TITLE 
II—SMALL 
DOLLAR 
FI-
NANCING 
OF 
CONGRES-
SIONAL 
ELECTION 
CAM-
PAIGNS 
SEC. 201. BENEFITS AND ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR 
CANDIDATES. 
The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 
U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘TITLE V—SMALL DOLLAR FI-
NANCING 
OF 
CONGRES-
SIONAL 
ELECTION 
CAM-
PAIGNS 
‘‘Subtitle A—Benefits 
‘‘SEC. 501. BENEFITS FOR PARTICIPATING CANDIDATES. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—If a candidate for election to the 
office of Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Com-
missioner to, the Congress is certified as a participating 
candidate under this title with respect to an election for 
such office, the candidate shall be entitled to payments 
as provided under this title. 
‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The amount of a payment 
made under this title shall be equal to 600 percent 
of the amount of qualified small dollar contributions 
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received by the candidate since the most recent pay-
ment made to the candidate under this title during 
the election cycle, without regard to whether or not 
the candidate received any of the contributions be-
fore, during, or after the Small Dollar Democracy 
qualifying period applicable to the candidate under 
section 511(c). 
‘‘(2) INCREASE IN PAYMENT FOR CANDIDATES 
ACCEPTING GREATER RESTRICTIONS.—In the case of 
a candidate who exercises the option described in 
section 521(a)(2) to accept greater restrictions on 
the permissible sources of contributions and expendi-
tures, the amount of the payment under this sub-
section shall be the amount otherwise determined 
under paragraph (1) increased by 50 percent. 
‘‘(c) LIMIT
ON
AGGREGATE
AMOUNT
OF
PAY-
MENTS.—The aggregate amount of payments made to a 
participating candidate with respect to an election cycle 
under this title may not exceed 50% (or, in the case of 
a candidate who exercises the option described in section 
521(a)(2) to accept greater restrictions on the permissible 
sources of contributions and expenditures, 100 percent) 
of the average of the 20 greatest amounts of disburse-
ments made by the authorized committees of any winning 
candidate for the office of Representative in, or Delegate 
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or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress during the 
most recent election cycle, rounded to the nearest 
$100,000. 
‘‘SEC. 502. PROCEDURES FOR MAKING PAYMENTS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall make a 
payment under section 501 to a candidate who is certified 
as a participating candidate upon receipt from the can-
didate of a request for a payment which includes— 
‘‘(1) a statement of the number and amount of 
qualified small dollar contributions received by the 
candidate since the most recent payment made to 
the candidate under this title during the election 
cycle; 
‘‘(2) a statement of the amount of the payment 
the candidate anticipates receiving with respect to 
the request; 
‘‘(3) a statement of the total amount of pay-
ments the candidate has received under this title as 
of the date of the statement; and 
‘‘(4) such other information and assurances as 
the Commission may require. 
‘‘(b) RESTRICTIONS
ON
SUBMISSION
OF
RE-
QUESTS.—A candidate may not submit a request under 
subsection (a) unless each of the following applies: 
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‘‘(1) The amount of the qualified small dollar 
contributions in the statement referred to in sub-
section (a)(1) is equal to or greater than $5,000, un-
less the request is submitted during the 30-day pe-
riod which ends on the date of a general election. 
‘‘(2) Of the total number of individuals who 
have made qualified small dollar contributions to the 
candidate as of the date of the request (including in-
dividuals whose contributions were included in a pre-
vious request under subsection (a) and individuals 
who made such contributions during the Small Dol-
lar Democracy qualifying period described in section 
511(c)), at least 50 percent are residents of the 
State in which the candidate seeks election. 
‘‘(3) The candidate did not receive a payment 
under this title during the 7-day period which ends 
on the date the candidate submits the request. 
‘‘(c) TIME OF PAYMENT.—The Commission shall en-
sure that payments under this section are made from the 
Treasury not later than 2 business days after the receipt 
of a request submitted under subsection (a). 
‘‘SEC. 503. USE OF FUNDS. 
