Let It Go Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2605 To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to provide for a limitation on the time for the use of contributions or donations by candidates for election for Federal office, to prohibit candidates from using campaign funds to make contributions to charitable organizations which are owned or controlled by the candidate or immediate family members of the candidate, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 15, 2021 Mr. TAKANO (for himself and Mr. CASE) 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 provide for a limitation on the time for the use of con- tributions or donations by candidates for election for Federal office, to prohibit candidates from using cam- paign funds to make contributions to charitable organiza- tions which are owned or controlled by the candidate or immediate family members of the candidate, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Let It Go Act’’. 4 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:43 Jun 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2605.IH H2605 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2605 IH SEC. 2. TIMEFRAME FOR AND PRIORITIZATION OF DIS- 1 POSAL OF CONTRIBUTIONS OR DONATIONS 2 BY CANDIDATES. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 313 of the Federal Elec- 4 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30114) is amend- 5 ed— 6 (1) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub- 7 section (d); and 8 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol- 9 lowing new subsection: 10 ‘‘(c) DISPOSAL.— 11 ‘‘(1) TIMEFRAME.—Contributions or donations 12 described in subsection (a) may only be used— 13 ‘‘(A) in the case of an individual who is 14 not a candidate with respect to an election for 15 any Federal office for a 6-year period beginning 16 on the day after the date of the most recent 17 such election in which the individual was a can- 18 didate for any such office, during such 6-year 19 period; or 20 ‘‘(B) in the case of an individual who be- 21 comes a registered lobbyist under the Lobbying 22 Disclosure Act of 1995, before the date on 23 which such individual becomes such a registered 24 lobbyist. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:43 Jun 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2605.IH H2605 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2605 IH ‘‘(2) MEANS OF DISPOSAL; PRIORITIZATION.— 1 Beginning on the date the 6-year period described in 2 subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) ends (or, in the 3 case of an individual described in subparagraph (B) 4 of such paragraph, the date on which the individual 5 becomes a registered lobbyist under the Lobbying 6 Disclosure Act of 1995), contributions or donations 7 that remain available to an individual described in 8 such paragraph shall be disposed of, not later than 9 30 days after such date, as follows: 10 ‘‘(A) First, to pay any debts or obligations 11 owed in connection with the campaign for elec- 12 tion for Federal office of the individual. 13 ‘‘(B) Second, to the extent such contribu- 14 tion or donations remain available after the ap- 15 plication of subparagraph (A), through any of 16 the following means of disposal (or a combina- 17 tion thereof), in any order the individual con- 18 siders appropriate: 19 ‘‘(i) Returning such contributions or 20 donations to the individuals, entities, or 21 both, who made such contributions or do- 22 nations. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:43 Jun 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2605.IH H2605 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2605 IH ‘‘(ii) Making contributions to an orga- 1 nization described in section 170(c) of the 2 Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 3 ‘‘(iii) Making transfers to a national, 4 State, or local committee of a political 5 party.’’. 6 (b) 1-YEAR TRANSITION PERIOD FOR CERTAIN INDI- 7 VIDUALS.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual 9 described in paragraph (2), any contributions or do- 10 nations under section 313(a) of the Federal Election 11 Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30114(a)) re- 12 maining available to the individual as of the date of 13 the enactment of this Act shall be disposed of— 14 (A) not later than one year after the date 15 of the enactment of this Act; and 16 (B) in accordance with the prioritization 17 specified in subparagraphs (A) through (B) of 18 subsection (c)(2) of section 313 of the Federal 19 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 20 30114), as amended by subsection (a). 21 (2) INDIVIDUALS DESCRIBED.—An individual 22 described in this paragraph is an individual who, as 23 of the date of the enactment of this Act— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:43 Jun 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2605.IH H2605 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2605 IH (A)(i) is not a candidate with respect to an 1 election for any Federal office for a period of 2 not less than 6 years beginning on the day after 3 the date of the most recent such election in 4 which the individual was a candidate for any 5 such office; or 6 (ii) is an individual who becomes a reg- 7 istered lobbyist under the Lobbying Disclosure 8 Act of 1995; and 9 (B) would be in violation of subsection (c) 10 of section 313 of the Federal Election Cam- 11 paign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30114), as 12 amended by subsection (a). 13 SEC. 3. PROHIBITING DONATION OF CAMPAIGN FUNDS TO 14 CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS OWNED OR 15 CONTROLLED BY CANDIDATE OR IMMEDIATE 16 FAMILY MEMBERS. 17 (a) PROHIBITION.—Section 313(b) of the Federal 18 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30114(b)) is 19 amended by adding at the end the following new para- 20 graph: 21 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITING CONTRIBUTIONS TO CHARI- 22 TABLE ORGANIZATIONS OWNED OR CONTROLLED BY 23 CANDIDATE OR IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBERS.—A 24 contribution or donation described in subsection (a) 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:43 Jun 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2605.IH H2605 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2605 IH may not be used for a contribution to an organiza- 1 tion described in section 170(c) of the Internal Rev- 2 enue Code of 1986 if the candidate or an immediate 3 family member of the candidate (as defined in sub- 4 section (c)(3)(B)) is an employee of the organization 5 or a member of the organization’s board of directors, 6 or (in the case of an organization which is a cor- 7 poration) the candidate and immediate family mem- 8 bers of the candidate in the aggregate own a major- 9 ity of the corporation’s voting shares.’’. 10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 313 of 11 such Act (52 U.S.C. 30114) is amended— 12 (1) in subsection (a)(3), by striking ‘‘for con- 13 tributions’’ and inserting ‘‘except as provided in sub- 14 section (b)(3), for contributions’’; and 15 (2) in subsection (c)(2)(B)(ii), as amended by 16 section 2, by striking ‘‘Making contributions’’ and 17 inserting ‘‘Except as provided in subsection (b)(3), 18 making contributions’’. 19 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 20 this section shall apply with respect to contributions made 21 on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:43 Jun 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2605.IH H2605 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS