Ban Corporate PACs Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2692 To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to limit the authority of corporations to establish and operate separate segregated funds uti- lized for political purposes, including the establishment or operation of a political committee, to nonprofit corporations, and for other pur- poses. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 20, 2021 Mr. HARDER of California (for himself and Mr. GOLDEN) 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 authority of corporations to establish and oper- ate separate segregated funds utilized for political pur- poses, including the establishment or operation of a polit- ical committee, to nonprofit corporations, 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 ‘‘Ban Corporate PACs 4 Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:39 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2692.IH H2692 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2692 IH SEC. 2. LIMITING AUTHORITY OF CORPORATIONS TO ES- 1 TABLISH OR OPERATE SEPARATE SEG- 2 REGATED FUNDS FOR POLITICAL PURPOSES 3 TO NONPROFIT CORPORATIONS. 4 (a) LIMITATION.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 316(b)(2)(C) of the 6 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 7 30118(b)(2)(C)) is amended by striking ‘‘a corpora- 8 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘a nonprofit corporation’’. 9 (2) DEFINITION.—Section 316(b) of such Act 10 (52 U.S.C. 30118(b)) is amended by adding at the 11 end the following new paragraph: 12 ‘‘(8) For purposes of this section, the term ‘nonprofit 13 corporation’ means a corporation described in section 14 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt 15 from taxation under section 501(a) of such Code, other 16 than a corporation which is ineligible to be exempt from 17 taxation under section 501(a) of such Code if it establishes 18 a separate segregated fund under this subsection.’’. 19 (b) PERMITTING SOLICITATION OF CONTRIBUTIONS 20 ONLY FROM EXECUTIVE AND ADMINISTRATIVE PER- 21 SONNEL.—Section 316(b) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 22 30118(b)) is amended— 23 (1) in paragraph (4)(A)(i), by striking ‘‘its 24 stockholders and their families and’’; 25 (2) in paragraph (4)(B)— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:39 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2692.IH H2692 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2692 IH (A) by striking ‘‘a corporation’’ the first 1 place it appears and inserting ‘‘a nonprofit cor- 2 poration’’; 3 (B) by striking ‘‘any stockholder, executive 4 or administrative personnel,’’ and inserting 5 ‘‘any executive or administrative personnel’’; 6 and 7 (C) by striking ‘‘stockholders, executive or 8 administrative personnel,’’ and inserting ‘‘exec- 9 utive or administrative personnel’’; 10 (3) in paragraph (4)(D)— 11 (A) by striking ‘‘stockholders and’’; 12 (B) by striking ‘‘such stockholders or per- 13 sonnel’’ and inserting ‘‘such personnel’’; and 14 (C) by striking ‘‘such stockholders and 15 personnel’’ and inserting ‘‘such personnel’’; and 16 (4) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘stockholders 17 and’’. 18 (c) TREATMENT OF GOVERNMENT CONTRACTORS.— 19 Section 317(b) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30119(b)) is 20 amended— 21 (1) by striking ‘‘any corporation’’ and inserting 22 ‘‘any nonprofit corporation’’; and 23 (2) by striking ‘‘a corporation’’ and inserting ‘‘a 24 nonprofit corporation’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:39 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2692.IH H2692 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2692 IH SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE; TRANSITION FOR EXISTING 1 FUNDS AND COMMITTEES. 2 (a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 3 this Act shall take effect on the date of the enactment 4 of this Act. 5 (b) TRANSITION FOR EXISTING FUNDS AND COMMIT- 6 TEES.—In the case of a separate segregate fund estab- 7 lished and operating under section 316(b)(2)(C) of the 8 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 9 30118(b)(2)(C)) as of the date of the enactment of this 10 Act which is not a fund of a nonprofit corporation as de- 11 fined in section 316(b)(8) of such Act (as added by section 12 2(a)(2)), the fund shall terminate and disburse its entire 13 balance not later than 1 year after the date of the enact- 14 ment of this Act. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:39 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2692.IH H2692 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS