(A) QUALIFIED SMALL DOLLAR CONTRIBU-
TIONS.—Whether the number and dollar amounts 
of qualified small dollar contributions required 
strikes an appropriate balance regarding the im-
portance of voter involvement, the need to assure 
adequate incentives for participating, and fiscal 
responsibility, taking into consideration the 
number of primary and general election partici-
pating candidates, the electoral performance of 
those candidates, program cost, and any other 
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information the Comptroller General determines 
is appropriate. 
‘‘(B) REVIEW
OF
PAYMENT
LEVELS.— 
Whether the totality of the amount of funds al-
lowed to be raised by participating candidates 
(including through qualified small dollar con-
tributions) and payments under this title are 
sufficient for voters in each State to learn about 
the candidates to cast an informed vote, taking 
into account the historic amount of spending by 
winning candidates, media costs, primary elec-
tion dates, and any other information the Comp-
troller General determines is appropriate. 
‘‘(3) RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ADJUSTMENT OF 
AMOUNTS.—Based on the review conducted under sub-
paragraph (A), the Comptroller General may rec-
ommend to Congress adjustments of the following 
amounts: 
‘‘(A) The number and value of qualified 
small dollar contributions a candidate is re-
quired to obtain under section 512(a) to be eligi-
ble for certification as a participating candidate. 
‘‘(B) The maximum amount of payments a 
candidate may receive under this title. 
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‘‘(b) REPORTS.—Not later than each June 1 which fol-
lows a regularly scheduled general election for Federal office 
for which payments were made under this title, the Comp-
troller General shall submit to the Committee on House Ad-
ministration of the House of Representatives a report— 
‘‘(1) containing an analysis of the review con-
ducted under subsection (a), including a detailed 
statement of Comptroller General’s findings, conclu-
sions, and recommendations based on such review, in-
cluding any recommendations for adjustments of 
amounts described in subsection (a)(3); and 
‘‘(2) documenting, evaluating, and making rec-
ommendations relating to the administrative imple-
mentation and enforcement of the provisions of this 
title. 
‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are 
authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary 
to carry out the purposes of this section. 
‘‘SEC. 543. ADMINISTRATION BY COMMISSION. 
‘‘The Commission shall prescribe regulations to carry 
out the purposes of this title, including regulations to estab-
lish procedures for— 
‘‘(1) verifying the amount of qualified small dol-
lar contributions with respect to a candidate; 
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‘‘(2) effectively and efficiently monitoring and 
enforcing the limits on the raising of qualified small 
dollar contributions; 
‘‘(3) effectively and efficiently monitoring and 
enforcing the limits on the use of personal funds by 
participating candidates; and 
‘‘(4) monitoring the use of allocations from the 
Freedom From Influence Fund established under sec-
tion 541 and matching contributions under this title 
through audits of not fewer than 1⁄10 (or, in the case 
of the first 3 election cycles during which the program 
under this title is in effect, not fewer than 1⁄3) of all 
participating candidates or other mechanisms. 
‘‘SEC. 544. VIOLATIONS AND PENALTIES. 
‘‘(a) CIVIL PENALTY FOR VIOLATION OF CONTRIBU-
TION AND EXPENDITURE REQUIREMENTS.—If a candidate 
who has been certified as a participating candidate accepts 
a contribution or makes an expenditure that is prohibited 
under section 521, the Commission may assess a civil pen-
alty against the candidate in an amount that is not more 
than 3 times the amount of the contribution or expenditure. 
Any amounts collected under this subsection shall be depos-
ited into the Freedom From Influence Fund established 
under section 541. 
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‘‘(b) REPAYMENT FOR IMPROPER USE OF FREEDOM 
FROM INFLUENCE FUND.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—If the Commission deter-
mines that any payment made to a participating 
candidate was not used as provided for in this title 
or that a participating candidate has violated any of 
the dates for remission of funds contained in this 
title, the Commission shall so notify the candidate 
and the candidate shall pay to the Fund an amount 
equal to— 
‘‘(A) the amount of payments so used or not 
remitted, as appropriate; and 
‘‘(B) interest on any such amounts (at a 
rate determined by the Commission). 
‘‘(2) OTHER ACTION NOT PRECLUDED.—Any ac-
tion by the Commission in accordance with this sub-
section shall not preclude enforcement proceedings by 
the Commission in accordance with section 309(a), 
including a referral by the Commission to the Attor-
ney General in the case of an apparent knowing and 
willful violation of this title. 
‘‘(c) PROHIBITING CANDIDATES SUBJECT TO CRIMI-
NAL PENALTY FROM QUALIFYING AS PARTICIPATING CAN-
DIDATES.—A candidate is not eligible to be certified as a 
participating candidate under this title with respect to an 
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election if a penalty has been assessed against the candidate 
under section 309(d) with respect to any previous election. 
‘‘SEC. 545. APPEALS PROCESS. 
‘‘(a) REVIEW OF ACTIONS.—Any action by the Com-
mission in carrying out this title shall be subject to review 
by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of 
Columbia upon petition filed in the Court not later than 
30 days after the Commission takes the action for which 
the review is sought. 
‘‘(b) PROCEDURES.—The provisions of chapter 7 of 
title 5, United States Code, apply to judicial review under 
this section. 
‘‘SEC. 546. INDEXING OF AMOUNTS. 
‘‘(a) INDEXING.—In any calendar year after 2024, sec-
tion 315(c)(1)(B) shall apply to each amount described in 
subsection (b) in the same manner as such section applies 
to the limitations established under subsections (a)(1)(A), 
(a)(1)(B), (a)(3), and (h) of such section, except that for 
purposes of applying such section to the amounts described 
in subsection (b), the ‘base period’ shall be 2024. 
‘‘(b) AMOUNTS DESCRIBED.—The amounts described 
in this subsection are as follows: 
‘‘(1) The amount referred to in section 502(b)(1) 
(relating to the minimum amount of qualified small 
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dollar contributions included in a request for pay-
ment). 
‘‘(2) The amounts referred to in section 
504(a)(1) (relating to the amount of a qualified small 
dollar contribution). 
