vidual is a candidate at the time of a coordinated ex-
penditure, without regard to whether the individual 
was a candidate at the time the coordination oc-
curred, as described in subsection (b). 
‘‘(3) 
TREATMENT
OF
EMPLOYEES, 
INDE-
PENDENT CONTRACTORS, AND AGENTS.—For pur-
poses of this section, any reference to a candidate, 
committee, officeholder, or political party includes— 
‘‘(A) an employee or independent con-
tractor of the candidate, committee, office-
holder, or party, if such employee or contractor 
has executive or managerial authority (or acts 
under the direction or control of an employee or 
contractor who has such executive or manage-
rial authority) for the candidate, committee, of-
ficeholder, or political party at any time during 
the election cycle in which the expenditure is 
made (in the case of a candidate or committee 
for an election for the office of President) or 
during the 2-year period ending on the date the 
expenditure is made (in the case of a candidate 
or committee for an election for any other Fed-
eral office or any political party); or 
‘‘(B) an agent (including an authorized 
fundraiser), whether paid or unpaid, of the can-
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didate, committee, officeholder, or party at any 
time during the election cycle in which the ex-
penditure is made (in the case of a candidate 
or committee for an election for the office of 
President) or during the 2-year period ending 
on the date the expenditure is made (in the 
case of a candidate or committee for an election 
for any other Federal office or any political 
party), without regard to whether the individual 
was such an agent at the time any of the co-
ordination described in subsection (b) occurred. 
‘‘(4) EXCEPTIONS.—A payment shall not be 
treated as a coordinated expenditure under this sec-
tion if— 
‘‘(A) the payment is for a communication 
which appears in a news story, commentary, or 
editorial distributed through the facilities of any 
broadcasting station, newspaper, magazine, or 
other periodical publication, unless such facili-
ties are owned or controlled by any political 
party, political committee, or candidate; or 
‘‘(B) the payment is for a candidate debate 
or forum conducted pursuant to regulations 
adopted by the Commission pursuant to section 
304(f)(3)(B)(iii), or is for a communication 
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which solely promotes such a debate or forum 
and is made by or on behalf of the person spon-
soring the debate or forum. 
‘‘(b) COORDINATION DESCRIBED.—For purposes of 
this section, a covered expenditure is made ‘in cooperation, 
consultation, or concert with, or at the request or sugges-
tion of,’ a candidate, an authorized committee of a can-
didate, or a political committee of a political party if any 
of the following apply: 
‘‘(1) The covered expenditure is not made to-
tally independently of the candidate, committee, or 
political party. For purposes of the previous sen-
tence, a covered expenditure not made totally inde-
pendently of the candidate or committee includes 
any expenditure made pursuant to any express or 
implied agreement with, or any general or particular 
understanding with, or pursuant to any request by 
or communication with, the candidate, committee, or 
political party about the expenditure. 
‘‘(2) During the 2-year period ending on the 
date the covered expenditure is made (in the case of 
a candidate or committee for an election for any 
other Federal office or any political party) or during 
the election cycle in which the covered expenditure 
is made (in the case of a candidate or committee for 
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an election for the office of President), the person 
making the covered expenditure was directly or indi-
rectly established, maintained, controlled, or prin-
cipally funded by the candidate, an immediate family 
member of the candidate, the committee, or party. 
For purposes of the previous sentence, an ‘imme-
diate family member’ means, with respect to a can-
didate, a father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sis-
ter, spouse, domestic partner, father-in-law, or 
mother-in-law. 
‘‘(3) During the 2-year period ending on the 
date the covered expenditure is made (in the case of 
a candidate or committee for an election for any 
other Federal office or any political party) or during 
the election cycle in which the covered expenditure 
is made (in the case of a candidate or committee for 
an election for the office of President), the can-
didate, the committee, or political party solicited 
funds for, provided nonpublic fundraising informa-
tion or strategy to, appeared as a speaker or fea-
tured guest at a fundraiser for, or gave permission 
to be featured in fundraising efforts for, the person 
making the covered expenditure. The previous sen-
tence does not apply if the person making the cov-
ered expenditure is an organization described in sec-
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tion 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
and exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of 
such Code. 
