participating candidates (including through 
qualified small dollar contributions) and the 
value of political advertising vouchers and pay-
ments made to defray the costs of postage pro-
vided under this title are sufficient for voters in 
each State to learn about the candidates to cast 
an informed vote, taking into account the his-
toric amount of spending by winning can-
didates, media costs, primary election dates, 
and any other information the Commission de-
termines is appropriate. 
‘‘(3) RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ADJUSTMENT OF 
AMOUNTS.—Based on the review conducted under 
paragraph (1), the Commission may recommend to 
Congress adjustments of the following amounts: 
‘‘(A) The number and value of qualified 
small dollar contributions a candidate is re-
quired to obtain under section 512(a) to be eli-
gible for certification as a participating can-
didate. 
‘‘(B) The value of the political advertising 
vouchers a candidate may receive under this 
title. 
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‘‘(C) The amount of the payment made to 
a candidate under this title to defray the costs 
of postage. 
‘‘(c) REPORTS.—Not later than each June 1 which 
follows a regularly scheduled general election for Federal 
office for which payments were made under this title, the 
Commission shall submit to the Committee on House Ad-
ministration of the House of Representatives a report— 
‘‘(1) containing an analysis of the review con-
ducted under subsection (b), including a detailed 
statement of the Commission’s findings, conclusions, 
and recommendations based on such review, includ-
ing any recommendations for adjustments of 
amounts described in subsection (b)(3); and 
‘‘(2) documenting, evaluating, and making rec-
ommendations relating to the administrative imple-
mentation and enforcement of the provisions of this 
title. 
‘‘SEC. 533. VIOLATIONS AND PENALTIES. 
‘‘(a) CIVIL PENALTY FOR VIOLATION OF CONTRIBU-
TION
AND EXPENDITURE REQUIREMENTS.—If a can-
didate who has been certified as a participating candidate 
accepts a contribution or makes an expenditure that is 
prohibited under section 521, the Commission may assess 
a civil penalty against the candidate in an amount that 
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is not more than 3 times the amount of the contribution 
or expenditure. Any amounts collected under this sub-
section shall be deposited into the Clean Money Fund es-
tablished under section 531. 
‘‘(b) REPAYMENT FOR IMPROPER USE PAYMENTS 
MADE TO DEFRAY COSTS OF POSTAGE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Commission deter-
mines that any payment made to a candidate under 
this title to defray the costs of postage was not used 
as provided for in this title, the Commission shall so 
notify the candidate and the candidate shall pay to 
the Fund an amount equal to— 
‘‘(A) the value of the payments so used; 
and 
‘‘(B) interest on any such amounts (at a 
rate determined by the Commission). 
‘‘(2) OTHER
ACTION
NOT
PRECLUDED.—Any 
action by the Commission in accordance with this 
subsection shall not preclude enforcement pro-
ceedings by the Commission in accordance with sec-
tion 309(a), including a referral by the Commission 
to the Attorney General in the case of an apparent 
knowing and willful violation of this title. 
‘‘(c) PROHIBITING
CERTAIN
CANDIDATES
FROM 
QUALIFYING AS PARTICIPATING CANDIDATES.— 
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‘‘(1) CANDIDATES WITH MULTIPLE CIVIL PEN-
ALTIES.—If the Commission assesses 3 or more civil 
penalties under subsection (a) against a candidate 
(with respect to either a single election or multiple 
elections), the Commission may refuse to certify the 
candidate as a participating candidate under this 
title with respect to any subsequent election, except 
that if each of the penalties were assessed as the re-
sult of a knowing and willful violation of any provi-
sion of this Act, the candidate is not eligible to be 
certified as a participating candidate under this title 
with respect to any subsequent election. 
‘‘(2) CANDIDATES SUBJECT TO CRIMINAL PEN-
ALTY.—A candidate is not eligible to be certified as 
a participating candidate under this title with re-
spect to an election if a penalty has been assessed 
against the candidate under section 309(d) with re-
spect to any previous election. 
‘‘SEC. 534. APPEALS PROCESS. 
‘‘(a) REVIEW OF ACTIONS.—Any action by the Com-
mission in carrying out this title shall be subject to review 
by the United States Court of Appeals for the District 
of Columbia upon petition filed in the Court not later than 
30 days after the Commission takes the action for which 
the review is sought. 
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‘‘(b) PROCEDURES.—The provisions of chapter 7 of 
title 5, United States Code, apply to judicial review under 
this section. 
‘‘SEC. 535. INDEXING OF AMOUNTS. 
‘‘(a) INDEXING.—In any calendar year after 2020, 
section 315(c)(1)(B) shall apply to each amount described 
in subsection (b) in the same manner as such section ap-
plies to the limitations established under subsections 
(a)(1)(A), (a)(1)(B), (a)(3), and (h) of such section, ex-
cept that for purposes of applying such section to the 
amounts described in subsection (b), the ‘base period’ 
shall be 2019. 
‘‘(b) AMOUNTS DESCRIBED.—The amounts described 
in this subsection are as follows: 
‘‘(1) The amount referred to in section 
501(b)(2) (relating to the formula used to determine 
the value of a political advertising voucher provided 
to a participating candidate under this title). 
‘‘(2) The amount referred to in section 
503(b)(2) (relating to the formula used to determine 
the amount of the payment made to a participating 
candidate under this title to defray the costs of post-
age). 
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‘‘(3) The amounts referred to in section 
504(a)(1) (relating to the amount of a qualified 
small dollar contribution). 
‘‘(4) The amount referred to in section 
512(a)(2) (relating to the total dollar amount of 
qualified small dollar contributions). 
‘‘(5) The amount referred to in section 
521(a)(5) (relating to the aggregate amount of con-
tributions a participating candidate may accept from 
any individual with respect to an election). 
‘‘(6) The amount referred to in section 521(b) 
(relating to the amount of personal funds that may 
be used by a candidate who is certified as a partici-
pating candidate). 
‘‘SEC. 536. ELECTION CYCLE DEFINED. 
‘‘In this title, the term ‘election cycle’ means, with 
respect to an election for an office, the period beginning 
on the day after the date of the most recent general elec-
tion for that office (or, if the general election resulted in 
a runoff election, the date of the runoff election) and end-
ing 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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SEC. 102. CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES BY MULTI-
CANDIDATE AND POLITICAL PARTY POLIT-
ICAL COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF PARTICI-
PATING CANDIDATES. 
(a) AUTHORIZING CONTRIBUTIONS ONLY FROM SEP-
ARATE ACCOUNTS CONSISTING
OF QUALIFIED SMALL 
DOLLAR CONTRIBUTIONS.—Section 315(a) of the Federal 
Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30116(a)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new para-
graph: 
‘‘(9) In the case of a multicandidate political com-
mittee or any political committee of a political party, the 
committee may make a contribution to a candidate who 
is a participating candidate under title V with respect to 
an election only if the contribution is paid from a separate, 
segregated account of the committee which consists solely 
of contributions which meet the following requirements: 
‘‘(A) Each such contribution is in an amount 
which meets the requirements for the amount of a 
qualified small dollar contribution under section 
504(a)(1) with respect to the election involved. 
‘‘(B) Each such contribution is made by an in-
dividual who is not otherwise prohibited from mak-
ing a contribution under this Act. 
‘‘(C) The individual who makes the contribution 
does not make contributions to the committee during 
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the year in an aggregate amount that exceeds the 
limit described in section 504(a)(1).’’. 
(b) PERMITTING UNLIMITED COORDINATED EX-
PENDITURES FROM SMALL DOLLAR SOURCES BY POLIT-
ICAL PARTIES.—Section 315(d) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 
30116(d)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘The national 
committee’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in 
paragraph (5), the national committee’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(5) The limits described in paragraph (3) do not 
apply in the case of expenditures in connection with the 
general election campaign of a candidate for the office of 
Senator or Representative in, or Delegate or Resident 
Commissioner to, the Congress who is a participating can-
didate under title V with respect to the election, but only 
if— 
‘‘(A) the expenditures are paid from a separate, 
segregated account of the committee which is de-
scribed in subsection (a)(9); and 
‘‘(B) the expenditures are the sole source of 
funding provided by the committee to the can-
didate.’’. 
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SEC. 103. PROHIBITING USE OF CONTRIBUTIONS BY PAR-
TICIPATING 
CANDIDATES 
FOR 
PURPOSES 
OTHER THAN CAMPAIGN FOR ELECTION. 
Section 313 of the Federal Election Campaign Act 
of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30114) is amended by adding at the 
end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(d) RESTRICTIONS ON PERMITTED USES OF FUNDS 
BY CANDIDATES RECEIVING SMALL DOLLAR FINANC-
ING.—Notwithstanding paragraphs (2), (3), or (4) of sub-
section (a), if a candidate for election for the office of Sen-
ator or Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Com-
missioner to, the Congress is certified as a participating 
candidate under title V with respect to the election, any 
contribution which the candidate is permitted to accept 
under such title may be used only for authorized expendi-
tures in connection with the candidate’s campaign for such 
office.’’. 
TITLE 
II—EXPANDING 
CANDI-
DATE 
ACCESS 
TO 
ADVER-
TISING 
SEC. 201. BROADCASTS BY CANDIDATES. 
(a) LOWEST UNIT CHARGE.—Section 315(b)(1)(A) 
of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 
315(b)(1)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘for preemptible 
use thereof’’ after ‘‘station’’. 
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(b) PREEMPTION; AUDITS.—Section 315 of the Com-
munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 315) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub-
section (g) and transferring such subsection, as re-
designated, to the end; 
(2) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub-
section (f) and transferring such subsection, as re-
designated, so that it appears after subsection (e); 
and 
(3) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(c) PREEMPTION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2) and notwithstanding the requirements of 
subsection (b)(1)(A), a licensee may not preempt the 
use of a broadcasting station by a participating can-
didate under title V of the Federal Election Cam-
paign Act of 1971 that has purchased and paid for 
such use under circumstances entitling such can-
didate to receive the rate under such subsection for 
such use. 
‘‘(2) CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND CONTROL OF LI-
CENSEE.—If a program to be broadcast by a broad-
casting station is preempted because of cir-
cumstances beyond the control of the licensee, an 
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advertisement that is scheduled to be broadcast dur-
ing such program and the broadcast of which con-
stitutes use of the broadcasting station described in 
paragraph (1) shall be treated in the same fashion 
as a comparable commercial advertisement. 
‘‘(d) AUDITS.—During the 45-day period preceding 
the date of a primary or primary runoff election and dur-
ing the 60-day period preceding the date of a general elec-
tion or special election, the Commission shall conduct such 
audits as it considers necessary to ensure that the licensee 
of each broadcasting station is allocating use of the station 
in accordance with this section and in a manner that does 
not warrant revocation of the station license under section 
312(a)(7).’’. 
(c) REVOCATION
OF LICENSE
FOR FAILURE TO 
ALLOW ACCESS BY FEDERAL CANDIDATES.—Section 312 
of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 312) is 
amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)(7)— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘in accordance with sub-
section (h),’’ before ‘‘for willful’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘or repeated’’; 
(C) by inserting ‘‘or a cable system’’ after 
‘‘non-commercial educational broadcast sta-
tion,’’; and 
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(D) by striking ‘‘his candidacy’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘the candidacy of the candidate, under the 
same terms, conditions, and business practices 
as apply to the most-favored advertiser of the 
broadcasting station or cable system’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(h) CONDITIONS FOR REVOCATION FOR FAILURE 
TO ALLOW ACCESS BY FEDERAL CANDIDATES.— 
‘‘(1) THREE-STRIKES RULE.—The Commission 
may revoke a station license or construction permit 
under subsection (a)(7) only if the Commission finds 
that the licensee or permittee has engaged in at least 
3 failures described in such subsection with respect 
to the broadcasting station or cable system to which 
the license or permit relates. 
‘‘(2) DURATION.—In the case of a person 
whose station license or construction permit with re-
spect to a broadcasting station or cable system has 
been revoked under subsection (a)(7)— 
‘‘(A) the Commission may not grant a sta-
tion license or construction permit to such per-
son with respect to such broadcasting station or 
cable system during the 5-year period following 
the revocation; and 
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TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS 
PROVISIONS 
SEC. 301. SEVERABILITY. 
If any provision of this Act or any amendment made 
by this Act, or the application of a provision of this Act 
or an amendment made by this Act to any person or cir-
cumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder 
of this Act, and the application of the provisions to any 
person or circumstance, shall not be affected by the hold-
ing. 
Æ 
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