‘‘(3) The amount referred to in section 512(a)(2) 
(relating to the total dollar amount of qualified small 
dollar contributions). 
‘‘(4) The amount referred to in section 521(a)(5) 
(relating to the aggregate amount of contributions a 
participating candidate may accept from any indi-
vidual with respect to an election). 
‘‘(5) 
The 
amount 
referred 
to 
in 
section 
521(b)(1)(A) (relating to the amount of personal 
funds that may be used by a candidate who is cer-
tified as a participating candidate). 
‘‘(6) The amounts referred to in section 
524(a)(2) (relating to the amount of unspent funds a 
candidate may retain for use in the next election 
cycle). 
‘‘(7) The amount referred to in section 532(a)(3) 
(relating to the total dollar amount of qualified small 
dollar contributions for a candidate seeking an addi-
tional payment under subtitle D). 
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‘‘(8) The amount referred to in section 533(b) 
(relating to the limit on the amount of an additional 
payment made to a candidate under subtitle D). 
‘‘SEC. 547. ELECTION CYCLE DEFINED. 
‘‘In this title, the term ‘election cycle’ means, with re-
spect to an election for an office, the period beginning on 
the day after the date of the most recent general election 
for that office (or, if the general election resulted in a runoff 
election, the date of the runoff election) and ending on the 
date of the next general election for that office (or, if the 
general election resulted in a runoff election, the date of the 
runoff election).’’. 
SEC. 5112. CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES BY MULTI-
CANDIDATE AND POLITICAL PARTY COMMIT-
TEES ON BEHALF OF PARTICIPATING CAN-
DIDATES. 
(a) AUTHORIZING CONTRIBUTIONS ONLY FROM SEPA-
RATE ACCOUNTS CONSISTING OF QUALIFIED SMALL DOL-
LAR CONTRIBUTIONS.—Section 315(a) of the Federal Elec-
tion Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30116(a)) is amend-
ed by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(10) In the case of a multicandidate political com-
mittee or any political committee of a political party, the 
committee may make a contribution to a candidate who is 
a participating candidate under title V with respect to an 
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election only if the contribution is paid from a separate, 
segregated account of the committee which consists solely 
of contributions which meet the following requirements: 
‘‘(A) Each such contribution is in an amount 
which meets the requirements for the amount of a 
qualified small dollar contribution under section 
504(a)(1) with respect to the election involved. 
‘‘(B) Each such contribution is made by an indi-
vidual who is not otherwise prohibited from making 
a contribution under this Act. 
‘‘(C) The individual who makes the contribution 
does not make contributions to the committee during 
the year in an aggregate amount that exceeds the 
limit described in section 504(a)(1).’’. 
(b) PERMITTING UNLIMITED COORDINATED EXPENDI-
TURES FROM SMALL DOLLAR SOURCES BY POLITICAL PAR-
TIES.—Section 315(d) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30116(d)) is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘The national 
committee’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in 
paragraph (5), the national committee’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new para-
graph: 
‘‘(5) The limits described in paragraph (3) do not 
apply in the case of expenditures in connection with the 
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general election campaign of a candidate for the office of 
Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner 
to, the Congress who is a participating candidate under 
title V with respect to the election, but only if— 
‘‘(A) the expenditures are paid from a separate, 
segregated account of the committee which is described 
in subsection (a)(9); and 
‘‘(B) the expenditures are the sole source of fund-
ing provided by the committee to the candidate.’’. 
SEC. 5113. PROHIBITING USE OF CONTRIBUTIONS BY PAR-
TICIPATING 
CANDIDATES 
FOR 
PURPOSES 
OTHER THAN CAMPAIGN FOR ELECTION. 
Section 313 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 
1971 (52 U.S.C. 30114) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new subsection: 
‘‘(d) RESTRICTIONS ON PERMITTED USES OF FUNDS 
BY CANDIDATES RECEIVING SMALL DOLLAR FINANCING.— 
Notwithstanding paragraph (2), (3), or (4) of subsection 
(a), if a candidate for election for the office of Representa-
tive in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Con-
gress is certified as a participating candidate under title 
V with respect to the election, any contribution which the 
candidate is permitted to accept under such title may be 
used only for authorized expenditures in connection with 
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the candidate’s campaign for such office, subject to section 
503(b).’’. 
SEC. 5114. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as may otherwise be pro-
vided in this part and in the amendments made by this 
part, this part and the amendments made by this part shall 
apply with respect to elections occurring during 2026 or 
any succeeding year, without regard to whether or not the 
Federal Election Commission has promulgated the final 
regulations necessary to carry out this part and the amend-
ments made by this part by the deadline set forth in sub-
section (b). 
(b) DEADLINE FOR REGULATIONS.—Not later than 
June 30, 2024, the Federal Election Commission shall pro-
mulgate such regulations as may be necessary to carry out 
this part and the amendments made by this part. 
Subtitle C—Presidential Elections 
SEC. 5200. SHORT TITLE. 
This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Empower Act of 
2019’’. 
PART 1—PRIMARY ELECTIONS 
SEC. 5201. INCREASE IN AND MODIFICATIONS TO MATCH-
ING PAYMENTS. 
(a) INCREASE AND MODIFICATION.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—The first sentence of section 
9034(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 
amended— 
(A) by striking ‘‘an amount equal to the 
amount of each contribution’’ and inserting ‘‘an 
amount equal to 600 percent of the amount of 
each matchable contribution (disregarding any 
amount of contributions from any person to the 
extent that the total of the amounts contributed 
by such person for the election exceeds $200)’’; 
and 
(B) by striking ‘‘authorized committees’’ 
and all that follows through ‘‘$250’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘authorized committees’’. 
(2) MATCHABLE CONTRIBUTIONS.—Section 9034 
of such Code is amended— 
(A) by striking the last sentence of sub-
section (a); and 
(B) by adding at the end the following new 
subsection: 
‘‘(c) MATCHABLE CONTRIBUTION DEFINED.—For pur-
poses of this section and section 9033(b)— 
‘‘(1) MATCHABLE
CONTRIBUTION.—The term 
‘matchable contribution’ means, with respect to the 
nomination for election to the office of President of 
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the United States, a contribution by an individual to 
a candidate or an authorized committee of a can-
didate with respect to which the candidate has cer-
tified in writing that— 
‘‘(A) the individual making such contribu-
tion has not made aggregate contributions (in-
cluding such matchable contribution) to such 
candidate and the authorized committees of such 
candidate in excess of $1,000 for the election; 
‘‘(B) such candidate and the authorized 
committees of such candidate will not accept con-
tributions from such individual (including such 
matchable contribution) aggregating more than 
the amount described in subparagraph (A); and 
‘‘(C) such contribution was a direct con-
tribution. 
‘‘(2) CONTRIBUTION.—For purposes of this sub-
section, the term ‘contribution’ means a gift of money 
made by a written instrument which identifies the in-
dividual making the contribution by full name and 
mailing address, but does not include a subscription, 
loan, advance, or deposit of money, or anything of 
value or anything described in subparagraph (B), 
(C), or (D) of section 9032(4). 
‘‘(3) DIRECT CONTRIBUTION.— 
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in lobbying activity under the Lobbying 
Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et 
seq.), and is not established by, controlled 
by, or affiliated with a registered lobbyist 
under such Act, an agent of a registered lob-
byist under such Act, or an organization 
which retains or employs a registered lob-
byist under such Act; and 
‘‘(ii) a contribution is not ‘made at the 
request, suggestion, or recommendation of 
another person’ solely on the grounds that 
the contribution is made in response to in-
formation provided to the individual mak-
ing the contribution by any person, so long 
as the candidate or authorized committee 
does not know the identity of the person 
who provided the information to such indi-
vidual.’’. 
(3) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(A) Section 9032(4) of such Code is amend-
ed by striking ‘‘section 9034(a)’’ and inserting 
‘‘section 9034’’. 
(B) Section 9033(b)(3) of such Code is 
amended by striking ‘‘matching contributions’’ 
and inserting ‘‘matchable contributions’’. 
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(b) MODIFICATION OF PAYMENT LIMITATION.—Section 
9034(a) of such Code is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘Every’’ and inserting the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Every’’; 
(2) by striking ‘‘shall not exceed’’ and all that 
follows 
and 
inserting 
‘‘shall 
not 
exceed 
$250,000,000.’’, and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new para-
graph: 
‘‘(2) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any ap-
plicable period beginning after 2029, the dollar 
amount in paragraph (1) shall be increased by 
an amount equal to— 
‘‘(i) such dollar amount, multiplied by 
‘‘(ii) the cost-of-living adjustment de-
termined under section 1(f)(3) for the cal-
endar year following the year which such 
applicable period begins, determined by sub-
stituting ‘calendar year 2028’ for ‘calendar 
year 1992’ in subparagraph (B) thereof. 
‘‘(B) APPLICABLE
PERIOD.—For purposes 
of this paragraph, the term ‘applicable period’ 
means the 4-year period beginning with the first 
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day following the date of the general election for 
the office of President and ending on the date of 
the next such general election. 
‘‘(C) ROUNDING.—If any amount as ad-
justed under subparagraph (1) is not a multiple 
of $10,000, such amount shall be rounded to the 
nearest multiple of $10,000.’’. 
SEC. 5202. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR MATCHING 
PAYMENTS. 
(a) AMOUNT
OF AGGREGATE CONTRIBUTIONS PER 
STATE; DISREGARDING OF AMOUNTS CONTRIBUTED IN EX-
CESS OF $200.—Section 9033(b)(3) of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 is amended— 
(1) 
by 
striking 
‘‘$5,000’’ 
and 
inserting 
‘‘$25,000’’; and 
(2) by striking ‘‘20 States’’ and inserting the fol-
lowing: ‘‘20 States (disregarding any amount of con-
tributions from any such resident to the extent that 
the total of the amounts contributed by such resident 
for the election exceeds $200)’’. 
(b) CONTRIBUTION LIMIT.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Paragraph (4) of section 
9033(b) of such Code is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(4) the candidate and the authorized commit-
tees of the candidate will not accept aggregate con-
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tributions from any person with respect to the nomi-
nation for election to the office of President of the 
United States in excess of $1,000 for the election.’’. 
(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(A) Section 9033(b) of such Code is amend-
ed by adding at the end the following new flush 
sentence: 
‘‘For purposes of paragraph (4), the term ‘contribution’ has 
the meaning given such term in section 301(8) of the Fed-
eral Election Campaign Act of 1971.’’. 
(B) Section 9032(4) of such Code, as 
amended by section 5201(a)(3)(A), is amended 
by inserting ‘‘or 9033(b)’’ after ‘‘9034’’. 
(c) PARTICIPATION IN SYSTEM FOR PAYMENTS FOR 
GENERAL ELECTION.—Section 9033(b) of such Code is 
amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 
(3); 
(2) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (4) and inserting ‘‘, and’’; and 
(3) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(5) if the candidate is nominated by a political 
party for election to the office of President, the can-
didate will apply for and accept payments with re-
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spect to the general election for such office in accord-
ance with chapter 95.’’. 
(d) PROHIBITION ON JOINT FUNDRAISING COMMIT-
TEES.—Section 9033(b) of such Code, as amended by sub-
section (c), is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 
(4); 
(2) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (5) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by inserting after paragraph (5) the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(6) the candidate will not establish a joint 
fundraising committee with a political committee 
other than another authorized committee of the can-
didate, except that candidate established a joint fund-
raising committee with respect to a prior election for 
which the candidate was not eligible to receive pay-
ments under section 9037 and the candidate does not 
terminate the committee, the candidate shall not be 
considered to be in violation of this paragraph so long 
as that joint fundraising committee does not receive 
any contributions or make any disbursements during 
the election cycle for which the candidate is eligible 
to receive payments under such section.’’. 
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SEC. 5203. REPEAL OF EXPENDITURE LIMITATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 9035 of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(a) PERSONAL EXPENDITURE LIMITATION.—No can-
didate shall knowingly make expenditures from his personal 
funds, or the personal funds of his immediate family, in 
connection with his campaign for nomination for election 
to the office of President in excess of, in the aggregate, 
$50,000.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Paragraph (1) of sec-
tion 9033(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 
amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(1) the candidate will comply with the personal 
expenditure limitation under section 9035,’’. 
