Let It Go Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1308 To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to provide for a limitation on the time for the use of contributions or donations, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 15, 2019 Mr. TAKANO 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, 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 SEC. 2. TIMEFRAME FOR AND PRIORITIZATION OF DIS- 5 POSAL OF CONTRIBUTIONS OR DONATIONS. 6 Section 313 of the Federal Election Campaign Act 7 of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30114) is amended— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 Mar 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1308.IH H1308 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1308 IH (1) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub- 1 section (d); and 2 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol- 3 lowing new subsection: 4 ‘‘(c) DISPOSAL.— 5 ‘‘(1) TIMEFRAME.—Contributions or donations 6 described in subsection (a) may only be used— 7 ‘‘(A) in the case of an individual who is 8 not a candidate with respect to an election for 9 any Federal office for a 6-year period beginning 10 on the day after the date of the most recent 11 such election in which the individual was a can- 12 didate for any such office, during such 6-year 13 period; or 14 ‘‘(B) in the case of an individual who be- 15 comes a registered lobbyist under the Lobbying 16 Disclosure Act of 1995, before the date on 17 which such individual becomes such a registered 18 lobbyist. 19 ‘‘(2) MEANS OF DISPOSAL; PRIORITIZATION.— 20 Beginning on the date the 6-year period described in 21 subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) ends (or, in the 22 case of an individual described in subparagraph (B) 23 of such paragraph, the date on which the individual 24 becomes a registered lobbyist under the Lobbying 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 Mar 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1308.IH H1308 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1308 IH Disclosure Act of 1995), contributions or donations 1 that remain available to an individual described in 2 such paragraph shall be disposed of, not later than 3 30 days after such date, as follows: 4 ‘‘(A) First, to pay any debts or obligations 5 owed in connection with the campaign for elec- 6 tion for Federal office of the individual. 7 ‘‘(B) Second, to the extent such contribu- 8 tion or donations remain available after the ap- 9 plication of subparagraph (A), through any of 10 the following means of disposal (or a combina- 11 tion thereof), in any order the individual con- 12 siders appropriate: 13 ‘‘(i) Returning such contributions or 14 donations to the individuals, entities, or 15 both, who made such contributions or do- 16 nations. 17 ‘‘(ii) Making contributions to an orga- 18 nization described in section 170(c) of the 19 Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 20 ‘‘(iii) Making transfers to a national, 21 State, or local committee of a political 22 party.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 Mar 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1308.IH H1308 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1308 IH SEC. 3. 1-YEAR TRANSITION PERIOD FOR CERTAIN INDIVID- 1 UALS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual de- 3 scribed in subsection (b), any contributions or donations 4 remaining available to the individual shall be disposed of— 5 (1) not later than one year after the date of the 6 enactment of this Act; and 7 (2) in accordance with the prioritization speci- 8 fied in subparagraphs (A) through (D) of subsection 9 (c)(2) of section 313 of the Federal Election Cam- 10 paign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30114), as amended 11 by section 2. 12 (b) INDIVIDUALS DESCRIBED.—An individual de- 13 scribed in this subsection is an individual who, as of the 14 date of the enactment of this Act— 15 (1)(A) is not a candidate with respect to an 16 election for any Federal office for a period of not 17 less than 6 years beginning on the day after the date 18 of the most recent such election in which the indi- 19 vidual was a candidate for any such office; or 20 (B) is an individual who becomes a registered 21 lobbyist under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995; 22 and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 Mar 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1308.IH H1308 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1308 IH (2) would be in violation of subsection (c) of 1 section 313 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 2 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30114), as amended by section 2. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 Mar 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1308.IH H1308 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS