I 112th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 2788 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES August 1, 2011 Mr. Woodall (for himself and Mr. Bartlett) 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 prohibit a candidate for election to the office of Senator or Member of the House of Representatives from making campaign expenditures for the election from amounts that were not raised during the election cycle for that office, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Competitive Elections Act of 2011.

2.

Prohibiting candidates from making expenditures of campaign funds not raised during election cycle

(a)

Prohibition

Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 315A the following new section:

315B.

Prohibiting candidates from making expenditures of funds not raised during election cycle

(a)

Restriction on Expenditures

An authorized committee of a candidate for election for the office of Senator or the office of Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress may not make any expenditure of funds in support of the candidate’s campaign for election that were not deposited in the account of the committee during the election cycle for the office involved. (b)

Exception for Candidates Facing Certain Opponents

(1)

Statements of expenditures from personal funds

(A)

Initial notification

Not later than 24 hours after a candidate for election for the office of Senator or the office of Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress makes expenditures from personal funds during the election cycle in an aggregate amount that exceeds $100,000, the candidate shall file a statement with the Commission and each other candidate in the same election that sets forth the amount by which expenditures from personal funds made by the candidate during the cycle exceeds $100,000. (B)

Additional notifications

After a candidate files an initial statement under subparagraph (A), the candidate shall file an additional statement each time the candidate makes or obligates to make expenditures from personal funds during the election cycle in an aggregate amount that exceeds $50,000. Such additional statement shall be filed not later than 24 hours after the expenditure is made, and shall set forth the amount of expenditures from personal funds made by the candidate since the most recent statement filed under this paragraph. (2)

Permitting use of previously raised funds based on statements from opponents

Notwithstanding subsection (a), an authorized committee of a candidate who receives a statement under paragraph (1) from another candidate in the election may make expenditures of funds that were deposited in the account of the committee prior to the election cycle for the office involved in an amount equal to the sum of— (A)$100,000; plus (B)an amount equal to the product of— (i)the number of statements the candidate receives under paragraph (1) during the election cycle; and (ii)$50,000. (3)

Expenditure from personal funds defined

In this subsection, the term expenditure from personal funds means— (A)an expenditure made by a candidate using personal funds; and (B)a contribution or loan made by a candidate using personal funds or a loan secured using such funds to an authorized committee of the candidate. (c)

Election Cycle Defined

In this section, the term election cycle means— (1)with respect to a candidate for election for the office of Senator, the period beginning on the day after the date of the most recent regularly scheduled general election for that office and ending on the date of the next regularly scheduled general election for that office; and (2)with respect to a candidate for election for the office of Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress, the period beginning on the day after the most recent regularly scheduled general election for Federal office and ending on the date of the next regularly scheduled general election for Federal office.

. (b)

Effective date

The amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply with respect to each election cycle that begins after the date of the enactment of this Act. For purposes of this subsection, the term election cycle has the meaning given such term in section 315B(c) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (as added by subsection (a)).