I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 513
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to clarify when 
organizations described in section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code 
of 1986 must register as political committees, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 2, 2005
Mr. SHAYS (for himself and Mr. MEEHAN) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on House Administration 
A BILL 
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to 
clarify when organizations described in section 527 of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 must register as 
political committees, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘527 Reform Act of 
2005’’. 
SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF SECTION 527 ORGANIZATIONS. 
(a) DEFINITION OF POLITICAL COMMITTEE.—Sec-
tion 301(4) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971
(2 U.S.C. 431(4)) is amended by striking the period at 
the end of subparagraph (C) and inserting ‘‘; or’’ and by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(D) any applicable 527 organization.’’. 
(b) DEFINITION
OF APPLICABLE 527 ORGANIZA-
TION.—Section 301 of the Federal Election Campaign Act 
of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(27) APPLICABLE
527
ORGANIZATION.—For 
purposes of paragraph (4)(D)—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘applicable 
527 organization’ means a committee, club, as-
sociation, or group of persons that—
‘‘(i) is an organization described in 
section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code 
of 1986, and 
‘‘(ii) is not described in subparagraph 
(B). 
‘‘(B) EXCEPTED
ORGANIZATIONS.—Sub-
ject to subparagraph (D), a committee, club, 
association, or other group of persons described 
in this subparagraph is—
‘‘(i) an organization described in sec-
tion 527(i)(5) of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986,
‘‘(ii) an organization which is a com-
mittee, club, association or other group of 
persons that is organized, operated, and 
makes disbursements exclusively for paying 
expenses described in the last sentence of 
section 527(e)(2) of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 or expenses of a newsletter 
fund described in section 527(g) of such 
Code, or 
‘‘(iii) an organization which is a com-
mittee, club, association, or other group of 
persons whose election or nomination ac-
tivities relate exclusively to—
‘‘(I) elections where no candidate 
for Federal office appears on the bal-
lot, or 
‘‘(II) one or more of the purposes 
described in subparagraph (C). 
‘‘(C) ALLOWABLE
PURPOSES.—The pur-
poses described in this subparagraph are the 
following: 
‘‘(i) Influencing the selection, nomina-
tion, election, or appointment of one or 
more candidates to non-Federal offices.
‘‘(ii) Influencing one or more State or 
local ballot initiatives, State or local 
referenda, State or local constitutional 
amendments, State or local bond issues, or 
other State or local ballot issues. 
‘‘(iii) Influencing the selection, ap-
pointment, nomination, or confirmation of 
one or more individuals to non-elected of-
fices. 
‘‘(D) SECTION 527 ORGANIZATIONS MAKING 
CERTAIN DISBURSEMENTS.—A committee, club, 
association, or other group of persons described 
in subparagraph (B)(ii) or (B)(iii) shall not be 
considered to be described in such paragraph 
for purposes of subparagraph (A)(ii) if it makes 
disbursements aggregating more than $1000 
during any calendar year for any of the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(i) A public communication that pro-
motes, supports, attacks, or opposes a 
clearly identified candidate for Federal of-
fice during the 1-year period ending on the 
date of the general election for the office 
sought by the clearly identified candidate 
occurs.
‘‘(ii) Any voter drive activity (as de-
fined in section 325(d)(1)).’’. 
SEC. 3. RULES FOR ALLOCATION OF EXPENSES BETWEEN 
FEDERAL AND NON-FEDERAL ACTIVITIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Federal Election 
Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 325. ALLOCATION AND FUNDING RULES FOR CER-
TAIN EXPENSES RELATING TO FEDERAL AND 
NON-FEDERAL ACTIVITIES. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any disbursements 
by any separate segregated fund or nonconnected com-
mittee for which allocation rules are provided under sub-
section (b)—
‘‘(1) the disbursements shall be allocated be-
tween Federal and non-Federal accounts in accord-
ance with this section and regulations prescribed by 
the Commission, and 
‘‘(2) in the case of disbursements allocated to 
non-Federal accounts, may be paid only from a 
qualified non-Federal account. 
‘‘(b) COSTS TO BE ALLOCATED AND ALLOCATION 
RULES.—Disbursements by any separate segregated fund 
or nonconnected committee for any of the following cat-
egories of activity shall be allocated as follows: