Rescuing Every Contributor from Unwanted Recurrences (RECUR) Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1786 To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require disclosures to contributors regarding recurring contributions or donations. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 24, 2021 Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. KING, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and Mr. PADILLA) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Rules and Administration A BILL To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require disclosures to contributors regarding recurring contributions or donations. 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 ‘‘Rescuing Every Con- 4 tributor from Unwanted Recurrences (RECUR) Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:03 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1786.IS S1786 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1786 IS SEC. 2. REQUIRED DISCLOSURES TO CONTRIBUTORS RE- 1 GARDING RECURRING CONTRIBUTIONS OR 2 DONATIONS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 318(d) of the Federal 4 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30120(d)) is 5 amended by adding at the end the following new para- 6 graph: 7 ‘‘(3) COMMUNICATIONS THAT SOLICIT RECUR- 8 RING CONTRIBUTIONS OR DONATIONS.— 9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any person soliciting 10 a recurring contribution to a political com- 11 mittee, a recurring contribution to fund an 12 independent expenditure, or a recurring dona- 13 tion to fund an electioneering communication 14 must receive the affirmative consent of the con- 15 tributor or donor at the arrangement of the re- 16 curring contribution or donation. Passive action 17 by the contributor or donor, such as failing to 18 uncheck a pre-checked box authorizing a recur- 19 ring contribution, shall not meet the require- 20 ment of affirmative consent under this subpara- 21 graph. 22 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—Any person ac- 23 cepting a recurring contribution or donation de- 24 scribed in subparagraph (A) shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:03 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1786.IS S1786 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1786 IS ‘‘(i) provide a receipt for an initial 1 contribution or donation and each recur- 2 rence that clearly and conspicuously dis- 3 closes all material terms; 4 ‘‘(ii) provide all information needed to 5 cancel recurring contributions or donations 6 in each communication with the contrib- 7 utor or donor that concerns the contribu- 8 tion or donation; and 9 ‘‘(iii) shall immediately cancel recur- 10 ring contributions or donations upon re- 11 quest of the contributor or donor.’’. 12 (b) DEADLINE FOR REGULATIONS.—Not later than 13 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Fed- 14 eral Election Commission shall promulgate regulations to 15 carry out this Act. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:03 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1786.IS S1786 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS