I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1878
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to provide for public 
funding for House of Representatives elections, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 30, 2003
Mr. ANDREWS 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 
provide for public funding for House of Representatives 
elections, 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 ‘‘Public Campaign Fi-
nancing Act of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. PUBLIC FUNDING FOR HOUSE OF REPRESENTA-
TIVES ELECTIONS. 
The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 is 
amended by adding at the end the following new title:
‘‘TITLE V—PUBLIC FUNDING FOR 
HOUSE 
OF 
REPRESENTA-
TIVES ELECTIONS 
‘‘SEC. 501. QUALIFICATIONS FOR PUBLIC FUNDING. 
‘‘A House of Representatives candidate qualifies for 
public funding if, as determined by the Commission—
‘‘(1) at least 6 weeks before the general elec-
tion, the candidate obtains the signatures of 3 per-
cent of the registered voters in the congressional dis-
trict involved; or 
‘‘(2) the candidate is the candidate of a political 
party, the candidate of which, in the preceding gen-
eral election, received more than 25 percent of the 
vote. 
‘‘SEC. 502. LIMITATIONS ON CONTRIBUTIONS TO QUALI-
FYING HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CAN-
DIDATES. 
‘‘(a) INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTIONS REQUIREMENT.—
A qualifying House of Representatives candidate may not 
accept contributions other than contributions from individ-
uals that total not more than $100 per individual per elec-
tion cycle. 
‘‘(b) IN-STATE
CONTRIBUTION
REQUIREMENT.— 
With respect to each reporting period for an election, at 
least 80 percent of the total sum of contributions accepted
by a qualifying House of Representatives candidate shall 
be from the State in which the congressional district in-
volved is located. 
‘‘SEC. 503. USE OF PUBLIC FUNDING. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A qualifying House of Rep-
resentatives candidate may use public funds only for—
‘‘(1) buying time on radio, cable, or television 
broadcast stations; 
‘‘(2) buying rental space on billboards or other 
outdoor signs; 
‘‘(3) buying advertising space in magazines, 
newspapers, 
periodicals, 
and 
other 
advertising 
media, including theaters, the Internet, and the 
worldwide web; 
‘‘(4) payment of the cost of producing adver-
tisements for media referred to in paragraphs (1), 
(2), and (3); 
‘‘(5) procurement of computerized campaign 
software, voter lists, and other voter contact tools; 
‘‘(6) payment of the cost of printing and mail-
ing campaign literature; 
‘‘(7) payment of the cost of telephone expenses; 
‘‘(8) payment of legal and accounting costs as-
sociated with campaigning; 
‘‘(9) payment of campaign employees’ salaries;
‘‘(10) payment of the cost of campaign office 
equipment and supplies; and 
‘‘(11) payment of incidental expenses of the 
candidate, such as travel and food. 
‘‘(b) SPECIFIC EXCLUSION.—A qualifying House of 
Representatives candidate may not use public funds under 
this title to pay the candidate a salary or personal mort-
gages. 
‘‘(c) CALCULATION OF PUBLIC DISBURSEMENT.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A qualifying House of Rep-
resentatives candidate shall receive public funds 
closely approximating the cost of procuring 21⁄2 
hours of television commercial time on local tele-
vision stations in the district’s media markets. 
‘‘(2) CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING AMOUNT.—
An exact amount of the funds provided to a can-
didate under this section shall be determined by the 
Commission, using—
‘‘(A) the average cost of a media point per 
media market, as defined by Arbitron Area of 
Dominant Influence, for the 4th quarter of the 
preceding calendar year; and
‘‘(B) a multiplier of 5,000 media points.
‘‘(3) USE
OF
FUNDS.—The funds provided 
under this section may be used for any purpose 
specified in subsection (a). 
‘‘(d) DISBURSEMENTS.—The Commission shall make 
disbursements of public funds under this title upon sub-
mission of evidence that an eligible expense has been in-
curred. No disbursement may be made with respect to an 
expense incurred more than 4 months before the election 
involved. 
‘‘SEC. 504. MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF PUBLIC FUNDING. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The maximum amount of public 
funding that a qualifying House of Representatives can-
didate may receive is $750,000. 
‘‘(b) INDEXING.—The amount under subsection (a) 
shall be increased as of the beginning of each even-num-
bered calendar year, based on the increase in the price 
index determined under section 315(c), except that the 
base period shall be calendar year 2003. 
‘‘SEC. 505. TELEVISION DEBATE REQUIREMENT. 
‘‘A qualifying House of Representatives candidate 
shall be required to participate in at least 2 televised de-
bates, organized by a bipartisan or nonpartisan group, in 
the congressional district media market.
‘‘SEC. 506. REQUIREMENT FOR ACCEPTANCE OF ADVER-
TISING BY RADIO AND TELEVISION STA-
TIONS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each radio station and each tele-
vision station shall be—
‘‘(1) required to accept orders for advertise-
ments to be paid for under this title until such ad-
vertising constitutes 40 percent of the station’s total 
advertising time; and 
‘‘(2) subject to random periodic examination of 
advertising charges paid under this title to ensure 
that such charges are correct. 
‘‘(b) CONDITION OF LICENSE.—The continuation of 
an existing license, the renewal of an expiring license, and 
the issuance of a new license under section 307 of the 
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 307) shall be 
conditioned on the agreement by the licensee to abide by 
the provisions of subsection (a)(1). 
‘‘SEC. 507. DEFINITIONS. 
‘‘As used in this title—
‘‘(1) the term ‘House of Representatives can-
didate’ means a candidate for the office of Rep-
resentative in, or Delegate or Resident Commis-
sioner to, the Congress; 
‘‘(2) the term ‘qualifying House of Representa-
tives candidate’ means a House of Representatives
candidate who qualifies for public funding under this 
title; and 
‘‘(3) the term ‘congressional district media mar-
ket’ means, with respect to a congressional district, 
the media market of that district, as determined 
from the licensing records of the Federal Commu-
nications Commission.’’. 
SEC. 3. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 
(a) REPORTS BY STATE COMMITTEES.—Section 304 
of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 
434) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection: 
‘‘(i) 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.’’. 
(b) OTHER REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—
(1) 
AUTHORIZED
COMMITTEES.—Section 
304(b)(4) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 434(b)(4)) is 
amended—
(A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub-
paragraph (H);
(B) by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub-
paragraph (I); and 
(C) by adding at the end the following new 
subparagraph: 
‘‘(J) in the case of an authorized com-
mittee, disbursements for the primary election, 
the general election, and any other election in 
which the candidate participates;’’. 
(2) 
NAMES
AND
ADDRESSES.—Section 
304(b)(5)(A) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 434(b)(5)(A)) is 
amended—
(A) by striking ‘‘within the calendar year’’; 
and 
(B) by inserting ‘‘, and the election to 
which the operating expenditure relates’’ after 
‘‘operating expenditure’’. 
SEC. 4. REPORTING OF ELECTION ACTIVITY OF PERSONS 
OTHER THAN POLITICAL PARTIES. 
Section 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act 
of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434), as amended by section 3(a), is 
amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(j) ELECTION ACTIVITY OF PERSONS OTHER THAN 
POLITICAL PARTIES.—