‘‘A candidate shall use payments made under this 
title, including payments provided with respect to a pre-
vious election cycle which are withheld from remittance to 
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the Commission in accordance with section 524(a)(2), only 
for making direct payments for the receipt of goods and 
services (including legal fees related to the election or a 
legal challenge to the results of the election) which con-
stitute authorized expenditures (as determined in accord-
ance with title III) in connection with the election cycle 
involved. 
‘‘SEC. 504. QUALIFIED SMALL DOLLAR CONTRIBUTIONS DE-
SCRIBED. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In this title, the term ‘qualified 
small dollar contribution’ means, with respect to a can-
didate and the authorized committees of a candidate, a 
contribution that meets the following requirements: 
‘‘(1) The contribution is in an amount that is— 
‘‘(A) not less than $1; and 
‘‘(B) not more than $150. 
‘‘(2) The contribution is made by an individual, 
either directly or through an intermediary or conduit 
(as described in section 315(a)(8)), who is not other-
wise prohibited from making a contribution under 
this Act. 
‘‘(3) The individual who makes the contribution 
does not make contributions to the candidate or the 
authorized committees of the candidate with respect 
to the election involved in an aggregate amount that 
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exceeds the amount described in paragraph (1)(B), 
or any contribution to the candidate or the author-
ized committees of the candidate with respect to the 
election involved that otherwise is not a qualified 
small dollar contribution. 
‘‘(b) TREATMENT OF MY VOICE TAX CREDITS AND 
MY VOICE VOUCHERS.—Any payment received by a can-
didate and the authorized committees of a candidate which 
is treated as a qualified My Voice Federal congressional 
House campaign contribution under section 36C of the In-
ternal Revenue Code of 1986 or which consists of a My 
Voice Voucher under subtitle B of title I of the Govern-
ment By the People Act of 2014 shall be considered a 
qualified small dollar contribution for purposes of this 
title, so long as the individual making the payment meets 
the requirements of paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection 
(a). 
‘‘(c) RESTRICTION
ON
SUBSEQUENT
CONTRIBU-
TIONS.— 
‘‘(1) PROHIBITING DONOR FROM MAKING SUB-
SEQUENT NON-QUALIFIED CONTRIBUTIONS DURING 
ELECTION CYCLE.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—An individual who 
makes a qualified small dollar contribution to a 
candidate or the authorized committees of a 
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candidate with respect to an election may not 
make any subsequent contribution to such can-
didate or the authorized committees of such 
candidate with respect to the election cycle 
which is not a qualified small dollar contribu-
tion. 
‘‘(B) EXCEPTION FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO 
CANDIDATES
WHO
VOLUNTARILY
WITHDRAW 
FROM PARTICIPATION DURING QUALIFYING PE-
RIOD.—Subparagraph (A) does not apply with 
respect to a contribution made to a candidate 
who, during the Small Dollar Democracy quali-
fying period described in section 511(c), sub-
mits a statement to the Commission under sec-
tion 513(c) to voluntarily withdraw from par-
ticipating in the program under this title. 
‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF SUBSEQUENT NON-QUALI-
FIED CONTRIBUTIONS.—If, notwithstanding the pro-
hibition described in paragraph (1), an individual 
who makes a qualified small dollar contribution to a 
candidate or the authorized committees of a can-
didate with respect to an election makes a subse-
quent contribution to such candidate or the author-
ized committees of such candidate with respect to 
the election which is prohibited under paragraph (1) 
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because it is not a qualified small dollar contribu-
tion, the candidate may take one of the following ac-
tions: 
‘‘(A) Not later than 2 weeks after receiving 
the contribution, the candidate may return the 
subsequent contribution to the individual. 
‘‘(B) Unless the candidate has exercised 
the option described in section 521(a)(2) to ac-
cept greater restrictions on the permissible 
sources of contributions and expenditures, the 
candidate may retain the subsequent contribu-
tion, so long as not later than 2 weeks after re-
ceiving the subsequent contribution, the can-
didate remits to the Commission for deposit in 
the Freedom From Influence Fund under sec-
tion 541 an amount equal to any payments re-
ceived by the candidate under this title which 
are attributable to the qualified small dollar 
contribution made by the individual involved. 