SEC. 5204. PERIOD OF AVAILABILITY OF MATCHING PAY-
MENTS. 
Section 9032(6) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
is amended by striking ‘‘the beginning of the calendar year 
in which a general election for the office of President of the 
United States will be held’’ and inserting ‘‘the date that 
is 6 months prior to the date of the earliest State primary 
election’’. 
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SEC. 5205. EXAMINATION AND AUDITS OF MATCHABLE CON-
TRIBUTIONS. 
Section 9038(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
is amended by inserting ‘‘and matchable contributions ac-
cepted by’’ after ‘‘qualified campaign expenses of’’. 
SEC. 5206. MODIFICATION TO LIMITATION ON CONTRIBU-
TIONS FOR PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY CAN-
DIDATES. 
Section 315(a)(6) of the Federal Election Campaign 
Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30116(a)(6)) is amended by striking 
‘‘calendar year’’ and inserting ‘‘four-year election cycle’’. 
SEC. 5207. USE OF FREEDOM FROM INFLUENCE FUND AS 
SOURCE OF PAYMENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 96 of subtitle H of the In-
ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the 
end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 9043. USE OF FREEDOM FROM INFLUENCE FUND AS 
SOURCE OF PAYMENTS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of this chapter, effective with respect to the Presidential 
election held in 2028 and each succeeding Presidential elec-
tion, all payments made to candidates under this chapter 
shall be made from the Freedom From Influence Fund es-
tablished under section 541 of the Federal Election Cam-
paign Act of 1971 (hereafter in this section referred to as 
the ‘Fund’). 
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‘‘(b) MANDATORY REDUCTION OF PAYMENTS IN CASE 
OF INSUFFICIENT AMOUNTS IN FUND.— 
‘‘(1) ADVANCE
AUDITS
BY
COMMISSION.—Not 
later than 90 days before the first day of each Presi-
dential election cycle (beginning with the cycle for the 
election held in 2028), the Commission shall— 
‘‘(A) audit the Fund to determine whether, 
after first making payments to participating 
candidates under title V of the Federal Election 
Campaign Act of 1971 and then making pay-
ments to States under the My Voice Voucher Pro-
gram under the Government By the People Act 
of 2019, the amounts remaining in the Fund 
will be sufficient to make payments to can-
didates under this chapter in the amounts pro-
vided under this chapter during such election 
cycle; and 
‘‘(B) submit a report to Congress describing 
the results of the audit. 
‘‘(2) REDUCTIONS IN AMOUNT OF PAYMENTS.— 
‘‘(A) AUTOMATIC REDUCTION ON PRO RATA 
BASIS.—If, on the basis of the audit described in 
paragraph (1), the Commission determines that 
the amount anticipated to be available in the 
Fund with respect to the Presidential election 
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cycle involved is not, or may not be, sufficient to 
satisfy the full entitlements of candidates to pay-
ments under this chapter for such cycle, the 
Commission shall reduce each amount which 
would otherwise be paid to a candidate under 
this chapter by such pro rata amount as may be 
necessary to ensure that the aggregate amount of 
payments anticipated to be made with respect to 
the cycle will not exceed the amount anticipated 
to be available for such payments in the Fund 
with respect to such cycle. 
‘‘(B) RESTORATION
OF
REDUCTIONS
IN 
CASE
OF
AVAILABILITY
OF
SUFFICIENT
FUNDS 
DURING ELECTION CYCLE.—If, after reducing the 
amounts paid to candidates with respect to an 
election cycle under subparagraph (A), the Com-
mission determines that there are sufficient 
amounts in the Fund to restore the amount by 
which such payments were reduced (or any por-
tion thereof), to the extent that such amounts are 
available, the Commission may make a payment 
on a pro rata basis to each such candidate with 
respect to the election cycle in the amount by 
which such candidate’s payments were reduced 
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under subparagraph (A) (or any portion thereof, 
as the case may be). 
‘‘(C) NO USE OF AMOUNTS FROM OTHER 
SOURCES.—In any case in which the Commis-
sion determines that there are insufficient mon-
eys in the Fund to make payments to candidates 
under this chapter, moneys shall not be made 
available from any other source for the purpose 
of making such payments. 
‘‘(3) NO
EFFECT
ON
AMOUNTS
TRANSFERRED 
FOR PEDIATRIC RESEARCH INITIATIVE.—This section 
does not apply to the transfer of funds under section 
9008(i). 
‘‘(4) 
PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTION
CYCLE
DE-
FINED.—In this section, the term ‘Presidential elec-
tion cycle’ means, with respect to a Presidential elec-
tion, the period beginning on the day after the date 
of the previous Presidential general election and end-
ing on the date of the Presidential election.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections for 
chapter 96 of subtitle H of such Code is amended by adding 
at the end the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 9043. Use of Freedom From Influence Fund as source of payments.’’. 
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PART 2—GENERAL ELECTIONS 
SEC. 5211. MODIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS 
FOR PUBLIC FINANCING. 
Subsection (a) of section 9003 of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In order to be eligible to receive 
any payments under section 9006, the candidates of a polit-
ical party in a Presidential election shall meet the following 
requirements: 
‘‘(1) PARTICIPATION IN PRIMARY PAYMENT SYS-
TEM.—The candidate for President received payments 
under chapter 96 for the campaign for nomination for 
election to be President. 
‘‘(2) AGREEMENTS WITH COMMISSION.—The can-
didates, in writing— 
‘‘(A) agree to obtain and furnish to the 
Commission such evidence as it may request of 
the qualified campaign expenses of such can-
didates, 
‘‘(B) agree to keep and furnish to the Com-
mission such records, books, and other informa-
tion as it may request, and 
‘‘(C) agree to an audit and examination by 
the Commission under section 9007 and to pay 
any amounts required to be paid under such sec-
tion. 
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‘‘(3) PROHIBITION ON JOINT FUNDRAISING COM-
MITTEES.— 
‘‘(A) PROHIBITION.—The candidates cer-
tifies in writing that the candidates will not es-
tablish a joint fundraising committee with a po-
litical committee other than another authorized 
committee of the candidate. 
‘‘(B) STATUS
OF
EXISTING
COMMITTEES 
FOR PRIOR ELECTIONS.—If a candidate estab-
lished a joint fundraising committee described in 
subparagraph (A) with respect to a prior election 
for which the candidate was not eligible to re-
ceive payments under section 9006 and the can-
didate does not terminate the committee, the can-
didate shall not be considered to be in violation 
of subparagraph (A) so long as that joint fund-
raising committee does not receive any contribu-
tions or make any disbursements with respect to 
the election for which the candidate is eligible to 
receive payments under section 9006.’’. 
SEC. 5212. REPEAL OF EXPENDITURE LIMITATIONS AND 
USE OF QUALIFIED CAMPAIGN CONTRIBU-
TIONS. 
(a) USE OF QUALIFIED CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS 
WITHOUT EXPENDITURE LIMITS; APPLICATION OF SAME 
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REQUIREMENTS FOR MAJOR, MINOR, AND NEW PARTIES.— 
Section 9003 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 
amended by striking subsections (b) and (c) and inserting 
the following: 
‘‘(b) USE OF QUALIFIED CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS 
TO DEFRAY EXPENSES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to be eligible to re-
ceive any payments under section 9006, the can-
didates of a party in a Presidential election shall cer-
tify to the Commission, under penalty of perjury, 
that— 
‘‘(A) such candidates and their authorized 
committees have not and will not accept any 
contributions to defray qualified campaign ex-
penses other than— 
‘‘(i) qualified campaign contributions, 
and 
‘‘(ii) contributions to the extent nec-
essary to make up any deficiency payments 
received out of the fund on account of the 
application of section 9006(c), and 
‘‘(B) such candidates and their authorized 
committees have not and will not accept any 
contribution to defray expenses which would be 
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qualified campaign expenses but for subpara-
graph (C) of section 9002(11). 
‘‘(2) TIMING OF CERTIFICATION.—The candidate 
shall make the certification required under this sub-
section at the same time the candidate makes the cer-
tification required under subsection (a)(3).’’. 
(b) DEFINITION OF QUALIFIED CAMPAIGN CONTRIBU-
TION.—Section 9002 of such Code is amended by adding 
at the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(13) QUALIFIED
CAMPAIGN
CONTRIBUTION.— 
The term ‘qualified campaign contribution’ means, 
with respect to any election for the office of President 
of the United States, a contribution from an indi-
vidual to a candidate or an authorized committee of 
a candidate which— 
‘‘(A) does not exceed $1,000 for the election; 
and 
‘‘(B) with respect to which the candidate 
has certified in writing that— 
‘‘(i) the individual making such con-
tribution has not made aggregate contribu-
tions (including such qualified contribu-
tion) to such candidate and the authorized 
committees of such candidate in excess of 
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the amount described in subparagraph (A), 
and 
‘‘(ii) such candidate and the author-
ized committees of such candidate will not 
accept contributions from such individual 
(including such qualified contribution) ag-
gregating more than the amount described 
in subparagraph (A) with respect to such 
election.’’. 
(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) REPEAL OF EXPENDITURE LIMITS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Section 315 of the Fed-
eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 
30116) is amended by striking subsection (b). 
(B) CONFORMING
AMENDMENTS.—Section 
315(c) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30116(c)) is 
amended— 
(i) in paragraph (1)(B)(i), by striking 
‘‘, (b)’’; and 
(ii) in paragraph (2)(B)(i), by striking 
‘‘subsections (b) and (d)’’ and inserting 
‘‘subsection (d)’’. 
(2) REPEAL OF REPAYMENT REQUIREMENT.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Section 9007(b) of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 
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striking paragraph (2) and redesignating para-
graphs (3), (4), and (5) as paragraphs (2), (3), 
and (4), respectively. 
(B) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Paragraph 
(2) of section 9007(b) of such Code, as redesig-
nated by subparagraph (A), is amended— 
(i) by striking ‘‘a major party’’ and 
inserting ‘‘a party’’; 
(ii) by inserting ‘‘qualified contribu-
tions and’’ after ‘‘contributions (other 
than’’; and 
(iii) by striking ‘‘(other than qualified 
campaign expenses with respect to which 
payment is required under paragraph (2))’’. 
(3) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.— 
(A) REPEAL OF PENALTY FOR EXCESS EX-
PENSES.—Section 9012 of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 is amended by striking subsection 
(a). 
(B) PENALTY
FOR
ACCEPTANCE
OF
DIS-
ALLOWED
CONTRIBUTIONS; 
APPLICATION
OF 
SAME
PENALTY
FOR
CANDIDATES
OF
MAJOR, 
MINOR, AND
NEW
PARTIES.—Subsection (b) of 
section 9012 of such Code is amended to read as 
follows: 
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‘‘(b) CONTRIBUTIONS.— 
‘‘(1) ACCEPTANCE
OF
DISALLOWED
CONTRIBU-
TIONS.—It shall be unlawful for an eligible candidate 
of a party in a Presidential election or any of his au-
thorized committees knowingly and willfully to ac-
cept— 
‘‘(A) any contribution other than a quali-
fied campaign contribution to defray qualified 
campaign expenses, except to the extent necessary 
to make up any deficiency in payments received 
out of the fund on account of the application of 
section 9006(c); or 
‘‘(B) any contribution to defray expenses 
which would be qualified campaign expenses but 
for subparagraph (C) of section 9002(11). 
‘‘(2) PENALTY.—Any person who violates para-
graph (1) shall be fined not more than $5,000, or im-
prisoned not more than one year, or both. In the case 
of a violation by an authorized committee, any officer 
or member of such committee who knowingly and 
willfully consents to such violation shall be fined not 
more than $5,000, or imprisoned not more than one 
year, or both.’’. 
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SEC. 5213. MATCHING PAYMENTS AND OTHER MODIFICA-
TIONS TO PAYMENT AMOUNTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.— 
(1) AMOUNT
OF
PAYMENTS; APPLICATION
OF 
SAME AMOUNT FOR CANDIDATES OF MAJOR, MINOR, 
AND NEW PARTIES.—Subsection (a) of section 9004 of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read 
as follows: 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the provisions of this 
chapter, the eligible candidates of a party in a Presidential 
election shall be entitled to equal payment under section 
9006 in an amount equal to 600 percent of the amount of 
each matchable contribution received by such candidate or 
by the candidate’s authorized committees (disregarding any 
amount of contributions from any person to the extent that 
the total of the amounts contributed by such person for the 
election exceeds $200), except that total amount to which 
a candidate is entitled under this paragraph shall not ex-
ceed $250,000,000.’’. 
(2) REPEAL
OF
SEPARATE
LIMITATIONS
FOR 
CANDIDATES OF MINOR AND NEW PARTIES; INFLATION 
ADJUSTMENT.—Subsection (b) of section 9004 of such 
Code is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(b) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any applicable 
period beginning after 2029, the $250,000,000 dollar 
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amount in subsection (a) 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 
following the year which such applicable period 
begins, determined by substituting ‘calendar year 
2028’ for ‘calendar year 1992’ in subparagraph 
(B) thereof. 
‘‘(2) APPLICABLE PERIOD.—For purposes of this 
subsection, the term ‘applicable period’ means the 4- 
year period beginning with the first day following the 
date of the general election for the office of President 
and ending on the date of the next such general elec-
tion. 
‘‘(3) ROUNDING.—If any amount as adjusted 
under paragraph (1) is not a multiple of $10,000, 
such amount shall be rounded to the nearest multiple 
of $10,000.’’. 
(3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 9005(a) 
of such Code is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new sentence: ‘‘The Commission shall make 
such additional certifications as may be necessary to 
receive payments under section 9004.’’. 
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(b) MATCHABLE CONTRIBUTION.—Section 9002 of 
such Code, as amended by section 5212(b), is amended by 
adding at the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(14) MATCHABLE
CONTRIBUTION.—The term 
‘matchable contribution’ means, with respect to the 
election to the office of President of the United States, 
a contribution by an individual to a candidate or an 
authorized committee of a candidate with respect to 
which the candidate has certified in writing that— 
‘‘(A) the individual making such contribu-
tion has not made aggregate contributions (in-
cluding such matchable contribution) to such 
candidate and the authorized committees of such 
candidate in excess of $1,000 for the election; 
‘‘(B) such candidate and the authorized 
committees of such candidate will not accept con-
tributions from such individual (including such 
matchable contribution) aggregating more than 
the amount described in subparagraph (A) with 
respect to such election; and 
‘‘(C) such contribution was a direct con-
tribution (as defined in section 9034(c)(3)).’’. 
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SEC. 5214. INCREASE IN LIMIT ON COORDINATED PARTY EX-
PENDITURES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 315(d)(2) of the Federal 
Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30116(d)(2)) is 
amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(2)(A) The national committee of a political party 
may not make any expenditure in connection with the gen-
eral election campaign of any candidate for President of 
the United States who is affiliated with such party which 
exceeds $100,000,000. 
‘‘(B) For purposes of this paragraph— 
‘‘(i) any expenditure made by or on behalf of a 
national committee of a political party and in con-
nection with a Presidential election shall be consid-
ered to be made in connection with the general elec-
tion campaign of a candidate for President of the 
United States who is affiliated with such party; and 
‘‘(ii) any communication made by or on behalf 
of such party shall be considered to be made in con-
nection with the general election campaign of a can-
didate for President of the United States who is affili-
ated with such party if any portion of the commu-
nication is in connection with such election. 
‘‘(C) Any expenditure under this paragraph shall be 
in addition to any expenditure by a national committee 
of a political party serving as the principal campaign com-
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mittee of a candidate for the office of President of the 
United States.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS RELATING TO TIMING 
OF COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 315(c)(1) of such Act 
(52 U.S.C. 30116(c)(1)) is amended— 
(A) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘(d)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘(d)(2)’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following new 
subparagraph: 
‘‘(D) In any calendar year after 2028— 
‘‘(i) the dollar amount in subsection (d)(2) shall 
be increased by the percent difference determined 
under subparagraph (A); 
‘‘(ii) the amount so increased shall remain in ef-
fect for the calendar year; and 
‘‘(iii) if the amount after adjustment under 
clause (i) is not a multiple of $100, such amount 
shall be rounded to the nearest multiple of $100.’’. 
(2) BASE YEAR.—Section 315(c)(2)(B) of such 
Act (52 U.S.C. 30116(c)(2)(B)) is amended— 
(A) in clause (i)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘(d)’’ and inserting 
‘‘(d)(3)’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 
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380 
(B) in clause (ii), by striking the period at 
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following new 
clause: 
‘‘(iii) for purposes of subsection (d)(2), cal-
endar year 2027.’’. 
SEC. 5215. ESTABLISHMENT OF UNIFORM DATE FOR RE-
LEASE OF PAYMENTS. 
(a) DATE FOR PAYMENTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 9006(b) of the Inter-
nal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(b) PAYMENTS FROM THE FUND.—If the Secretary 
of the Treasury receives a certification from the Commission 
under section 9005 for payment to the eligible candidates 
of a political party, the Secretary shall pay to such can-
didates out of the fund the amount certified by the Commis-
sion on the later of— 
‘‘(1) the last Friday occurring before the first 
Monday in September; or 
‘‘(2) 24 hours after receiving the certifications 
for the eligible candidates of all major political par-
ties. 
Amounts paid to any such candidates shall be under the 
control of such candidates.’’. 
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381 
(2) CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—The first sen-
tence of section 9006(c) of such Code is amended by 
striking ‘‘the time of a certification by the Commis-
sion under section 9005 for payment’’ and inserting 
‘‘the time of making a payment under subsection (b)’’. 
(b) TIME FOR CERTIFICATION.—Section 9005(a) of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘10 
days’’ and inserting ‘‘24 hours’’. 
