411 
SEC. 6005. PERMITTING APPEARANCE AT HEARINGS ON RE-
QUESTS FOR ADVISORY OPINIONS BY PER-
SONS OPPOSING THE REQUESTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 308 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 
30108) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection: 
‘‘(e) To the extent that the Commission provides an 
opportunity for a person requesting an advisory opinion 
under this section (or counsel for such person) to appear 
before the Commission to present testimony in support of 
the request, and the person (or counsel) accepts such oppor-
tunity, the Commission shall provide a reasonable oppor-
tunity for an interested party who submitted written com-
ments under subsection (d) in response to the request (or 
counsel for such interested party) to appear before the Com-
mission to present testimony in response to the request.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by sub-
section (a) shall apply with respect to requests for advisory 
opinions under section 308 of the Federal Election Cam-
paign Act of 1971 which are made on or after the date of 
the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 6006. PERMANENT EXTENSION OF ADMINISTRATIVE 
PENALTY AUTHORITY. 
(a) 
EXTENSION
OF
AUTHORITY.—Section 
309(a)(4)(C)(v) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 
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1971 (52 U.S.C. 30109(a)(4)(C)(v)) is amended by striking 
‘‘, and that end on or before December 31, 2023’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by sub-
section (a) shall take effect on December 31, 2018. 
SEC. 6007. RESTRICTIONS ON EX PARTE COMMUNICATIONS. 
Section 306(e) of the Federal Election Campaign Act 
of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30106(e)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘(e) The Commission’’ and in-
serting ‘‘(e)(1) The Commission’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new para-
graph: 
‘‘(2) Members and employees of the Commission shall 
be subject to limitations on ex parte communications, as 
provided in the regulations promulgated by the Commission 
regarding such communications which are in effect on the 
date of the enactment of this paragraph.’’. 
SEC. 6008. EFFECTIVE DATE; TRANSITION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided, the 
amendments made by this subtitle shall apply beginning 
January 1, 2022. 
(b) TRANSITION.— 
(1) TERMINATION
OF
SERVICE
OF
CURRENT 
MEMBERS.—Notwithstanding any provision of the 
Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, the term of 
any individual serving as a member of the Federal 
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Election Commission as of December 31, 2021, shall 
expire on that date. 
(2) NO EFFECT ON EXISTING CASES OR PRO-
CEEDINGS.—Nothing in this subtitle or in any 
amendment made by this subtitle shall affect any of 
the powers exercised by the Federal Election Commis-
sion prior to December 31, 2021, including any inves-
tigation initiated by the Commission prior to such 
date or any proceeding (including any enforcement 
action) pending as of such date. 
Subtitle B—Stopping Super PAC- 
Candidate Coordination 
SEC. 6101. SHORT TITLE. 
This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Super PAC– 
Candidate Coordination Act’’. 
SEC. 6102. CLARIFICATION OF TREATMENT OF COORDI-
NATED EXPENDITURES AS CONTRIBUTIONS 
TO CANDIDATES. 
(a) TREATMENT AS CONTRIBUTION TO CANDIDATE.— 
Section 301(8)(A) of the Federal Election Campaign Act 
of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101(8)(A)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause (i); 
(2) by striking the period at the end of clause 
(ii) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 
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(3) by adding at the end the following new 
clause: 
‘‘(iii) any payment made by any person 
(other than a candidate, an authorized com-
mittee of a candidate, or a political committee of 
a political party) for a coordinated expenditure 
(as such term is defined in section 326) which is 
not otherwise treated as a contribution under 
clause (i) or clause (ii).’’. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—Title III of such Act (52 U.S.C. 
30101 et seq.), as amended by section 4702(a), is amended 
by adding at the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 326. PAYMENTS FOR COORDINATED EXPENDITURES. 
‘‘(a) COORDINATED EXPENDITURES.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—For purposes of section 
301(8)(A)(iii), the term ‘coordinated expenditure’ 
means— 
‘‘(A) any expenditure, or any payment for 
a covered communication described in subsection 
(d), which is made in cooperation, consultation, 
or concert with, or at the request or suggestion 
of, a candidate, an authorized committee of a 
candidate, a political committee of a political 
party, or agents of the candidate or committee, 
as defined in subsection (b); or 
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‘‘(B) any payment for any communication 
which republishes, disseminates, or distributes, 
in whole or in part, any video or broadcast or 
any written, graphic, or other form of campaign 
material prepared by the candidate or committee 
or by agents of the candidate or committee (in-
cluding any excerpt or use of any video from 
any such broadcast or written, graphic, or other 
form of campaign material). 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR PAYMENTS FOR CERTAIN 
COMMUNICATIONS.—A payment for a communication 
(including a covered communication described in sub-
section (d)) shall not be treated as a coordinated ex-
penditure under this subsection if— 
‘‘(A) the communication appears in a news 
story, commentary, or editorial distributed 
through the facilities of any broadcasting station, 
newspaper, magazine, or other periodical publi-
cation, unless such facilities are owned or con-
trolled by any political party, political com-
mittee, or candidate; or 
‘‘(B) the communication constitutes a can-
didate debate or forum conducted pursuant to 
regulations adopted by the Commission pursuant 
to section 304(f)(3)(B)(iii), or which solely pro-
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motes such a debate or forum and is made by or 
on behalf of the person sponsoring the debate or 
forum. 
‘‘(b) COORDINATION DESCRIBED.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this section, 
a payment is made ‘in cooperation, consultation, or 
concert with, or at the request or suggestion of,’ a 
candidate, an authorized committee of a candidate, a 
political committee of a political party, or agents of 
the candidate or committee, if the payment, or any 
communication for which the payment is made, is not 
made entirely independently of the candidate, com-
mittee, or agents. For purposes of the previous sen-
tence, a payment or communication not made en-
tirely independently of the candidate or committee in-
cludes any payment or communication made pursu-
ant to any general or particular understanding with, 
or pursuant to any communication with, the can-
didate, committee, or agents about the payment or 
communication. 
‘‘(2) NO
FINDING
OF
COORDINATION
BASED 
SOLELY
ON
SHARING
OF
INFORMATION
REGARDING 
LEGISLATIVE OR POLICY POSITION.—For purposes of 
this section, a payment shall not be considered to be 
made by a person in cooperation, consultation, or 
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concert with, or at the request or suggestion of, a can-
didate or committee, solely on the grounds that the 
person or the person’s agent engaged in discussions 
with the candidate or committee, or with any agent 
of the candidate or committee, regarding that person’s 
position on a legislative or policy matter (including 
urging the candidate or committee to adopt that per-
son’s position), so long as there is no communication 
between the person and the candidate or committee, or 
any agent of the candidate or committee, regarding 
the candidate’s or committee’s campaign advertising, 
message, strategy, policy, polling, allocation of re-
sources, fundraising, or other campaign activities. 
‘‘(3) NO
EFFECT
ON
PARTY
COORDINATION 
STANDARD.—Nothing in this section shall be con-
strued to affect the determination of coordination be-
tween a candidate and a political committee of a po-
litical party for purposes of section 315(d). 
‘‘(4) NO SAFE HARBOR FOR USE OF FIREWALL.— 
A person shall be determined to have made a payment 
in cooperation, consultation, or concert with, or at the 
request or suggestion of, a candidate or committee, in 
accordance with this section without regard to wheth-
er or not the person established and used a firewall 
or similar procedures to restrict the sharing of infor-
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mation between individuals who are employed by or 
who are serving as agents for the person making the 
payment. 
‘‘(c) PAYMENTS
BY COORDINATED SPENDERS
FOR 
COVERED COMMUNICATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) PAYMENTS
MADE
IN
COOPERATION, CON-
SULTATION, OR
CONCERT
WITH
CANDIDATES.—For 
purposes of subsection (a)(1)(A), if the person who 
makes a payment for a covered communication, as 
defined in subsection (d), is a coordinated spender 
under paragraph (2) with respect to the candidate as 
described in subsection (d)(1), the payment for the 
covered communication is made in cooperation, con-
sultation, or concert with the candidate. 
