I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1614 
To reform the financing of House elections, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 20, 2007 
Mr. TIERNEY (for himself, Mr. GRIJALVA, and Mr. PLATTS) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administra-
tion, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Ways 
and Means, and Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee con-
cerned 
A BILL 
To reform the financing of House 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Clean Money, Clean Elections Act of 2007’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
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TITLE I—CLEAN ELECTION FINANCING OF HOUSE ELECTION 
CAMPAIGNS 
Subtitle A—Clean Election Financing Program 
Sec. 101. Findings and declarations. 
Sec. 102. Eligibility requirements and benefits of clean elections financing of 
House election campaigns. 
‘‘TITLE V—CLEAN ELECTIONS FINANCING OF HOUSE ELECTION 
CAMPAIGNS 
‘‘Sec. 501. Definitions. 
‘‘Sec. 502. House Clean Elections Fund. 
‘‘Sec. 503. Eligibility for allocations from the Fund. 
‘‘Sec. 504. Seed money contribution requirement. 
‘‘Sec. 505. Qualifying contribution requirement. 
‘‘Sec. 506. Contribution and expenditure requirements. 
‘‘Sec. 507. Certification by Commission. 
‘‘Sec. 508. Benefits for participating candidates. 
‘‘Sec. 509. Allocations from the Fund. 
‘‘Sec. 510. Payment of fair fight funds. 
‘‘Sec. 511. Administration of the House clean elections system. 
‘‘Sec. 512. Violations and penalties. 
‘‘Sec. 513. Authorization of appropriations. 
Sec. 103. Reporting requirements for nonparticipating candidates. 
Sec. 104. Modification of electioneering communication reporting requirements. 
Sec. 105. Limitation on coordinated expenditures by political party committees 
with participating candidates. 
Sec. 106. Treatment of coordinated expenditures as contributions. 
Sec. 107. Audits. 
Sec. 108. Tax credit for voluntary donations to House Clean Elections Fund. 
Subtitle B—Clean Elections Review Commission 
Sec. 111. Establishment of Commission. 
Sec. 112. Structure and membership of the Commission. 
Sec. 113. Powers of the Commission. 
Sec. 114. Administration. 
Sec. 115. Authorization of appropriations. 
TITLE II—VOTER INFORMATION 
Sec. 201. Free broadcast time. 
Sec. 202. Broadcast rates and preemption. 
Sec. 203. Limit on Congressional use of the franking privilege. 
TITLE III—RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE FEDERAL ELECTION 
COMMISSION 
Sec. 301. Petition for certiorari. 
Sec. 302. Promoting expedited availability of FEC reports. 
TITLE IV—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 
Sec. 401. Severability. 
Sec. 402. Review of constitutional issues. 
Sec. 403. Effective date. 
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TITLE I—CLEAN ELECTION FI-
NANCING OF HOUSE ELEC-
TION CAMPAIGNS 
Subtitle A—Clean Election 
Financing Program 
SEC. 101. FINDINGS AND DECLARATIONS. 
(a) UNDERMINING OF DEMOCRACY BY CAMPAIGN 
CONTRIBUTIONS FROM PRIVATE SOURCES.—The House 
finds and declares that the current system of privately fi-
nanced campaigns for election to the United States House 
has the capacity, and is often perceived by the public, to 
undermine democracy in the United States by— 
(1) creating a conflict of interest, perceived or 
real, by encouraging Representatives to accept large 
campaign contributions from private interests that 
are directly affected by Federal legislation; 
(2) diminishing or giving the appearance of di-
minishing a Representative’s accountability to con-
stituents by compelling legislators to be accountable 
to the major contributors who finance their election 
campaigns; 
(3) violating the democratic principle of ‘‘one 
person, one vote’’ and diminishing the meaning of 
the right to vote by allowing monied interests to 
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have a disproportionate and unfair influence within 
the political process; 
(4) imposing large, unwarranted costs on tax-
payers through legislative and regulatory outcomes 
shaped by unequal access to lawmakers for cam-
paign contributors; 
(5) driving up the cost of election campaigns, 
making it difficult for qualified candidates without 
personal wealth or access to campaign contributions 
from monied individuals and interest groups to 
mount competitive House election campaigns; 
(6) disadvantaging challengers, because large 
campaign contributors tend to donate their money to 
incumbent Representatives, thus causing House elec-
tions to be less competitive; and 
(7) burdening incumbents with a preoccupation 
with fundraising and thus decreasing the time avail-
able to carry out their public responsibilities. 
(b) ENHANCEMENT OF DEMOCRACY BY PROVIDING 
ALLOCATIONS FROM
THE HOUSE CLEAN ELECTIONS 
FUND.—The House finds and declares that providing the 
option of the replacement of private campaign contribu-
tions with allocations from the House Clean Elections 
Fund for all primary, runoff, and general elections to the 
House would enhance American democracy by— 
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(1) eliminating the potentially inherent conflict 
of interest created by the private financing of the 
election campaigns of public officials, thus restoring 
public confidence in the integrity and fairness of the 
electoral and legislative processes; 
(2) increasing the public’s confidence in the ac-
countability of Representatives to the constituents 
who elect them; 
(3) helping to eliminate access to wealth as a 
determinant of a citizen’s influence within the polit-
ical process and to restore meaning to the principle 
of ‘‘one person, one vote’’; 
(4) reversing the escalating cost of elections 
and saving taxpayers billions of dollars that are (or 
that are perceived to be) currently allocated based 
upon legislative and regulatory agendas skewed by 
the influence of campaign contributions; 
(5) creating a more level playing field for in-
cumbents and challengers by creating genuine oppor-
tunities for all Americans to run for the House and 
by encouraging more competitive elections; and 
(6) freeing Representatives from the incessant 
preoccupation with raising money, and allowing 
them more time to carry out their public responsibil-
ities. 
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SEC. 102. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS AND BENEFITS OF 
CLEAN ELECTIONS FINANCING OF HOUSE 
ELECTION CAMPAIGNS. 
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—CLEAN ELECTIONS FI-
NANCING OF HOUSE ELEC-
TION CAMPAIGNS 
‘‘SEC. 501. DEFINITIONS. 
‘‘In this title: 
‘‘(1) ALLOCATION FROM THE FUND.—The term 
‘allocation from the Fund’ means an allocation of 
money from the House Clean Elections Fund to a 
participating candidate pursuant to sections 510 and 
511. 
‘‘(2) CLEAN ELECTIONS QUALIFYING PERIOD.— 
The term ‘clean elections qualifying period’ means 
the period beginning on the date that is 180 days 
before the date of the primary election and ending 
on the date that is 30 days before the date of the 
primary election or, in the case of a state that does 
not hold a primary election, the date prescribed by 
State law as the last day to qualify for a position 
on the general election ballot. In the event of a spe-
cial election, the clean money qualifying period shall 
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