‘‘(3) NO EFFECT ON ABILITY TO MAKE MUL-
TIPLE
CONTRIBUTIONS.—Nothing in this section 
may be construed to prohibit an individual from 
making multiple qualified small dollar contributions 
to any candidate or any number of candidates, so 
long as each contribution meets each of the require-
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ments of paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subsection 
(a). 
‘‘(d) NOTIFICATION
REQUIREMENTS
FOR
CAN-
DIDATES.— 
‘‘(1) NOTIFICATION.—Each authorized com-
mittee of a candidate who seeks to be a participating 
candidate under this title shall provide the following 
information in any materials for the solicitation of 
contributions, including any Internet site through 
which individuals may make contributions to the 
committee: 
‘‘(A) A statement that if the candidate is 
certified as a participating candidate under this 
title, the candidate will receive matching pay-
ments in an amount which is based on the total 
amount of qualified small dollar contributions 
received. 
‘‘(B) A statement that a contribution 
which meets the requirements set forth in sub-
section (a) shall be treated as a qualified small 
dollar contribution under this title unless the 
contributor notifies the committee not later 
than 48 hours after making the contribution 
that the contribution is not to be so treated. 
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‘‘(C) A statement that if a contribution is 
treated as qualified small dollar contribution 
under this title, the individual who makes the 
contribution may not make any contribution to 
the candidate or the authorized committees of 
the candidate during the election cycle which is 
not a qualified small dollar contribution. 
‘‘(2) ALTERNATIVE METHODS OF MEETING RE-
QUIREMENTS.—An authorized committee may meet 
the requirements of paragraph (1)— 
‘‘(A) by including the information de-
scribed in paragraph (1) in the receipt provided 
under section 512(b)(3) to a person making a 
qualified small dollar contribution; or 
‘‘(B) by modifying the information it pro-
vides to persons making contributions which is 
otherwise required under title III (including in-
formation it provides through the Internet). 
‘‘Subtitle B—Eligibility and 
Certification 
‘‘SEC. 511. ELIGIBILITY. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A candidate for the office of 
Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner 
to, the Congress is eligible to be certified as a participating 
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candidate under this title with respect to an election if 
the candidate meets the following requirements: 
‘‘(1) The candidate files with the Commission a 
statement of intent to seek certification as a partici-
pating candidate, and specifies in the statement 
whether the candidate intends to exercise the option 
described in section 521(a)(2) to accept greater re-
strictions on the permissible sources of contributions 
and expenditures. 
‘‘(2) The candidate meets the qualifying re-
quirements of section 512. 
‘‘(3) The candidate files with the Commission a 
statement certifying that the authorized committees 
of the candidate meet the requirements of section 
504(d). 
‘‘(4) Not later than the last day of the Small 
Dollar Democracy qualifying period, the candidate 
files with the Commission an affidavit signed by the 
candidate and the treasurer of the candidate’s prin-
cipal campaign committee declaring that the can-
didate— 
‘‘(A) has complied and, if certified, will 
comply with the contribution and expenditure 
requirements of section 521; 
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‘‘(B) if certified, will run only as a partici-
pating candidate for all elections for the office 
that such candidate is seeking during that elec-
tion cycle; and 
‘‘(C) has either qualified or will take steps 
to qualify under State law to be on the ballot. 
‘‘(b) GENERAL ELECTION.—Notwithstanding sub-
section (a), a candidate shall not be eligible to be certified 
as a participating candidate under this title for a general 
election or a general runoff election unless the candidate’s 
party nominated the candidate to be placed on the ballot 
for the general election or the candidate is otherwise quali-
fied to be on the ballot under State law. 
‘‘(c) SMALL DOLLAR DEMOCRACY QUALIFYING PE-
RIOD DEFINED.—The term ‘Small Dollar Democracy 
qualifying period’ means, with respect to any candidate 
for an office, the 180-day period (during the election cycle 
for such office) which begins on the date on which the 
candidate files a statement of intent under section 
511(a)(1), except that such period may not continue after 
the date that is 30 days before the date of the general 
election for the office. 
‘‘SEC. 512. QUALIFYING REQUIREMENTS. 
‘‘(a) RECEIPT OF QUALIFIED SMALL DOLLAR CON-
TRIBUTIONS FROM IN-STATE RESIDENTS.—A candidate 
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