[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3683 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3683

 To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit use of 
  labor organization dues and fees for political activities, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 19, 1996

  Mr. Tiahrt introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on House Oversight

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit use of 
  labor organization dues and fees for political activities, 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 ``Congressional Campaign Integrity 
Act''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON USE OF LABOR ORGANIZATION DUES AND FEES FOR 
              POLITICAL ACTIVITIES.

    Section 316 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 
441b) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(c)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act or any 
other law, it shall be unlawful for a labor organization to use dues or 
fees--
            ``(A) to make contributions or expenditures with respect to 
        any Federal election; or
            ``(B) to support or promote any political activity or 
        organization.
    ``(2) As used in this subsection, the term `dues or fees' means, 
with respect to a labor organization, any amount of dues or fees 
required to be paid to such labor organization by reason of the 
employment of the individual who pays the dues or fees.''.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF PERSONAL LOANS BY CANDIDATES TO THEIR CAMPAIGNS.

    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 subsection:
    ``(i) A candidate for Federal office may not make any loan to a 
campaign committee of the candidate or otherwise provide reimbursable 
financial support for the campaign of the candidate.''.

SEC. 4. EQUALIZATION OF MULTICANDIDATE POLITICAL COMMITTEE CANDIDATE 
              CONTRIBUTION LIMITATION WITH LIMITATION APPLICABLE TO 
              OTHER PERSONS.

    (a) Persons Generally.--Section 315(a)(1)(A) of the Federal 
Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(1)(A)) is amended by 
striking out ``$1,000'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``$2,000''.
    (b) Multicandidate Political Committees.--Section 315(a)(2)(A) of 
the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(2)(A)) is 
amended by striking out ``$5,000'' and inserting in lieu thereof 
``$2,000''.

SEC. 5. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ELECTION LIMITATION ON CONTRIBUTIONS 
              FROM PERSONS OTHER THAN IN-STATE INDIVIDUAL RESIDENTS.

    Section 315 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 
441a), as amended by section 3, is further amended by adding at the end 
the following new subsection:
    ``(j)(1) A candidate for the office of Representative in, or 
Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress may not, with 
respect to an election, accept contributions from persons other than 
in-State individual residents totaling the same as, or in excess of, 
the total of contributions accepted from in-State individual residents.
    ``(2) As used in this subsection, the term `in-State individual 
resident' means an individual who resides in the State in which the 
congressional district involved is located.''.

SEC. 6. SOFT MONEY OF POLITICAL PARTIES.

    Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 
431 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

                   ``soft money of political parties

    ``Sec. 323. (a) A national committee of a political party, 
including the national congressional campaign committees of a political 
party, and any officers or agents of such party committees, shall not 
solicit or receive any contributions, donations, or transfers of funds, 
or spend any funds, not subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and 
reporting requirements of this Act. This subsection shall apply to any 
entity that is established, financed, maintained, or controlled by a 
national committee of a political party, including the national 
congressional campaign committees of a political party, and any 
officers or agents of such party committees.
    ``(b)(1) Any amount expended or disbursed by a State, district, or 
local committee of a political party, during a calendar year in which a 
Federal election is held, for any activity which might affect the 
outcome of a Federal election, including but not limited to any voter 
registration and get-out-the-vote activity, any generic campaign 
activity, and any communication that identifies a Federal candidate 
(regardless of whether a State or local candidate is also mentioned or 
identified) shall be made from funds subject to the limitations, 
prohibitions and reporting requirements of this Act.
    ``(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to expenditures or 
disbursements made by a State, district or local committee of a 
political party for--
            ``(A) a contribution to a candidate other than for Federal 
        office, provided that such contribution is not designated or 
        otherwise earmarked to pay for activities described in 
        paragraph (1);
            ``(B) the costs of a State or district/local political 
        convention;
            ``(C) the non-Federal share of a State, district or local 
        party committee's administrative and overhead expenses (but not 
        including the compensation in any month of any individual who 
        spends more than 20 percent of his or her time on activity 
        during such month which may affect the outcome of a Federal 
        election). For purposes of this provision, the non-Federal 
        share of a party committee's administrative and overhead 
        expenses shall be determined by applying the ratio of the non-
        Federal disbursements to the total Federal expenditures and 
        non-Federal disbursements made by the committee during the 
        previous presidential election year to the committee's 
        administrative and overhead expenses in the election year in 
        question;
            ``(D) the costs of grassroots campaign materials, including 
        buttons, bumper stickers, and yard signs, which materials 
        solely name or depict a State or local candidate; or
            ``(E) the cost of any campaign activity conducted solely on 
        behalf of a clearly identified State or local candidate, 
        provided that such activity is not a get-out-the-vote activity 
        or any other activity covered by paragraph (1).
    ``(3) Any amount spent by a national, State, district or local 
committee or entity of a political party to raise funds that are used, 
in whole or in part, to pay the costs of any activity covered by 
paragraph (1) shall be made from funds subject to the limitations, 
prohibitions, and reporting requirements of this Act. This paragraph 
shall apply to any entity that is established, financed, maintained, or 
controlled by a State, district or local committee of a political party 
or any agent or officer of such party committee in the same manner as 
it applies to that committee.
    ``(c) No national, State, district or local committee of a 
political party shall solicit any funds for or make any donations to 
any organization that is exempt from Federal taxation under section 
501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
    ``(d)(1) No candidate for Federal office, individual holding 
Federal office, or any agent of such candidate or officeholder, may 
solicit or receive (A) any funds in connection with any Federal 
election unless such funds are subject to the limitations, prohibitions 
and reporting requirements of this Act; (B) any funds that are to be 
expended in connection with any election for other than a Federal 
election unless such funds are not in excess of the amounts permitted 
with respect to contributions to Federal candidates and political 
committees under section 315(a) (1) and (2), and are not from sources 
prohibited from making contributions by this Act with respect to 
election for Federal office. This paragraph shall not apply to the 
solicitation or receipt of funds by an individual who is a candidate 
for a non-Federal office if such activity is permitted under State law 
for such individual's non-Federal campaign committee.
    ``(2)(A) No candidate for Federal office or individual holding 
Federal office may directly or indirectly establish, maintain, finance 
or control any organization described in section 501(c) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 if such organization raises funds from the public.
    ``(B) No candidate for Federal office or individual holding Federal 
office may raise funds for any organization described in section 501(c) 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 if the activities of the 
organization include voter registration or get-out-the-vote campaigns.
    ``(C) For purposes of this paragraph, an individual shall be 
treated as holding Federal office if such individual--
            ``(i) holds a Federal office; or
            ``(ii) holds a position described in level I of the 
        Executive Schedule under 5312 of title 5, United States 
        Code.''.

SEC. 7. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Reporting Requirements.--Section 304 of the Federal Election 
Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new subsection:
    ``(d) Political Committees.--(1) A political committee other than a 
national committee of a political party, any congressional campaign 
committee of a political party, and any subordinate committee of 
either, to which section 325(b)(1) applies shall report all receipts 
and disbursements.
    ``(2) Any political committee other than the committees of a 
political party shall report any receipts or disbursements that are 
used in connection with a Federal election.
    ``(3) If a political committee has receipts or disbursements to 
which this subsection applies from any person aggregating in excess of 
$200 for any calendar year, the political committee shall separately 
itemize its reporting for such person in the same manner as required in 
subsection (b) (3)(A), (5), or (6).
    ``(4) Reports required to be filed under this subsection shall be 
filed for the same time periods required for political committees under 
subsection (a).''.
    (b) Reports by State Committees.--Section 304 of the Federal 
Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434), as amended by subsection 
(a), is further amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection:
    ``(e) Filing of State Reports.--In lieu of any report required to 
be filed by this Act, the Commission may allow a State committee of a 
political party to file with the Commission a report required to be 
filed under State law if the Commission determines such reports contain 
substantially the same information.''.
    (c) Other Reporting Requirements.--
            (1) Authorized committees.--Section 304(b)(4) of the 
        Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(b)(4)) is 
        amended--
                    (A) by striking out ``and'' at the end of 
                subparagraph (H);
                    (B) by inserting ``and'' at the end of subparagraph 
                (I); and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                subparagraph:
                    ``(J) in the case of an authorized committee, 
                disbursements for the primary election, the general 
                election, and any other election in which the candidate 
                participates;''.
            (2) Names and addresses.--Section 304(b)(5)(A) of the 
        Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(b)(5)(A)) 
        is amended--
                    (A) by striking out ``within the calendar year''; 
                and
                    (B) by inserting ``, and the election to which the 
                operating expenditure relates'' after ``operating 
                expenditure''.

SEC. 8. SOFT MONEY OF PERSONS OTHER THAN POLITICAL PARTIES.

    Section 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 
434), as amended by section 7, is further amended by adding at the end 
the following new subsection:
    ``(f) Election Activity of Persons Other Than Political Parties.--
(1)(A)(i) If any person to which section 325 does not apply makes (or 
obligates to make) disbursements for activities described in section 
325(b)(1) in excess of $2,000, such person shall file a statement--
            ``(I) within 48 hours after the disbursements (or 
        obligations) are made; or
            ``(II) in the case of disbursements (or obligations) that 
        are required to be made within 20 days of the election, within 
        24 hours after such disbursements (or obligations) are made.
    ``(ii) An additional statement shall be filed each time additional 
disbursements aggregating $2,000 are made (or obligated to be made) by 
a person described in clause (i).
    ``(B) This paragraph shall not apply to--
            ``(i) a candidate or a candidate's authorized committees; 
        or
            ``(ii) an independent expenditure (as defined in section 
        301(17)).
    ``(2) Any statement under this section shall be filed with the 
Commission and shall contain such information as the Commission shall 
prescribe, including whether the disbursement is in support of, or in 
opposition to, 1 or more candidates or any political party.''.
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