‘‘(4) The covered expenditure is made on the 
basis of non-public information about the can-
didate’s, committee’s, or political party’s campaign 
needs or plans that the candidate, committee, or po-
litical party provided directly or indirectly to the per-
son making the covered expenditure, including infor-
mation about campaign messaging, strategy, fund-
raising, planned expenditures, or polling data. The 
previous sentence does not apply to communications 
between the person making the covered expenditure 
and the candidate, committee, or political party sole-
ly for the purpose of either engaging in discussions 
regarding the person’s position on a policy matter or 
regarding whether the person will endorse the can-
didate or party, so long as such communications do 
not include any nonpublic information about the 
candidate’s, committee’s, or party’s campaign needs 
or plans. 
‘‘(5)(A) During the 2-year period ending on the 
date the covered expenditure is made (in the case of 
a candidate or committee for an election for any 
other Federal office or any political party) or during 
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the election cycle in which the covered expenditure 
is made (in the case of a candidate or committee for 
an election for the office of President), the person 
making the covered expenditure employed or other-
wise retained the services (other than accounting or 
legal services) of a person who, at any point during 
that cycle or two-year period— 
‘‘(i) had executive or managerial authority 
for the candidate, committee, or party, whether 
paid or unpaid; 
‘‘(ii) was authorized to raise or expend 
funds for the candidate, committee, or party 
and had nonpublic information from the can-
didate, committee, or party about the can-
didate’s, committee’s or party’s campaign’s 
needs or plans; or 
‘‘(iii) provided the candidate, committee, or 
party with professional services (other than ac-
counting or legal services) related to campaign 
or fundraising strategy. 
‘‘(B) Subparagraph (A) does not apply with re-
spect to a person employed or otherwise retained by 
a person making a covered expenditure if, at the 
time the person who was so employed or retained ex-
ercised the authority or provided the services de-
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scribed in clauses (i) through (iii) of such subpara-
graph, the person making the covered expenditure 
had in effect a firewall policy which meets the re-
quirements of subsection (d). 
‘‘(c) COVERED EXPENDITURES.— 
‘‘(1) CANDIDATES AND AUTHORIZED COMMIT-
TEES.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘cov-
ered expenditure’ means, with respect to a candidate 
or an authorized committee of a candidate, any of 
the following: 
‘‘(A) An expenditure for a public commu-
nication (as defined in section 301(22)) 
which— 
‘‘(i) expressly advocates for the nomi-
nation or election of the candidate or for 
the defeat of an opponent of the candidate 
(or contains the functional equivalent of 
express advocacy); 
‘‘(ii) promotes or supports the can-
didate, or attacks or opposes an opponent 
of the candidate (regardless of whether the 
communication expressly advocates the 
election or defeat of a candidate or con-
tains the functional equivalent of express 
advocacy); or 
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‘‘(iii) refers to the candidate or an op-
ponent of the candidate but is not de-
scribed in clause (i) or clause (ii), but only 
if, during the period which begins 120 days 
before the date of the primary election for 
the office involved and ends on the date of 
the general election for such office (or, if 
necessary, the date of a runoff election fol-
lowing such general election), the commu-
nication is disseminated in the jurisdiction 
of the office the candidate is seeking. 
‘‘(B) An expenditure to pay for partisan 
voter activity (such as partisan voter registra-
tion, get-out-the-vote activity, phone banking, or 
generic campaign activity) in the jurisdiction of 
the office the candidate is seeking. 
‘‘(C) An expenditure to pay for research, 
design or production costs, polling expenses, 
data analytics, creating or purchasing mailing 
or social media lists, or other activities related 
to the expenditures described in subparagraphs 
(A) or (B). 
‘‘(2) POLITICAL PARTIES.—For purposes of this 
section, the term ‘covered expenditure’ means, with 
respect to a political party, any of the following: 
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‘‘(A) An expenditure for a public commu-
nication (as defined in section 301(22)) 
which— 
‘‘(i) expressly advocates for the nomi-
nation or election of a candidate of the 
party or for the defeat of an opponent of 
a candidate of the party, including a com-
munication which expressly advocates ge-
nerically for the election of candidates of 
the party or for the defeat of opponents of 
candidates of the party (or contains the 
functional equivalent of express advocacy); 
‘‘(ii) promotes or supports a candidate 
of the party, or attacks or opposes an op-
ponent of a candidate of the party (regard-
less of whether the communication ex-
pressly advocates the election or defeat of 
a candidate or contains the functional 
equivalent of express advocacy); or 
‘‘(iii) refers to a candidate of the 
party or an opponent of a candidate of the 
party but is not described in clause (i) or 
clause (ii), but only if, during the period 
which begins 120 days before the date of 
the primary election for the office involved 
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and ends on the date of the general elec-
tion for such office (or, if necessary, the 
date of a runoff election following such 
general election), the communication is dis-
seminated in the jurisdiction of the office 
the candidate is seeking. 
‘‘(B) An expenditure to pay for partisan 
voter activity (such as partisan voter registra-
tion, get-out-the-vote activity, phone banking, or 
generic campaign activity) in the jurisdiction of 
the office a candidate of the party is seeking. 
‘‘(C) An expenditure to pay for research, 
design or production costs, polling expenses, 
data analytics, creating or purchasing mailing 
or social media lists, or other activities related 
to the expenditures described in subparagraphs 
(A) or (B). 
‘‘(d) FIREWALL POLICY REQUIREMENTS.—For pur-
poses of paragraph (5) of subsection (b), a firewall policy 
of a person making a covered expenditure meets the re-
quirements of this subsection if all of the following apply: 
‘‘(1) The policy separates the specific staff of 
such person who provide services related to the mak-
ing of the covered expenditure from the distinct, spe-
cific staff who have engaged or will engage in any 
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of the authorities or services described in clauses (i) 
through (iii) of subparagraph (B) of paragraph (5) 
of subsection (b) with the candidate, authorized 
committee, or political party supported by the cov-
ered expenditure. 
‘‘(2) The policy forbids owners of such person 
and executives, managers, and supervisors within 
such person’s organization, to simultaneously oversee 
the work of staff being separated by a firewall. 
‘‘(3) The policy imposes a prohibition on the 
flow of strategic nonpublic information, including by 
imposing physical and technological separations, be-
tween such person and the candidate, committee, or 
party supported by the covered expenditure, and be-
tween the specific staff who are being separated by 
the firewall. 
‘‘(4) The policy is memorialized in writing and 
distributed to all relevant staff (including consult-
ants) before such staff provide any services relating 
to the making of the covered expenditure, and the 
written policy described both the general firewall pol-
icy and any specific firewall created pursuant to 
such policy, and the person making the covered ex-
penditure provides such written policy upon request 
to the Commission. 
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‘‘(e) NO LIMITATION ON APPLICATION OF OTHER 
COORDINATION RULES.—Nothing in this section may be 
construed to limit the application of section 315(a)(7) to 
any contribution, expenditure, disbursement, or person.’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE; EFFECT ON EXISTING REGU-
LATIONS.— 
(1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 
by this section shall apply with respect to payments 
made on or after the expiration of the 60-day period 
which begins on the date of the enactment of this 
Act, without regard to whether or not the Federal 
Election Commission has promulgated regulations in 
accordance with paragraph (2)(B) as of the expira-
tion of such period. 
(2) REPEAL OF EXISTING REGULATIONS ON CO-
ORDINATION.—Effective upon the expiration of the 
60-day period which begins on the date of the enact-
ment of this Act— 
(A) the regulations on coordinated commu-
nications adopted by the Federal Election Com-
mission which are in effect on the date of the 
enactment of this Act (as set forth in 11 CFR 
Part 109, Subpart C, under the heading ‘‘Co-
ordination’’) are repealed; and 
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(B) the Federal Election Commission shall 
promulgate new regulations on coordinated 
communications which reflect the amendments 
made by this Act. 
(3) TERMINATION OF VALIDITY OF ADVISORY 
OPINIONS.—To the extent that any advisory opinion 
issued by the Federal Election Commission prior to 
expiration of the period described in paragraph (2) 
was based on the regulations referred to in subpara-
graph (A) of paragraph (2), the validity of the opin-
ion is hereby terminated, and no person may rely 
upon the opinion with respect to conduct occurring 
after the expiration of such period. 
SEC. 4. EXPANSION OF DEFINITION OF PUBLIC COMMU-
NICATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (22) of section 301 of 
the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 
30101(22)) is amended by striking ‘‘or satellite commu-
nication’’ and inserting ‘‘satellite, paid Internet, or paid 
digital communication’’. 