‘‘(2) COORDINATED
SPENDER
DEFINED.—For 
purposes of this subsection, the term ‘coordinated 
spender’ means, with respect to a candidate or an au-
thorized committee of a candidate, a person (other 
than a political committee of a political party) for 
which any of the following applies: 
‘‘(A) During the 4-year period ending on 
the date on which the person makes the payment, 
the person was directly or indirectly formed or 
established by or at the request or suggestion of, 
or with the encouragement of, the candidate (in-
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cluding an individual who later becomes a can-
didate) or committee or agents of the candidate 
or committee, including with the approval of the 
candidate or committee or agents of the can-
didate or committee. 
‘‘(B) The candidate or committee or any 
agent of the candidate or committee solicits 
funds, appears at a fundraising event, or engages 
in other fundraising activity on the person’s be-
half during the election cycle involved, including 
by providing the person with names of potential 
donors or other lists to be used by the person in 
engaging in fundraising activity, regardless of 
whether the person pays fair market value for 
the names or lists provided. For purposes of this 
subparagraph, the term ‘election cycle’ means, 
with respect to an election for Federal 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). 
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‘‘(C) The person is established, directed, or 
managed by the candidate or committee or by 
any person who, during the 4-year period ending 
on the date on which the person makes the pay-
ment, has been employed or retained as a polit-
ical, campaign media, or fundraising adviser or 
consultant for the candidate or committee or for 
any other entity directly or indirectly controlled 
by the candidate or committee, or has held a for-
mal position with the candidate or committee 
(including a position as an employee of the office 
of the candidate at any time the candidate held 
any Federal, State, or local public office during 
the 4-year period). 
‘‘(D) The person has retained the profes-
sional services of any person who, during the 2- 
year period ending on the date on which the per-
son makes the payment, has provided or is pro-
viding professional services relating to the cam-
paign to the candidate or committee, without re-
gard to whether the person providing the profes-
sional services used a firewall. For purposes of 
this subparagraph, the term ‘professional serv-
ices’ includes any services in support of the can-
didate’s or committee’s campaign activities, in-
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cluding advertising, message, strategy, policy, 
polling, allocation of resources, fundraising, and 
campaign operations, but does not include ac-
counting or legal services. 
‘‘(E) The person is established, directed, or 
managed by a member of the immediate family 
of the candidate, or the person or any officer or 
agent of the person has had more than incidental 
discussions about the candidate’s campaign with 
a member of the immediate family of the can-
didate. For purposes of this subparagraph, the 
term ‘immediate family’ has the meaning given 
such term in section 9004(e) of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986. 
‘‘(d) COVERED COMMUNICATION DEFINED.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this section, 
the term ‘covered communication’ means, with respect 
to a candidate or an authorized committee of a can-
didate, a public communication (as defined in section 
301(22)) which— 
‘‘(A) expressly advocates the election of the 
candidate or the defeat of an opponent of the 
candidate (or contains the functional equivalent 
of express advocacy); 
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‘‘(B) promotes or supports the election of the 
candidate, or attacks or opposes the election of 
an opponent of the candidate (regardless of 
whether the communication expressly advocates 
the election or defeat of a candidate or contains 
the functional equivalent of express advocacy); or 
‘‘(C) refers to the candidate or an opponent 
of the candidate but is not described in subpara-
graph (A) or subparagraph (B), but only if the 
communication is disseminated during the ap-
plicable election period. 
‘‘(2) APPLICABLE ELECTION PERIOD.—In para-
graph (1)(C), the ‘applicable election period’ with re-
spect to a communication means— 
‘‘(A) in the case of a communication which 
refers to a candidate in a general, special, or 
runoff election, the 120-day period which ends on 
the date of the election; or 
‘‘(B) in the case of a communication which 
refers to a candidate in a primary or preference 
election, or convention or caucus of a political 
party that has authority to nominate a can-
didate, the 60-day period which ends on the date 
of the election or convention or caucus. 
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