SEC. 5216. AMOUNTS IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAM-
PAIGN FUND. 
Section 9006(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
is amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: 
‘‘In making a determination of whether there are insuffi-
cient moneys in the fund for purposes of the previous sen-
tence, the Secretary shall take into account in determining 
the balance of the fund for a Presidential election year the 
Secretary’s best estimate of the amount of moneys which 
will be deposited into the fund during the year, except that 
the amount of the estimate may not exceed the average of 
the annual amounts deposited in the fund during the pre-
vious 3 years.’’. 
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382 
SEC. 5217. USE OF GENERAL ELECTION PAYMENTS FOR 
GENERAL ELECTION LEGAL AND ACCOUNT-
ING COMPLIANCE. 
Section 9002(11) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
is amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: 
‘‘For purposes of subparagraph (A), an expense incurred 
by a candidate or authorized committee for general election 
legal and accounting compliance purposes shall be consid-
ered to be an expense to further the election of such can-
didate.’’. 
SEC. 5218. USE OF FREEDOM FROM INFLUENCE FUND AS 
SOURCE OF PAYMENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 95 of subtitle H of the In-
ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the 
end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 9013. USE OF FREEDOM FROM INFLUENCE FUND AS 
SOURCE OF PAYMENTS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of this chapter, effective with respect to the Presidential 
election held in 2028 and each succeeding Presidential elec-
tion, all payments made under this chapter shall be made 
from the Freedom From Influence Fund established under 
section 541 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. 
‘‘(b) MANDATORY REDUCTION OF PAYMENTS IN CASE 
OF INSUFFICIENT AMOUNTS IN FUND.— 
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383 
‘‘(1) ADVANCE
AUDITS
BY
COMMISSION.—Not 
later than 90 days before the first day of each Presi-
dential election cycle (beginning with the cycle for the 
election held in 2028), the Commission shall— 
‘‘(A) audit the Fund to determine whether, 
after first making payments to participating 
candidates under title V of the Federal Election 
Campaign Act of 1971 and then making pay-
ments to States under the My Voice Voucher Pro-
gram under the Government By the People Act 
of 2019 and then making payments to can-
didates under chapter 96, the amounts remain-
ing in the Fund will be sufficient to make pay-
ments to candidates under this chapter in the 
amounts provided under this chapter during 
such election cycle; and 
‘‘(B) submit a report to Congress describing 
the results of the audit. 
‘‘(2) REDUCTIONS IN AMOUNT OF PAYMENTS.— 
‘‘(A) AUTOMATIC REDUCTION ON PRO RATA 
BASIS.—If, on the basis of the audit described in 
paragraph (1), the Commission determines that 
the amount anticipated to be available in the 
Fund with respect to the Presidential election 
cycle involved is not, or may not be, sufficient to 
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384 
satisfy the full entitlements of candidates to pay-
ments under this chapter for such cycle, the 
Commission shall reduce each amount which 
would otherwise be paid to a candidate under 
this chapter by such pro rata amount as may be 
necessary to ensure that the aggregate amount of 
payments anticipated to be made with respect to 
the cycle will not exceed the amount anticipated 
to be available for such payments in the Fund 
with respect to such cycle. 
‘‘(B) RESTORATION
OF
REDUCTIONS
IN 
CASE
OF
AVAILABILITY
OF
SUFFICIENT
FUNDS 
DURING ELECTION CYCLE.—If, after reducing the 
amounts paid to candidates with respect to an 
election cycle under subparagraph (A), the Com-
mission determines that there are sufficient 
amounts in the Fund to restore the amount by 
which such payments were reduced (or any por-
tion thereof), to the extent that such amounts are 
available, the Commission may make a payment 
on a pro rata basis to each such candidate with 
respect to the election cycle in the amount by 
which such candidate’s payments were reduced 
under subparagraph (A) (or any portion thereof, 
as the case may be). 
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385 
‘‘(C) NO USE OF AMOUNTS FROM OTHER 
SOURCES.—In any case in which the Commis-
sion determines that there are insufficient mon-
eys in the Fund to make payments to candidates 
under this chapter, moneys shall not be made 
available from any other source for the purpose 
of making such payments. 
‘‘(3) NO
EFFECT
ON
AMOUNTS
TRANSFERRED 
FOR PEDIATRIC RESEARCH INITIATIVE.—This section 
does not apply to the transfer of funds under section 
9008(i). 
‘‘(4) 
PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTION
CYCLE
DE-
FINED.—In this section, the term ‘Presidential elec-
tion cycle’ means, with respect to a Presidential elec-
tion, the period beginning on the day after the date 
of the previous Presidential general election and end-
ing on the date of the Presidential election.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections for 
chapter 95 of subtitle H of such Code is amended by adding 
at the end the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 9013. Use of Freedom From Influence Fund as source of payments.’’. 
PART 3—EFFECTIVE DATE 
SEC. 5221. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided, this 
subtitle and the amendments made by this subtitle shall 
apply with respect to the Presidential election held in 2028 
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386 
and each succeeding Presidential election, without regard 
to whether or not the Federal Election Commission has pro-
mulgated the final regulations necessary to carry out this 
part and the amendments made by this part by the deadline 
set forth in subsection (b). 
(b) DEADLINE FOR REGULATIONS.—Not later than 
June 30, 2026, the Federal Election Commission shall pro-
mulgate such regulations as may be necessary to carry out 
this part and the amendments made by this part. 
Subtitle D—Personal Use Services 
as Authorized Campaign Ex-
penditures 
SEC. 5301. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This subtitle may be cited as the 
‘‘Help America Run Act’’. 
(b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) Everyday Americans experience barriers to 
entry before they can consider running for office to 
serve their communities. 
(2) Current law states that campaign funds can-
not be spent on everyday expenses that would exist 
whether or not a candidate were running for office, 
like childcare and food. While the law seems neutral, 
its actual effect is to privilege the independently 
wealthy who want to run, because given the demands 
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of running for office, candidates who must work to 
pay for childcare or to afford health insurance are ef-
fectively being left out of the process, even if they have 
sufficient support to mount a viable campaign. 
(3) Thus current practice favors those prospective 
candidates who do not need to rely on a regular pay-
check to make ends meet. The consequence is that ev-
eryday Americans who have firsthand knowledge of 
the importance of stable childcare, a safety net, or 
great public schools are less likely to get a seat at the 
table. This governance by the few is antithetical to the 
democratic experiment, but most importantly, when 
lawmakers do not share the concerns of everyday 
Americans, their policies reflect that. 
(4) These circumstances have contributed to a 
Congress that does not always reflect everyday Ameri-
cans. The New York Times reported in 2019 that 
fewer than 5 percent of representatives cite blue-collar 
or service jobs in their biographies. A 2015 survey by 
the Center for Responsive Politics showed that the me-
dian net worth of lawmakers was just over $1 million 
in 2013, or 18 times the wealth of the typical Amer-
ican household. 
(5) These circumstances have also contributed to 
a governing body that does not reflect the nation it 
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serves. For instance, women are 51% of the American 
population. Yet even with a record number of women 
serving in the One Hundred Sixteenth Congress, the 
Pew Research Center notes that more than three out 
of four Members of this Congress are male. The Center 
for American Women And Politics found that one 
third of women legislators surveyed had been actively 
discouraged from running for office, often by political 
professionals. This type of discouragement, combined 
with the prohibitions on using campaign funds for 
domestic needs like childcare, burdens that still fall 
disproportionately on American women, particularly 
disadvantages working mothers. These barriers may 
explain why only 10 women in history have given 
birth while serving in Congress, in spite of the preva-
lence of working parents in other professions. Yet 
working mothers and fathers are best positioned to 
create policy that reflects the lived experience of most 
Americans. 
(c) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this subtitle to en-
sure that all Americans who are otherwise qualified to serve 
this Nation are able to run for office, regardless of their 
economic status. By expanding permissible uses of cam-
paign funds and providing modest assurance that testing 
a run for office will not cost one’s livelihood, the Help Amer-
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ica Run Act will facilitate the candidacy of representatives 
who more accurately reflect the experiences, challenges, and 
ideals of everyday Americans. 
SEC. 5302. TREATMENT OF PAYMENTS FOR CHILD CARE 
AND OTHER PERSONAL USE SERVICES AS AU-
THORIZED CAMPAIGN EXPENDITURE. 
(a) PERSONAL USE SERVICES AS AUTHORIZED CAM-
PAIGN EXPENDITURES.—Section 313 of the Federal Elec-
tion Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30114), as amended 
by section 5113, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
‘‘(e) TREATMENT OF PAYMENTS FOR CHILD CARE AND 
OTHER PERSONAL USE SERVICES AS AUTHORIZED CAM-
PAIGN EXPENDITURE.— 
‘‘(1) AUTHORIZED
EXPENDITURES.—For pur-
poses of subsection (a), the payment by an authorized 
committee of a candidate for any of the personal use 
services described in paragraph (3) shall be treated as 
an authorized expenditure if the services are necessary 
to enable the participation of the candidate in cam-
paign-connected activities. 
‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.— 
‘‘(A) LIMIT
ON
TOTAL
AMOUNT
OF
PAY-
MENTS.—The total amount of payments made by 
an authorized committee of a candidate for per-
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sonal use services described in paragraph (3) 
may not exceed the limit which is applicable 
under any law, rule, or regulation on the 
amount of payments which may be made by the 
committee for the salary of the candidate (with-
out regard to whether or not the committee 
makes payments to the candidate for that pur-
pose). 
‘‘(B) 
CORRESPONDING
REDUCTION
IN 
AMOUNT OF SALARY PAID TO CANDIDATE.—To 
the extent that an authorized committee of a can-
didate makes payments for the salary of the can-
didate, any limit on the amount of such pay-
ments which is applicable under any law, rule, 
or regulation shall be reduced by the amount of 
any payments made to or on behalf of the can-
didate for personal use services described in 
paragraph (3), other than personal use services 
described in subparagraph (E) of such para-
graph. 
‘‘(C) EXCLUSION OF CANDIDATES WHO ARE 
OFFICEHOLDERS.—Paragraph (1) does not apply 
with respect to an authorized committee of a 
candidate who is a holder of Federal office. 
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‘‘(3) PERSONAL USE SERVICES DESCRIBED.—The 
personal use services described in this paragraph are 
as follows: 
‘‘(A) Child care services. 
‘‘(B) Elder care services. 
‘‘(C) Services similar to the services de-
scribed in subparagraph (A) or subparagraph 
(B) which are provided on behalf of any depend-
ent who is a qualifying relative under section 
152 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 
‘‘(D) Dues, fees, and other expenses required 
to maintain an license or similar requirement 
related to an individual’s profession. 
‘‘(E) Costs associated with health insurance 
coverage.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this 
section shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this 
Act. 
Subtitle E—Severability 
SEC. 5401. SEVERABILITY. 
If any provision of this title or amendment made by 
this title, or the application of a provision or amendment 
to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitu-
tional, the remainder of this title and amendments made 
by this title, and the application of the provisions and 
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(A) by amending the first sentence of para-
graph (1) to read as follows: ‘‘The Commission 
shall have a staff director who shall be appointed 
by the Chair of the Commission in consultation 
with the other members and a general counsel 
who shall be appointed by the Chair with the 
concurrence of at least two other members.’’; 
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘With the 
approval of the Commission’’ and inserting 
‘‘With the approval of the Chair of the Commis-
sion’’; and 
(C) by striking paragraph (3). 
(3) CONFORMING
AMENDMENT
RELATING
TO 
BUDGET SUBMISSION.—Section 307(d)(1) of such Act 
(52 U.S.C. 30107(d)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘the 
Commission submits any budget’’ and inserting ‘‘the 
Chair (or, pursuant to subsection (a)(3), the Commis-
sion) submits any budget’’. 
(4) OTHER CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 
306(c) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30106(c)) is amended 
by striking ‘‘All decisions’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to 
section 307(a), all decisions’’. 
(5) TECHNICAL
AMENDMENT.—The heading of 
section 307 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30107) is amended 
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