(b) TREATMENT OF CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDI-
TURES.—Section 301 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30101) is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (8)(B)— 
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(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to communications 
disseminated on or after January 1, 2019. 
SEC. 5. EXPANSION OF DEFINITION OF ELECTIONEERING 
COMMUNICATION. 
(a) EXPANSION TO ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS.— 
(1) APPLICATION TO QUALIFIED INTERNET AND 
DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Subparagraph (A) of 
section 304(f)(3) of the Federal Election Cam-
paign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104(f)(3)(A)) 
is amended by striking ‘‘or satellite communica-
tion’’ each place it appears in clauses (i) and 
(ii) and inserting ‘‘satellite, or qualified Inter-
net or digital communication’’. 
(B) QUALIFIED
INTERNET
OR
DIGITAL 
COMMUNICATION.—Paragraph (3) of section 
304(f) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30104(f)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following 
new subparagraph: 
‘‘(D) QUALIFIED
INTERNET
OR
DIGITAL 
COMMUNICATION.—The term ‘qualified Internet 
or digital communication’ means any commu-
nication which is placed or promoted for a fee 
on any public-facing website, Web application, 
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or digital application (including a social net-
work, ad network, or search engine).’’. 
(2) NONAPPLICATION
OF
RELEVANT
ELEC-
TORATE
TO
ONLINE
COMMUNICATIONS.—Section 
304(f)(3)(A)(i)(III) 
of 
such 
Act 
(52 
U.S.C. 
30104(f)(3)(A)(i)(III)) is amended by inserting ‘‘any 
broadcast, cable, or satellite’’ before ‘‘communica-
tion’’. 
(3) 
NEWS
EXEMPTION.—Section 
304(f)(3)(B)(i) 
of 
such 
Act 
(52 
U.S.C. 
30104(f)(3)(B)(i)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(i) a communication appearing in a 
news story, commentary, or editorial dis-
tributed through the facilities of any 
broadcasting station or any online or dig-
ital newspaper, magazine, blog, publica-
tion, or periodical, unless such broad-
casting, online, or digital facilities are 
owned or controlled by any political party, 
political committee, or candidate;’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to communications 
made on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
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SEC. 6. DISCLOSURE OF TRUE IDENTITY OF SOURCE OF 
FUNDING OF CAMPAIGN ADVERTISEMENTS. 
(a) REQUIRING BEST EFFORTS TO DETERMINE 
TRUE SOURCE OF FUNDS USED TO PAY FOR CAMPAIGN 
ADVERTISEMENTS.—Section 318 of the Federal Election 
Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30120) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(e) REQUIRING BEST EFFORTS TO DETERMINE 
TRUE SOURCE OF FUNDS USED TO PAY FOR CERTAIN 
ADVERTISEMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) BEST EFFORTS REQUIRED.—The person 
making a disbursement of funds for a communica-
tion described in paragraph (3) of subsection (a) 
shall make best efforts to determine the true source 
of the funds used for the disbursement to ensure 
that the names of the persons included in the state-
ment required under such paragraph are the names 
of the persons who served as the true source of such 
funds. For purposes of this paragraph, such best ef-
forts shall include the making of multiple requests 
(if necessary) to contributors to determine whether 
the funds provided by the contributors were trans-
ferred (either directly or indirectly) by other persons. 
‘‘(2) TREATMENT
OF
POLITICAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—For purposes of this subsection, a political 
committee shall not be considered a source of funds 
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used for a disbursement for a communication de-
scribed in paragraph (3) of subsection (a), other 
than an account of a political committee established 
for the purpose of accepting donations or contribu-
tions that do not comply with the contribution limits 
or source prohibitions under this Act.’’. 
(b) INCLUSION IN ADVERTISEMENTS OF IDENTIFICA-
TION OF TOP THREE FUNDERS.—Section 318 of such Act 
(52 U.S.C. 30120), as amended by subsection (a), is fur-
ther amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(f) DISCLOSURE OF TOP THREE FUNDERS.— 
‘‘(1) REQUIRING DISCLOSURE IN CERTAIN AD-
VERTISEMENTS.— 
‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT.—Any communication 
described in paragraph (3) of subsection (a), 
shall, in addition to including the information 
required under such paragraph and under para-
graph (2) of subsection (d), include the Top 
Three Funders list (if applicable). 
