[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 715 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 715

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to limit the amount 
 of contributions which may be made to a candidate for election to the 
Senate or House of Representatives by an individual who is not eligible 
to vote in the State or Congressional district involved, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 11, 1999

 Mr. Campbell introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                   Committee on House Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to limit the amount 
 of contributions which may be made to a candidate for election to the 
Senate or House of Representatives by an individual who is not eligible 
to vote in the State or Congressional district involved, 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 ``Can't Vote, Can't Contribute 
Campaign Reform Act of 1999''.

                 TITLE I--LIMITATIONS ON CONTRIBUTIONS

SEC. 101. LIMITATION ON AMOUNT OF CONTRIBUTIONS TO CANDIDATES BY 
              INDIVIDUALS NOT ELIGIBLE TO VOTE IN STATE OR DISTRICT 
              INVOLVED.

    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 ``in the aggregate, 
exceed $1,000;'' and inserting the following: ``in the aggregate--
            ``(i) in the case of contributions made to a candidate for 
        election for Senator or for Representative in or Delegate or 
        Resident Commissioner to the Congress by an individual who is 
        not eligible to vote in the State or Congressional district 
        involved (as the case may be) at the time the contribution is 
        made (other than an individual who would be eligible to vote at 
        such time but for the failure of the individual to register to 
        vote), exceed $100; or
            ``(ii) in the case of any other contributions, exceed 
        $1,000;''.

SEC. 102. BAN ON ACCEPTANCE OF CONTRIBUTIONS MADE BY NONPARTY POLITICAL 
              ACTION COMMITTEES.

    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)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, no 
candidate for election for Federal office may accept any contribution 
from a political action committee.
    ``(2) In this subsection, the term `political action committee' 
means any political committee which is not--
            ``(A) the principal campaign committee of a candidate; or
            ``(B) a national, State, local, or district committee of a 
        political party, including any subordinate committee 
        thereof.''.

  TITLE II--ENSURING VOLUNTARINESS OF CONTRIBUTIONS OF CORPORATIONS, 
               UNIONS, AND OTHER MEMBERSHIP ORGANIZATIONS

SEC. 201. PROHIBITING INVOLUNTARY USE OF FUNDS OF EMPLOYEES OF 
              CORPORATIONS AND OTHER EMPLOYERS AND MEMBERS OF UNIONS 
              AND ORGANIZATIONS FOR POLITICAL ACTIVITIES.

    (a) In General.--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)(A) Except with the separate, prior, written, voluntary 
authorization of the individual involved, it shall be unlawful--
            ``(i) for any national bank or corporation described in 
        this section (other than a corporation exempt from Federal 
        taxation under section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
        1986) to collect from or assess a stockholder or employee any 
        portion of any dues, initiation fee, or other payment made as a 
        condition of employment which will be used for political 
        activity in which the national bank or corporation is engaged; 
        and
            ``(ii) for any labor organization described in this section 
        to collect from or assess a member or nonmember any portion of 
        any dues, initiation fee, or other payment which will be used 
        for political activity in which the labor organization is 
        engaged.
    ``(B) An authorization described in subparagraph (A) shall remain 
in effect until revoked and may be revoked at any time. Each entity 
collecting from or assessing amounts from an individual with an 
authorization in effect under such subparagraph shall provide the 
individual with a statement that the individual may at any time revoke 
the authorization.
    ``(2)(A) Prior to the beginning of any 12-month period (as 
determined by the corporation), each corporation to which paragraph (1) 
applies shall provide each of its shareholders with a notice containing 
the following:
            ``(i) The proposed aggregate amount for disbursements for 
        political activities by the corporation for the period.
            ``(ii) The individual's applicable percentage and 
        applicable pro rata amount for the period.
            ``(iii) A form that the individual may complete and return 
        to the corporation to indicate the individual's objection to or 
        approval of the disbursement of amounts for political 
        activities during the period.
    ``(B) It shall be unlawful for a corporation to which subparagraph 
(A) applies to make disbursements for political activities during the 
12-month period described in such subparagraph in an amount greater 
than the sum of the applicable pro rata amounts for such period of all 
shareholders who return the form described in subparagraph (A)(iii) to 
the corporation prior to the beginning of the period and indicate their 
approval of such disbursements.
    ``(C) In this paragraph, the following definitions shall apply:
            ``(i) The term `applicable percentage' means, with respect 
        to a shareholder of a corporation, the amount (expressed as a 
        percentage) equal to the number of shares of the corporation 
        (within a particular class or type of stock) owned by the 
        shareholder at the time the notice described in subparagraph 
        (A) is provided, divided by the aggregate number of such shares 
        owned by all shareholders of the corporation at such time.
            ``(ii) The term `applicable pro rata amount' means, with 
        respect to a shareholder for a 12-month period, the product of 
        the shareholder's applicable percentage for the period and the 
        proposed aggregate amount for disbursements for political 
        activities by the corporation for the period, as specified in 
        the notice provided under subparagraph (A).
    ``(3) For purposes of this subsection, the term `political 
activity' means any activity carried out for the purpose of influencing 
(in whole or in part) any election for Federal office, influencing the 
consideration or outcome of any Federal legislation or the issuance or 
outcome of any Federal regulations, or educating individuals about 
candidates for election for Federal office or any Federal legislation, 
law, or regulations.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply to amounts collected or assessed on or after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.

                 TITLE III--RESTRICTIONS ON SOFT MONEY

SEC. 301. BAN ON SOFT MONEY OF NATIONAL POLITICAL PARTIES AND 
              CANDIDATES; BAN ON USE OF SOFT MONEY BY STATE POLITICAL 
              PARTIES FOR FEDERAL ELECTION ACTIVITY.

    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:

``restrictions on use of soft money by political parties and candidates

    ``Sec. 323. (a) Ban on Use by National Parties.--
            ``(1) In general.--No political committee of a national 
        political party may solicit, receive, or direct any 
        contributions, donations, or transfers of funds, or spend any 
        funds, which are not subject to the limitations, prohibitions, 
        and reporting requirements of this Act.
            ``(2) Applicability.--Paragraph (1) shall apply to any 
        entity which is established, financed, maintained, or 
        controlled (directly or indirectly) by, or which acts on behalf 
        of, a political committee of a national political party, 
        including any national congressional campaign committee of such 
        a party and any officer or agent of such an entity or 
        committee.
    ``(b) Candidates.--
            ``(1) In general.--No candidate for Federal office, 
        individual holding Federal office, or any agent of such a 
        candidate or officeholder may solicit, receive, or direct--
                    ``(A) any funds in connection with any Federal 
                election unless the 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 
                office unless the funds are not in excess of the 
                applicable amounts permitted with respect to 
                contributions to candidates and political committees 
                under paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 315(a), and are 
                not from sources prohibited from making contributions 
                by this Act with respect to elections for Federal 
                office; or
                    ``(C) any funds on behalf of any person which are 
                not subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and 
                reporting requirements of this Act if such funds are 
                for the purpose of financing any activity on behalf of 
                a candidate for election for Federal office or any 
                communication which refers to a clearly identified 
                candidate for election for Federal office.
            ``(2) Exception for certain activities.--Paragraph (1) 
        shall not apply to--
                    ``(A) the solicitation, receipt, or direction 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; or
                    ``(B) the attendance by an individual who holds 
                Federal office at a fundraising event for a State or 
                local committee of a political party of the State which 
                the individual represents as a Federal officeholder, if 
                the event is held in such State.
    ``(c) State Parties.--
            ``(1) In general.--Any payment by a State committee of a 
        political party for a mixed political activity--
                    ``(A) shall be subject to limitation and reporting 
                under this Act as if such payment were an expenditure; 
                and
                    ``(B) may be paid only from an account that is 
                subject to the requirements of this Act.
            ``(2) Mixed political activity defined.--As used in this 
        section, the term `mixed political activity' means, with 
        respect to a payment by a State committee of a political party, 
        an activity (such as a voter registration program, a get-out-
        the-vote drive, or general political advertising) that is both 
        for the purpose of influencing an election for Federal office 
        and for any purpose unrelated to influencing an election for 
        Federal office.
    ``(d) Prohibiting Transfers of Non-Federal Funds Between State 
Parties.--A State committee of a political party may not transfer any 
funds to a State committee of a political party of another State unless 
the funds are subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and reporting 
requirements of this Act.
    ``(e) Applicability to Funds From All Sources.--This section shall 
apply with respect to funds of any individual, corporation, labor 
organization, or other person.''.

                        TITLE IV--EFFECTIVE DATE

SEC. 401. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    Except as otherwise provided, the amendments made by this Act shall 
apply with respect to elections occurring after January 2001.
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