[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2198 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2198

  To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 and the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 to clarify such provisions with respect to Federal 
 elections, to reduce costs in House of Representatives elections, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 20, 1993

Mr. Hughes introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to 
       the Committees on House Administration and Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 and the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 to clarify such provisions with respect to Federal 
 elections, to reduce costs in House of Representatives elections, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Campaign Cost Reduction and Reform 
Act of 1993''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF QUALIFYING HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CANDIDATE.

    Section 301(19) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 
U.S.C. 431(19)) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(19) The term `qualifying House of Representatives candidate' 
means a candidate for the office of Representative in, or Delegate or 
Resident Commissioner to, the Congress, whose principal campaign 
committee includes in its statement of organization a declaration of 
intention under section 303(b)(7) and, by reason of such declaration, 
is subject to the expenditure limitations specified in section 315(i) 
or section 315(j).''.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO DEFINITION OF CONTRIBUTION RELATING TO VALUATION 
              FORMULA AND ENCOURAGEMENT CONTRIBUTIONS.

    Section 301(8)(A) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 
U.S.C. 431(8)(A)) is amended--
            (1) in clause (i)--
                    (A) by inserting after ``anything of value'' the 
                following: (such value to be determined by the highest 
                of: cost to the person making the contribution, fair 
                market value on the date of acquisition by the person 
                making the contribution, or fair market value on the 
                date of the contribution); and
                    (B) by striking out ``or'' after the semicolon;
            (2) in clause (ii), by striking out the period and 
        inserting in lieu thereof ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new clause:
            ``(iii) any gift, subscription, loan, advance, or deposit 
        of money or anything of value (such value to be determined in 
        the manner described in clause (i)) made by any person for the 
        purpose of encouraging any specific individual who is not a 
        candidate to become a candidate.''.

SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS TO DEFINITION OF EXPENDITURE RELATING TO VALUATION 
              FORMULA AND ENCOURAGEMENT EXPENDITURES.

    Section 301(9)(A) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 
U.S.C. 431(9)(A)) is amended--
            (1) in clause (i)--
                    (A) by inserting after ``anything of value'' the 
                following: ``(such value to be determined by the 
                highest of: cost to the person making the expenditure, 
                fair market value on the date of acquisition by the 
                person making the expenditure, or fair market value on 
                the date of the expenditure); and
                    (B) by striking out ``and'' after the semicolon;
            (2) in clause (ii), by striking out the period and 
        inserting in lieu thereof ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new clause:
            ``(iii) any purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, 
        deposit, or gift of money or anything of value (such value to 
        be determined in the manner described in clause (i)) made by 
        any person for the purpose of encouraging any specific 
        individual who is not a candidate to become a candidate.''.

SEC. 5. REGISTRATION AS QUALIFYING HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CANDIDATE.

    (a) In General.--Section 303(b) of the Federal Election Campaign 
Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 433(b)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (5), by striking out ``and'' after the 
        semicolon at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (6), by striking out the period at the end 
        and inserting in lieu thereof the following: ``and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(7) in the case of a principal campaign committee of a 
        candidate for the office of Representative in, or Delegate or 
        Resident Commissioner to, the Congress, who desires to be a 
        qualifying House of Representatives candidate, a declaration of 
        intention of the candidate to comply voluntarily with all 
        contribution limitations and expenditure limitations under this 
        Act.''.
    (b) Amendment to Statement of Organization.--Section 303 of the 
Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 433) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(e)(1) In the case of a political committee referred to in 
paragraph (7) of subsection (b), if the statement of organization does 
not include a declaration referred to in that paragraph, the committee 
may amend the statement to include such declaration, if such amendment 
is filed under section 302(g) not later than the day the candidate 
becomes a candidate for purposes of State law.
    ``(2) A declaration of intention that is included in a statement of 
organization under paragraph (7) of subsection (b), whether in the 
original filing or by amendment, may not be revoked.''.

SEC. 6. AMENDMENT TO DEFINITION OF INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURE.

    Section 301(17) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 
U.S.C. 431(17)) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``An 
expenditure is not an independent expenditure if--
            ``(A) there is any arrangement, coordination, or direction 
        with respect to the expenditure between the candidate and the 
        person making the expenditure;
            ``(B) with respect to the election, the person making the 
        expenditure--
                    ``(i) is authorized to solicit contributions or 
                make expenditures on behalf of the candidate or an 
                authorized committee of the candidate;
                    ``(ii) is an officer of an authorized committee of 
                the candidate; or
                    ``(iii) receives any compensation or reimbursement 
                from the candidate, or an authorized committee of the 
                candidate;
            ``(C) the expenditure is clearly intended to encourage 
        voters to support or oppose a specific candidate for the office 
        of Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, 
        the Congress.''.

SEC. 7. LIMITATIONS ON EXPENDITURES BY QUALIFYING HOUSE OF 
              REPRESENTATIVES CANDIDATES.

    Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 
441a), is amended by adding at the end the following new subsections:
    ``(i) A qualifying House of Representatives candidate shall not 
make expenditures derived from personal funds of such candidate in 
excess of $75,000 with respect to an election for the Office of 
Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the 
Congress.
    ``(j) A qualifying House of Representatives candidate shall not 
make expenditures in excess of $600,000 with respect to an election 
cycle.''.

SEC. 8. LIMITATIONS WITH RESPECT TO QUALIFYING HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
              CANDIDATES.

    Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 
441a), as amended by section 7 of this Act, is further amended by 
adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(k)(1) A qualifying House of Representatives candidate may not 
accept, in an election cycle--
            ``(A) more than $300,000 in contributions from persons 
        other than individuals;
            ``(B) more than $5,000 from a single multicandidate 
        political committee;
            ``(C) more than $75,000 from political party committees; or
            ``(D) more than $100,000 from individuals who reside 
        outside the congressional district involved.
    ``(2) No person may make independent expenditures in an election 
cycle of more than $10,000 advocating the election of a qualifying 
House of Representatives candidate or advocating the defeat of the 
opponent of such candidate.
    ``(3) An individual may not make contributions of more than $2,000 
to a qualifying House of Representatives candidate in an election 
cycle.
    ``(4) As used in this section, the term `election cycle' means--
            ``(A) in the case of a candidate or the authorized 
        committees of a candidate, the term beginning on the day after 
        the date of the most recent general election for the specific 
        office or seat which such candidate seeks and ending on the 
        date of the next general election for such office or seat; or
            ``(B) for all other persons, the term beginning on the 
        first day following the date of the last general election and 
        ending on the date of the next general election.
    ``(5)(A) Any person who exceeds a limitation under this subsection 
by 5 percent or less shall pay to the Commission an amount equal to the 
amount of the excess.
    ``(B) Any person who exceeds a limitation under this subsection by 
more than 5 percent but not more than 10 percent shall pay to the 
Commission an amount equal to three times the amount of the excess.
    ``(C) Any person who exceeds a limitation under this subsection by 
more than 10 percent shall pay to the Commission an amount equal to 
three times the amount of the excess plus a civil penalty in an amount 
determined by the Commission.''.

SEC. 9. AMENDMENTS TO THE INTERNAL REVENUE CODE OF 1986 RELATING TO THE 
              CREDIT FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO CERTAIN QUALIFYING HOUSE OF 
              REPRESENTATIVES CANDIDATES.

    (a) General Rule.--Subpart A of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 
1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to nonrefundable 
personal credits) is amended by inserting after section 23 the 
following new section:

``SEC. 24. CONTRIBUTIONS TO CERTAIN QUALIFYING HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
              CANDIDATES.

    ``(a) General Rule.--In the case of an individual, there shall be 
allowed as a credit against the tax imposed by this chapter for the 
taxable year an amount equal to the total of contributions to 
qualifying House of Representatives candidates which are made by the 
taxpayer during the taxable year, with respect to elections in the 
congressional district of which the taxpayer is a resident.
    ``(b) Limitations.--
            ``(1) Maximum credit.--The credit allowed by subsection (a) 
        for a taxable year shall not exceed $100 ($200 in the case of a 
        joint return under section 6013).
            ``(2) Verification.--The credit allowed by subsection (a) 
        shall be allowed, with respect to any qualified political 
        contribution, only if such contribution is verified in such 
        manner as the Secretary shall prescribe by regulations.
    ``(c) Definitions.--For purposes of this section, the terms 
`contribution' and `qualifying House of Representatives candidate' have 
the meanings given those terms in section 301 of the Federal Election 
Campaign Act of 1971.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Section 642 of such Code (relating to special rules for 
        credits and deductions of estates or trusts) is amended by 
        adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(j) Credit for Political Contributions Not Allowed.--An estate or 
trust shall not be allowed the credit against tax provided by section 
24.''.
            (2) The table of sections for subpart A of part IV of 
        subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by inserting 
        after the item relating to section 23 the following new item:

``Sec. 24. Contributions to certain qualifying House of Representatives 
                            candidates.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 1993.

SEC. 10. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the amendments made by 
this Act shall apply with respect to elections for Federal office 
beginning with the general election of November 8, 1994 (and any 
primary election relating to such general election).

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