3.0.0 2143 2023-01-11T13:27:32Z 2023-01-11T13:27:32Z House HR 2015-04-30 114 [Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 64 (Thursday, April 30, 2015)]From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]By Mr. PRICE of North Carolina:H.R. 2143.Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuantto the following:Congressional power to provide for public financing ofpresidential campaigns arises under the General WelfareClause, Art. I, Sec. 8, of the U. S. Constitution.In Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 91 (1976), the SupremeCourt upheld the congressional power to enact publicfinancing of presidential elections under this Clause. TheSupreme Court stated with regard to the provisions in theFederal Election Campaign Act Amendments of 1974 establishinga presidential public financing system, ``In this case,Congress was legislating for the `general welfare'--to reducethe deleterious influence of large contributions on ourpolitical process, to facilitate communication by candidateswith the electorate, and to free candidates from the rigorsof fundraising.''[Page H2771]]]> hsha00 Committee on House Administration House Standing Referred to 2015-04-30T14:07:10Z Empowering Citizens Act 114 424 HR 2015-01-21 Referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, 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 concerned. Related bill CRS Empowering Mass Participation to Offset the Wealthy's Electoral Role Act of 2015 114 1176 S 2015-04-30 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration. Related bill CRS Empowering Citizens Act 114 3250 S 2016-07-14 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration. Related bill CRS 2015-04-30 Referred to the House Committee on House Administration. IntroReferral H11100 2 House floor actions hsha00 Committee on House Administration 2015-04-30 Introduced in House IntroReferral Intro-H 9 Library of Congress 2015-04-30 Introduced in House IntroReferral 1000 9 Library of Congress P000523 Rep. Price, David E. [D-NC-4] DAVID PRICE D NC E. 4 N V000128 Rep. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD-8] Chris Van Hollen D MD 8 2015-04-30 True D000622 Rep. Duckworth, Tammy [D-IL-8] Tammy Duckworth D IL 8 2016-06-16 False Q000023 Rep. Quigley, Mike [D-IL-5] Mike Quigley D IL 5 2016-06-16 False D000623 Rep. DeSaulnier, Mark [D-CA-11] Mark DeSaulnier D CA 11 2016-06-16 False N000147 Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] ELEANOR NORTON D DC HOLMES 0 2016-06-16 False D000191 Rep. DeFazio, Peter A. [D-OR-4] PETER DEFAZIO D OR A. 4 2016-06-16 False K000009 Rep. Kaptur, Marcy [D-OH-9] MARCY KAPTUR D OH 9 2016-06-16 False S001145 Rep. Schakowsky, Janice D. [D-IL-9] JANICE SCHAKOWSKY D IL D. 9 2016-06-16 False H001034 Rep. Honda, Michael M. [D-CA-17] MICHAEL HONDA D CA M. 17 2016-06-16 False B000574 Rep. Blumenauer, Earl [D-OR-3] EARL BLUMENAUER D OR 3 2016-06-16 False C001091 Rep. Castro, Joaquin [D-TX-20] Joaquin Castro D TX 20 2016-07-14 False C001068 Rep. Cohen, Steve [D-TN-9] Steve Cohen D TN 9 2016-07-14 False S000185 Rep. Scott, Robert C. "Bobby" [D-VA-3] Robert Scott D VA C. "Bobby" 3 2016-07-14 False N000127 Rep. Nolan, Richard M. [D-MN-8] RICHARD NOLAN D MN 8 2016-07-14 False H001068 Rep. Huffman, Jared [D-CA-2] Jared Huffman D CA 2 2016-07-14 False G000535 Rep. Gutierrez, Luis V. [D-IL-4] LUIS GUTIERREZ D IL V. 4 2016-07-14 False D000610 Rep. Deutch, Theodore E. [D-FL-21] Theodore Deutch D FL E. 21 2016-07-14 False S000480 Rep. Slaughter, Louise McIntosh [D-NY-25] LOUISE SLAUGHTER D NY M. 25 2016-07-14 False D000620 Rep. Delaney, John K. [D-MD-6] John Delaney D MD K. 6 2016-07-14 False B001296 Rep. Boyle, Brendan F. [D-PA-13] Brendan Boyle D PA F. 13 2016-12-08 False K000188 Rep. Kind, Ron [D-WI-3] RON KIND D WI 3 2016-12-08 False S000510 Rep. Smith, Adam [D-WA-9] ADAM SMITH D WA 9 2016-12-08 False L000397 Rep. Lofgren, Zoe [D-CA-19] ZOE LOFGREN D CA 19 2016-12-08 False Government Operations and Politics Accounting and auditing Elections, voting, political campaign regulation Government studies and investigations Government trust funds Inflation and prices Presidents and presidential powers, Vice Presidents Public participation and lobbying Tax administration and collection, taxpayers Government Operations and Politics 00 2015-04-30 Introduced in House 2016-07-13T17:03:52Z Empowering Mass Participation to Offset the Wealthy's Electoral Role Act or the EMPOWER Act

Amends the Internal Revenue Code and the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to revise the system of public financing for presidential primary and general elections occurring after January 1, 2016.

Increases the amount of matching funds for presidential primaries from a one-to-one match to a six-to-one match for contributions of $250 or less from individuals, with a limit on aggregate individual contributions of $1,000. Limits the total amount of payments to a presidential primary candidate to $300 million. Provides for an inflation adjustment to matching contributions beginning after 2015.

Requires presidential primary candidates who opt to participate in the public financing system to certify to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) that they have raised $25,000 (currently, $5,000) in each of 20 states, with individual contributions limited to $250. Requires such candidates to commit to accept public financing in both the primary and general elections.

Prohibits presidential primary candidates or their authorized committees from accepting contributions or bundled contributions (i.e., combining small contributions into one large contribution) from lobbyists or political action committees (PACs).

Eliminates expenditure limitations for presidential primary and general elections.

Changes the period for payment of matching funds to presidential primary candidates from January 1 of the election year to six months prior to the date of the earliest state primary election.

Revises financing provisions for general elections to: (1) limit individual contributions to participating candidates to $1,000; and (2) extend matching payments to general elections at a six-to-one rate for contributions of $250 or less, to a maximum amount of $300 million in total matching payments to a publicly-financed general election candidate.

Increases to $100 million the limit on coordinated spending by a national party and its presidential candidate in a general election campaign.

Establishes a uniform date for the release of payments to eligible general election candidates.

]]> EMPOWER Act Display Title EMPOWER Act Official Title as Introduced To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reform the system of public financing for Presidential elections, and for other purposes. Introduced in House IH Short Titles as Introduced EMPOWER Act Short Titles as Introduced Empowering Mass Participation to Offset the Wealthy's Electoral Role Act Introduced in House 2015-04-30T04:00:00Z https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-114hr2143ih/xml/BILLS-114hr2143ih.xml 2015-04-30 Referred to the House Committee on House Administration. text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress This file contains bill summaries and statuses for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.