To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit the solicitation and acceptance of a recurring contribution or donation in a campaign for election for Federal office by any method which does not require the contributor or donor to give affirmative consent to making the contribution or donation on a recurring basis, and for other purposes.

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3832 To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit the solicita- tion and acceptance of a recurring contribution or donation in a cam- paign for election for Federal office by any method which does not require the contributor or donor to give affirmative consent to making the contribution or donation on a recurring basis, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 11, 2021 Mr. LEVIN of California (for himself, Mr. BEYER, Ms. ROSS, and Mr. MALINOWSKI) 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 the solicitation and acceptance of a recurring contribution or donation in a campaign for election for Federal office by any method which does not require the contributor or donor to give affirmative consent to making the contribution or donation on a recurring basis, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3832.IH H3832 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3832 IH SECTION 1. RESTRICTIONS ON SOLICITATION AND ACCEPT- 1 ANCE OF RECURRING CONTRIBUTIONS OR 2 DONATIONS IN CAMPAIGNS FOR ELECTION 3 FOR FEDERAL OFFICE. 4 (a) RESTRICTIONS.—Section 324 of the Federal 5 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30126) is 6 amended to read as follows: 7 ‘‘SEC. 324. RESTRICTIONS ON SOLICITATION AND ACCEPT- 8 ANCE OF RECURRING CONTRIBUTIONS OR 9 DONATIONS. 10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 11 ‘‘(1) RESTRICTIONS ON SOLICITATION.—A per- 12 son may not solicit a recurring contribution to a po- 13 litical committee, a recurring contribution to fund an 14 independent expenditure, or a recurring donation to 15 fund an electioneering communication by any meth- 16 od which does not require the contributor or donor 17 to give affirmative consent to making the contribu- 18 tion or donation on a recurring basis. 19 ‘‘(2) RESTRICTIONS ON ACCEPTANCE.—A polit- 20 ical committee may not accept a contribution which 21 was made on a recurring basis, a person funding an 22 independent expenditure may not accept a contribu- 23 tion to fund the expenditure which was made on a 24 recurring basis, and a person funding an election- 25 eering communication may not accept a donation to 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3832.IH H3832 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3832 IH fund the communication which was made on a recur- 1 ring basis, unless the contributor or donor gave af- 2 firmative consent to making the contribution or do- 3 nation on a recurring basis. 4 ‘‘(3) TREATMENT OF PASSIVE ACTIONS.—For 5 purposes of paragraphs (1) and (2), a contributor or 6 donor who does not take an affirmative action to 7 make or agree to make a contribution or donation 8 on a recurring basis, including a contributor or 9 donor who engages only in a passive action such as 10 failing to uncheck a pre-checked box authorizing a 11 recurring contribution or donation, shall not be con- 12 sidered to give affirmative consent to making the 13 contribution or donation on a recurring basis. 14 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES OF PERSONS ACCEPTING 15 CONTRIBUTIONS OR DONATIONS.—A person accepting a 16 contribution or donation described in subsection (a) which 17 is made on a recurring basis shall meet the following re- 18 quirements with respect to each recurrence of the con- 19 tribution or donation: 20 ‘‘(1) Upon receiving the initial contribution or 21 donation and each subsequent recurrence of the con- 22 tribution or donation, the person shall provide the 23 contributor or donor with a receipt that clearly and 24 conspicuously discloses all of the material terms of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3832.IH H3832 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3832 IH the contribution or donation, including a statement 1 of the date and amount of the next recurrence of the 2 contribution or donation. 3 ‘‘(2) In addition to the information required to 4 be provided under paragraph (1), the person shall 5 include in each communication with the contributor 6 or donor which relates to the contribution or dona- 7 tion all of the information the contributor or donor 8 needs to cancel any subsequent recurrence of the 9 contribution or donation. 10 ‘‘(3) Upon request of the contributor or donor, 11 the person shall immediately cancel all subsequent 12 recurrences of the contribution or donation which 13 would otherwise be made after receiving the re- 14 quest.’’. 15 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 16 this Act shall take effect on the earlier of— 17 (1) the date on which the Federal Election 18 Commission promulgates regulations to carry out 19 section 324 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 20 1971 (as amended by subsection (a)); or 21 (2) the expiration of the 180-day period which 22 begins on the date of the enactment of this Act. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3832.IH H3832 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS