‘‘(B) ending on the date during such year
on which regularly scheduled general elections
for Federal office occur.
In the case of a special election, the Federal election
period shall include at least the 60-day period end-
ing on the date of the election.
‘‘(c) SOLICITATION OF COMMITTEES.—(1) A national
committee of a political party may not solicit or accept
contributions not subject to the limitations, prohibitions,
and reporting requirements of this Act.
‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to contributions
that—
‘‘(A) are to be transferred to a State committee
of a political party for use directly for activities de-
scribed in subsection (b)(3); or
‘‘(B) are to be used by the committee primarily
to support such activities.
‘‘(d) AMOUNTS RECEIVED FROM STATE AND LOCAL
CANDIDATE COMMITTEES.—(1) For purposes of sub-
section (a), any amount received by a national, State, dis-
trict, or local committee of a political party (including any
subordinate committee) from a State or local candidate
committee shall be treated as meeting the requirements
of subsection (a) and section 304(d) if—
‘‘(A) such amount is derived from funds which
meet the requirements of this Act with respect to
any limitation or prohibition as to source or dollar
amount, and
‘‘(B) the State or local candidate committee—
‘‘(i) maintains, in the account from which
payment is made, records of the sources and
amounts of funds for purposes of determining
whether such requirements are met, and
‘‘(ii) certifies to the other committee that
such requirements were met.
‘‘(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), any committee
receiving any contribution described in paragraph (1) from
a State or local candidate committee shall be required to
meet the reporting requirements of this Act with respect
to receipt of the contribution from such candidate commit-
tee.
‘‘(3) For purposes of this subsection, a State or local
candidate committee is a committee established, financed,
maintained, or controlled by a candidate for other than
Federal office.’’.
(2) Section 315(d) of the Federal Election Campaign
Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(d)), as amended by subsection
(a), is amended by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
‘‘(5)(A) The national committee of a political
party, the congressional campaign committees of a
political party, and a State or local committee of a
political party, including a subordinate committee of
any of the preceding committees, shall not make ex-
penditures during any calendar year for activities
described in section 324(b)(2) with respect to such
State which, in the aggregate, exceed an amount
equal to 30 cents multiplied by the voting age popu-
lation of the State (as certified under subsection
(e)).
‘‘(B) Expenditures authorized under this para-
graph shall be in addition to other expenditures al-
lowed under this subsection, except that this para-
graph shall not authorize a committee to make ex-
penditures to which paragraph (3) or (4) applies in
excess of the limit applicable to such expenditures
under paragraph (3) or (4).
‘‘(C) No adjustment to the limitation under this
paragraph shall be made under subsection (c) before
1998 and the base period for purposes of any such
adjustment shall be 1996.
‘‘(D) For purposes of this paragraph—
‘‘(i) a local committee of a political party
shall only include a committee that is a political
committee (as defined in section 301(4)); and
‘‘(ii) a State committee shall not be re-
quired to record or report under this Act the
expenditures of any other committee which are
made independently from the State commit-
tee.’’.
(3) Section 301(4) of the Federal Election Campaign
Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(4)) is amended by adding at
the end the following new sentence: ‘‘For purposes of sub-
paragraph (C), any payments for get-out-the-vote activi-
ties on behalf of candidates for office other than Federal
office shall be treated as payments exempted from the def-
inition of expenditure under paragraph (9).’’.
(d) GENERIC ACTIVITIES.—Section 301 of the Fed-
eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431), as
amended by section 402, is further amended by adding
at the end the following new paragraph:
‘‘(25) The term ‘generic campaign activity’
means a campaign activity the preponderant purpose
or effect of which is to promote a political party
rather than any particular Federal or non-Federal
candidate.’’.
SEC. 203. RESTRICTIONS ON FUNDRAISING BY CANDIDATES
AND OFFICEHOLDERS.
(a) STATE FUNDRAISING ACTIVITIES.—Section 315
of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C.
441a), as amended by section 101, is further amended by
adding at the end the following new subsection:
‘‘(j) LIMITATIONS ON FUNDRAISING ACTIVITIES OF
FEDERAL CANDIDATES AND OFFICEHOLDERS AND CER-
TAIN POLITICAL COMMITTEES.—(1) For purposes of this
Act, a candidate for Federal office (or an individual hold-
ing Federal office) may not solicit funds to, or receive
funds on behalf of, any Federal or non-Federal candidate
or political committee—
‘‘(A) which are to be expended in connection
with any election for Federal office unless such
funds are subject to the limitations, prohibitions,
and requirements of this Act; or
‘‘(B) which are to be expended in connection
with any election for other than Federal office unless
such funds are not in excess of amounts permitted
with respect to Federal candidates and political com-
mittees under this Act, and are not from sources
prohibited by this Act with respect to elections to
Federal office.
‘‘(2)(A) The aggregate amount which a person de-
scribed in subparagraph (B) may solicit from a multican-
didate political committee for State committees described
in subsection (a)(1)(C) (including subordinate commit-
tees) for any calendar year shall not exceed the dollar
amount in effect under subsection (a)(2)(B) for the cal-
endar year.
‘‘(B) A person is described in this subparagraph if
such person is a candidate for Federal office, an individual
holding Federal office, or any national, State, district, or
local committee of a political party (including subordinate
committees).
‘‘(3) The appearance or participation by a candidate
or individual in any activity (including fundraising) con-
ducted by a committee of a political party or a candidate
for other than Federal office shall not be treated as a so-
licitation for purposes of paragraph (1) if—
‘‘(A) such appearance or participation is other-
wise permitted by law; and
‘‘(B) such candidate or individual does not so-
licit or receive, or make expenditures from, any
funds resulting from such activity.
‘‘(4) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to the solicitation
or receipt of funds, or disbursements, by an individual who
is a candidate for other than Federal office if such activity
is permitted under State law.
‘‘(5) For purposes of this subsection, an individual
shall be treated as holding Federal office if such individual
is described in section 101(f) of the Ethics in Government
Act of 1978.’’.
(b) TAX-EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS.—Section 315 of
the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C.
441a), as amended by section 101 and subsection (a) of
this section, is further amended by adding at the end the
following new subsection:
‘‘(k) TAX-EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS.—(1) If during
any period an individual is a candidate for, or holds, Fed-
eral office, such individual may not during such period so-
licit contributions to, or on behalf of, any organization
which is described in section 501(c) of the Internal Reve-
nue Code of 1986 if a significant portion of the activities
of such organization include voter registration or get-out-
the-vote campaigns.
‘‘(2) For purposes of this subsection, an individual
shall be treated as holding Federal office if such individual
is described in section 101(f) of the Ethics in Government
Act of 1978.’’.
SEC. 204. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.
(a) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Section 304 of the
Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434)
is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new
subsection:
‘‘(d) POLITICAL COMMITTEES.—(1) The national
committee of a political party and any congressional cam-
paign committee, and any subordinate committee of ei-
ther, shall report all receipts and disbursements during
the reporting period, whether or not in connection with
an election for Federal office.
‘‘(2) A political committee (not described in para-
graph (1)) to which section 324 applies shall report all
receipts and disbursements in connection with a Federal
election (as determined under section 324).
‘‘(3) Any political committee to which section 324 ap-
plies shall include in its report under paragraph (1) or
(2) the amount of any transfer described in section 324(c)
and the reason for the transfer.
‘‘(4) Any political committee to which paragraph (1)
or (2) does not apply shall report any receipts or disburse-
ments which are used in connection with a Federal elec-
tion.
‘‘(5) If any receipt or disbursement to which this sub-
section applies exceeds $200, the political committee shall
include identification of the person from whom, or to
whom, such receipt or disbursement was made.
‘‘(6) Reports required to be filed by this subsection
shall be filed for the same time periods required for politi-
cal committees under subsection (a).’’.
(b) REPORT OF EXEMPT CONTRIBUTIONS.—Section
301(8) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2
U.S.C. 431(8)) is amended by inserting at the end the
following:
‘‘(C) The exclusions provided in clauses (v) and (viii)
of subparagraph (B) shall not apply for purposes of any
requirement to report contributions under this Act, and
all such contributions in excess of $200 shall be
reported.’’.
(c) REPORTING OF EXEMPT EXPENDITURES.—Sec-
tion 301(9) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971
(2 U.S.C. 431(9)) is amended by inserting at the end the
following:
‘‘(C) The exclusions provided in clause (iv) of sub-
paragraph (B) shall not apply for purposes of any require-
ment to report expenditures under this Act, and all such
expenditures in excess of $200 shall be reported.’’.
(d) CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES OF POLITI-
CAL COMMITTEES.—Section 301(4) of the Federal Elec-
tion Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(4)) is amended
by adding at the end the following: ‘‘For purposes of this
paragraph, the receipt of contributions or the making of,
or obligating to make, expenditures shall be determined
by the Commission on the basis of facts and cir-
cumstances, in whatever combination, demonstrating a
purpose of influencing any election for Federal office, in-
cluding, but not limited to, the representations made by
any person soliciting funds about their intended uses; the
identification by name of individuals who are candidates
for Federal office or of any political party, in general pub-
lic political advertising; and the proximity to any primary,
runoff, or general election of general public political adver-
tising designed or reasonably calculated to influence voter
choice in that election.’’.
(e) REPORTS BY STATE COMMITTEES.—Section 304
of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C.
434), as amended by subsection (a), is amended by adding
at the end the following new subsection:
‘‘(e) FILING OF STATE REPORTS.—In lieu of any re-
port required to be filed by this Act, the Commission may
allow a State committee of a political party to file with
the Commission a report required to be filed under State
law if the Commission determines such reports contain
substantially the same information.’’.
TITLE III—INDEPENDENT
EXPENDITURES
SEC. 301. CLARIFICATION OF DEFINITIONS RELATING TO
INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES.
(a) 
INDEPENDENT
EXPENDITURE
DEFINITION
AMENDMENT.—Section 301 of the Federal Election Cam-
paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431) is amended by striking
paragraphs (17) and (18) and inserting the following:
‘‘(17)(A) The term ‘independent expenditure’ means
an expenditure for an advertisement or other communica-
tion that—
‘‘(i) contains express advocacy; and
‘‘(ii) is made without the participation or co-
operation of a candidate or a candidate’s representa-
tive.
‘‘(B) The following shall not be considered an inde-
pendent expenditure:
‘‘(i) An expenditure made by a political commit-
tee of a political party.
‘‘(ii) An expenditure made by a person who,
during the election cycle, has communicated with or
received information from a candidate or a rep-
resentative of that candidate regarding activities
that have the purpose of influencing that candidate’s
election to Federal office, where the expenditure is