[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 354 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 354

To establish a grant program to assist State and local governments with 
improving the administration of elections through activities which may 
 include the modernization of voting procedures and equipment, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 31, 2001

 Mr. Hutchinson (for himself, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. Foley, Mr. 
 Udall of Colorado, Mr. McHugh, Mr. McIntyre, Mr. Green of Texas, Mr. 
 English, and Mr. Goodlatte) introduced the following bill; which was 
           referred to the Committee on House Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish a grant program to assist State and local governments with 
improving the administration of elections through activities which may 
 include the modernization of voting procedures and equipment, 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 ``Election Procedures Improvement 
Act''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--There is hereby established a program under which 
the Federal Election Commission (hereafter in this Act referred to as 
the ``Commission''), acting through the Office of Elections 
Administration, shall make grants to eligible States and eligible units 
of local government for activities to improve the administration of 
elections.
    (b) Examples of Activities Funded.--In accordance with such 
criteria as the Commission may adopt, a State or unit of local 
government may use funds provided under the program under this Act for 
such activities as it considers appropriate to improve the 
administration of its elections, including the modernization or 
replacement of voting equipment, the purchase, upgrade, or repair of 
computer-based voting systems, and the enhancement of the procedures 
used to tabulate and report election results.
    (c) Eligibility.--A State or a unit of local government is eligible 
to receive a grant under the program under this Act if it submits to 
the Commission (at such time and in such manner as the Commission may 
require) an application containing such information and assurances as 
the Commission may require.

SEC. 3. DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS AMONG GEOGRAPHIC REGIONS AND RURAL AREAS.

    In carrying out the program under this Act, the Commission shall 
ensure--
            (1) that grants are awarded in a manner which reflects the 
        various geographic regions of the United States; and
            (2) that not less than 25 percent of the total amount of 
        funds awarded under the program during a fiscal year is 
        provided to units of local government which serve a population 
        of fewer than 50,000 individuals, either directly or through 
        cooperative agreements with the States in which such units of 
        local government are located.

SEC. 4. OTHER REQUIREMENTS FOR GRANT RECIPIENTS.

    (a) Matching of Funds.--The amount provided by a grant under the 
program under this Act may not exceed 75 percent of the total cost of 
the activity funded by the grant.
    (b) Reports.--
            (1) In general.--During the 1 year-period which begins on 
        the date a State or unit of local government receives a grant 
        under the program under this Act, the State or unit of local 
        government shall submit a report every 6 months to the 
        Commission describing the terms of the grant and the activities 
        funded by the grant.
            (2) Report by commission to congress.--Based on the 
        information reported by States and units of local government 
        under paragraph (1), the Commission shall submit a report to 
        Congress on the program under this Act not later than 30 days 
        after each fiscal year during which grants are made under the 
        program.

SEC. 5. STATE DEFINED.

    In this Act, the term ``State'' includes the District of Columbia, 
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the United 
States Virgin Islands.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated for the first 3 fiscal 
years which begin after the date of the enactment of this Act an 
aggregate amount of $1,500,000,000 to carry out this Act (which shall 
remain available until expended), of which not more than 2 percent may 
be used for administrative costs associated with the program under this 
Act.
                                 <all>