‘‘(B) EXCLUSION
OF
COMMUNICATIONS 
PAID FOR BY POLITICAL PARTIES.—This sub-
section does not apply with respect to a commu-
nication paid for exclusively by a political com-
mittee of a political party. 
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‘‘(2) METHOD OF CONVEYANCE OF STATEMENT 
THROUGH VIDEO FORMAT.—In the case of a commu-
nication to which this subsection applies which is 
transmitted through a video format (including 
through television or through the Internet or similar 
digital format if the transmission includes a video 
component), the information required under para-
graph (1) shall appear in writing at the end of the 
communication in a clearly readable manner, with a 
reasonable degree of color contrast between the 
background and the printed statement, for a period 
of at least 4 seconds. 
‘‘(3) METHOD OF CONVEYANCE OF STATEMENT 
THROUGH AUDIO FORMAT.—In the case of a commu-
nication to which this subsection applies which is 
transmitted in audio format (including through radio 
or through the Internet or similar digital format if 
the transmission includes an audio component), the 
information required under paragraph (1) shall in-
clude, in a clearly spoken manner, the following 
audio 
statement: 
‘Top 
funders 
include 
lllllll’, with the blank filled in with the 
names of the persons on the Top Three Funders list. 
‘‘(4) METHOD OF CONVEYANCE OF STATEMENT 
THROUGH
TEXT
AND
IMAGES.—In the case of a 
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communication to which this subsection applies 
which is a printed communication or which is trans-
mitted through the Internet or similar digital man-
ner and is not described in paragraphs (2) or para-
graph (3), the information required under paragraph 
(1) shall appear in a clearly readable manner, with 
a reasonable degree of color contrast between the 
background and the printed statement. 
‘‘(5) TOP THREE FUNDERS LIST DEFINED.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘Top Three 
Funders list’ means, with respect to a commu-
nication, a list of the three persons who, during 
the 12-month period ending on the date of the 
transmission of the communication or the date 
on which funds were disbursed for the commu-
nication (whichever is earlier), provided the 
largest payments of any type in an aggregate 
amount exceeding the applicable threshold to 
the person who is paying for the communication 
and the amount of the payments each such per-
son provided. If two or more people provided 
the third largest of such payments, the person 
who provided the most recent of such payments 
shall be included on the Top Three Funders 
list. 
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‘‘(B) 
EXCLUSION
OF
CERTAIN
PAY-
MENTS.—For purposes of subparagraph (A), in 
determining the amount of payments made by 
a person to a person paying for a communica-
tion, there shall be excluded the following: 
‘‘(i) Any amounts provided in the or-
dinary course of any trade or business con-
ducted by the person paying for the com-
munication or in the form of investments 
in the person paying for the communica-
tion. 
‘‘(ii) Any payment which the person 
prohibited, in writing, from being used for 
communications under this section, but 
only if the person paying for the commu-
nication agreed to follow the prohibition 
and deposited the payment in an account 
which is segregated from any account used 
to make payments for such communica-
tions. 
‘‘(6) APPLICABLE THRESHOLD DEFINED.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of sub-
paragraph (A), the ‘applicable threshold’ with 
respect to a communication is— 
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‘‘(i) $10,000, if the funds used to pay 
for the costs of the communication were 
derived exclusively from a separate, seg-
regated account which meets the require-
ments of subparagraph (B); or 
‘‘(ii) $50,000, if the funds used to pay 
for the costs of the communication were 
not derived exclusively from such an ac-
count. 
‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS FOR ACCOUNTS.—An 
account meets the requirements of this sub-
paragraph if— 
‘‘(i) the account is separate and seg-
regated from the general fund of the per-
son paying for the costs of communications 
which are subject to the requirements of 
this subsection; and 
‘‘(ii) the account does not include any 
funds transferred from the general treas-
ury of the person paying for the costs of 
such communications unless the funds 
were transferred during the 12-month pe-
riod ending on the date of the transmission 
of the communication or the date on which 
funds were disbursed for the communica-
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tion (whichever is earlier) and the person 
who provided the funds to the general 
treasury gave written permission for the 
funds to be transferred to the account.’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to communications 
made on or after January 1, 2019. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
23:44 Dec 14, 2018
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H7267
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS