Clean Money Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3834 To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to provide political advertising vouchers and payments to defray the costs of postage for candidates in general elections to the Senate or House of Representatives who agree to restrictions on the types of contributions such candidates raise and the types of expenditures such candidates make, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 18, 2019 Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subse- quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to provide political advertising vouchers and payments to defray the costs of postage for candidates in general elections to the Senate or House of Representatives who agree to restrictions on the types of contributions such candidates raise and the types of expenditures such can- didates make, 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 21:45 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3834.IH H3834 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 3834 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 2 ‘‘Clean Money Act of 2019’’. 3 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 4 this Act is as follows: 5 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. TITLE I—BENEFITS FOR PARTICIPATING CANDIDATES Sec. 101. Political advertising vouchers and payments to defray costs of postage for participating candidates. ‘‘TITLE V—BENEFITS FOR PARTICIPATING CANDIDATES ‘‘Subtitle A—Entitlement to Vouchers and Payments To Defray Costs of Postage ‘‘Sec. 501. Provision of political advertising vouchers. ‘‘Sec. 502. Procedures for redemption of political advertising vouchers. ‘‘Sec. 503. Funds to defray costs of postage. ‘‘Sec. 504. Qualified small dollar contributions described. ‘‘Subtitle B—Eligibility and Certification ‘‘Sec. 511. Eligibility. ‘‘Sec. 512. Qualifying requirements. ‘‘Sec. 513. Certification. ‘‘Subtitle C—Requirements for Candidates Certified as Participating Candidates ‘‘Sec. 521. Contribution and expenditure requirements. ‘‘Sec. 522. Administration of campaign. ‘‘Sec. 523. Returning unused vouchers and funds after election. ‘‘Subtitle D—Administrative Provisions ‘‘Sec. 531. Clean Money Fund. ‘‘Sec. 532. Administration by Commission. ‘‘Sec. 533. Violations and penalties. ‘‘Sec. 534. Appeals process. ‘‘Sec. 535. Indexing of amounts. ‘‘Sec. 536. Election cycle defined. Sec. 102. Contributions and expenditures by multicandidate and political party political committees on behalf of participating candidates. Sec. 103. Prohibiting use of contributions by participating candidates for pur- poses other than campaign for election. TITLE II—EXPANDING CANDIDATE ACCESS TO ADVERTISING Sec. 201. Broadcasts by candidates. VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:45 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H3834.IH H3834 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 3834 IH TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS Sec. 301. Severability. TITLE I—BENEFITS FOR 1 PARTICIPATING CANDIDATES 2 SEC. 101. POLITICAL ADVERTISING VOUCHERS AND PAY- 3 MENTS TO DEFRAY COSTS OF POSTAGE FOR 4 PARTICIPATING CANDIDATES. 5 The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 6 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 7 the following new title: 8 ‘‘TITLE V—BENEFITS FOR 9 PARTICIPATING CANDIDATES 10 ‘‘Subtitle A—Entitlement to Vouch- 11 ers and Payments To Defray 12 Costs of Postage 13 ‘‘SEC. 501. PROVISION OF POLITICAL ADVERTISING VOUCH- 14 ERS. 15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—If a candidate in a general elec- 16 tion to the office of Senator or Representative in, or Dele- 17 gate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress is cer- 18 tified as a participating candidate under this title with re- 19 spect to the election for such office, the candidate shall 20 be entitled to political advertising vouchers as provided 21 under this section. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:45 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3834.IH H3834 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 3834 IH ‘‘(b) VALUE OF VOUCHER.—The value of a political 1 advertising voucher provided to a candidate under this sec- 2 tion shall be equal to the product of— 3 ‘‘(1) the population of the State (in the case of 4 a candidate for the office of Senator) or the congres- 5 sional district involved (in the case of a candidate 6 for the office of Representative in, or Delegate or 7 Resident Commissioner to, the Congress), based on 8 the most recent population estimate from the Bu- 9 reau of the Census; and 10 ‘‘(2) $1. 11 ‘‘(c) TIMING.—The Commission shall provide polit- 12 ical advertising vouchers under this section to a candidate 13 not later than 7 days after the candidate is certified as 14 a participating candidate under this title. 15 ‘‘SEC. 502. PROCEDURES FOR REDEMPTION OF POLITICAL 16 ADVERTISING VOUCHERS. 17 ‘‘(a) USE.— 18 ‘‘(1) EXCLUSIVE USE.—Vouchers provided by 19 the Commission to participating candidates under 20 section 501 may be used only for the purchase of 21 time from a broadcasting station or online platform 22 for the dissemination of political advertisements re- 23 lating to an election for the office of Senator or 24 Member of the House of Representatives (including 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:45 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3834.IH H3834 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 3834 IH a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Con- 1 gress) by the participating candidate to which the 2 vouchers were provided, except that— 3 ‘‘(A) a candidate may exchange vouchers 4 with a national committee of a political party 5 under paragraph (2); and 6 ‘‘(B) a national committee of a political 7 party may use vouchers to purchase time for 8 the dissemination of political advertisements for 9 generic party advertising (as defined by the 10 Commission in regulations) or to support par- 11 ticipating candidates of the party in a general 12 election for Federal office, but only if it dis- 13 closes the value of the voucher used as an ex- 14 penditure under section 315(d). 15 ‘‘(2) EXCHANGE WITH NATIONAL POLITICAL 16 PARTY COMMITTEE.— 17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A participating can- 18 didate who receives a voucher under this section 19 may transfer the right to use all or a portion 20 of the value of the voucher to a national com- 21 mittee of the political party of which the indi- 22 vidual is a candidate in exchange for money in 23 an amount equal to the cash value of the vouch- 24 er or portion exchanged. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:45 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3834.IH H3834 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 3834 IH ‘‘(B) CONTINUATION OF CANDIDATE OBLI- 1 GATIONS.—The transfer of a voucher, in whole 2 or in part, to a national committee of a political 3 party under this paragraph does not release the 4 candidate from any obligation with respect to 5 the provision of the voucher under this title. 6 ‘‘(C) PARTY COMMITTEE OBLIGATIONS.— 7 Any committee to which a voucher or portion 8 thereof is transferred under subparagraph 9 (A)— 10 ‘‘(i) shall account fully, in accordance 11 with such requirements as the Commission 12 may establish, for the receipt of the vouch- 13 er; and 14 ‘‘(ii) may not use the transferred 15 voucher or portion thereof for any purpose 16 other than a purpose described in para- 17 graph (1)(B). 18 ‘‘(D) VOUCHER AS A CONTRIBUTION.—If a 19 candidate transfers a voucher or any portion 20 thereof to a committee under subparagraph 21 (A)— 22 ‘‘(i) the value of the voucher or por- 23 tion thereof transferred shall be treated as 24 a contribution from the candidate to the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:45 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3834.IH H3834 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 3834 IH committee, and from the committee to the 1 candidate, for purposes of sections 302 2 and 304; 3 ‘‘(ii) the committee may, in exchange, 4 provide to the candidate only funds subject 5 to the prohibitions, limitations, and report- 6 ing requirements of title III of this Act; 7 and 8 ‘‘(iii) the amount, if identified as a 9 ‘voucher exchange’, shall not be considered 10 a contribution for the purposes of sections 11 315 and 513. 12 ‘‘(b) VALUE; ACCEPTANCE; REDEMPTION.— 13 ‘‘(1) VOUCHER.—Each voucher disbursed by 14 the Commission under this section shall have a value 15 in dollars, redeemable upon presentation to the 16 Commission, together with such documentation and 17 other information as the Commission may require, 18 for the purchase of time for the dissemination of po- 19 litical advertisements by a broadcasting station or 20 online platform in accordance with this section. 21 ‘‘(2) ACCEPTANCE.—A broadcasting station 22 and online platform shall accept vouchers as pay- 23 ment for the purchase of time for the dissemination 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:45 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3834.IH H3834 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 3834 IH of political advertisements by the station or platform 1 in accordance with this section. 2 ‘‘(3) REDEMPTION.—The Commission shall re- 3 deem vouchers accepted by broadcasting stations 4 and online platforms under paragraph (2) upon 5 presentation, subject to such documentation, 6 verification, accounting, and application require- 7 ments as the Commission may impose to ensure the 8 accuracy and integrity of the voucher redemption 9 system. 10 ‘‘(4) EXPIRATION.—A voucher may only be 11 used to pay for time for the dissemination of polit- 12 ical advertisements to be disseminated before mid- 13 night on the day before the date of the Federal elec- 14 tion in connection with which it was issued and shall 15 be null and void for any other use or purpose. 16 ‘‘(5) VOUCHER AS EXPENDITURE.—The use of 17 a voucher to purchase time for the dissemination of 18 political advertisements constitutes an expenditure 19 as defined in section 301(9)(A). 20 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 21 ‘‘(1) BROADCASTING STATION.—The term 22 ‘broadcasting station’ has the meaning given that 23 term by section 315(g)(1) of the Communications 24 Act of 1934. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:45 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3834.IH H3834 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 3834 IH ‘‘(2) ONLINE PLATFORM.—The term ‘online 1 platform’ means any public-facing website, web ap- 2 plication, or digital application (including a social 3 network, ad network, or search engine) which sells 4 political advertisements. 5 ‘‘(3) POLITICAL PARTY.—The term ‘political 6 party’ means a major party or a minor party as de- 7 fined in section 9002 (3) or (4) of the Internal Rev- 8 enue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 9002 (3) or (4)). 9 ‘‘SEC. 503. FUNDS TO DEFRAY COSTS OF POSTAGE. 10 ‘‘(a) AVAILABILITY OF PAYMENT.—If a candidate in 11 a general election to the office of Senator or Representa- 12 tive in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Con- 13 gress is certified as a participating candidate under this 14 title with respect to the election for such office, the can- 15 didate shall be entitled to a payment under this title to 16 defray the costs of postage incurred in connection with 17 the election by authorized committees of the candidate. 18 ‘‘(b) AMOUNT.—The amount of the payment made to 19 a candidate under this section to defray the costs of post- 20 age shall be equal to the product of— 21 ‘‘(1) the population of the State (in the case of 22 a candidate for the office of Senator) or the congres- 23 sional district involved (in the case of a candidate 24 for the office of Representative in, or Delegate or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:45 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3834.IH H3834 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 3834 IH Resident Commissioner to, the Congress), based on 1 the most recent population estimate from the Bu- 2 reau of the Census; and 3 ‘‘(2) 50 cents. 4 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—Upon receiving a payment 5 under this section, a candidate shall deposit the payment 6 in a separate, segregated account of any authorized com- 7 mittees of the candidate, and shall ensure that amounts 8 in such account are used solely for the payment of postage 9 incurred by such committees in connection with the elec- 10 tion. 11 ‘‘(d) TIMING.—The Commission shall make a pay- 12 ment under this section to a candidate not later than 7 13 days after the candidate is certified as a participating can- 14 didate under this title. 15 ‘‘SEC. 504. QUALIFIED SMALL DOLLAR CONTRIBUTIONS DE- 16 SCRIBED. 17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In this title, the term ‘qualified 18 small dollar contribution’ means, with respect to a can- 19 didate and the authorized committees of a candidate, a 20 contribution that meets the following requirements: 21 ‘‘(1) The contribution is in an amount that is— 22 ‘‘(A) not less than $1; and 23 ‘‘(B) not more than $200. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:45 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3834.IH H3834 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 3834 IH ‘‘(2) The contribution is made by an individual, 1 either directly or through an intermediary or conduit 2 (as described in section 315(a)(8)), who is not other- 3 wise prohibited from making a contribution under 4 this Act. 5 ‘‘(3) The individual who makes the contribution 6 does not make contributions to the candidate or the 7 authorized committees of the candidate with respect 8 to the election involved in an aggregate amount that 9 exceeds the amount described in paragraph (1)(B), 10 or any contribution to the candidate or the author- 11 ized committees of the candidate with respect to the 12 election involved that otherwise is not a qualified 13 small dollar contribution. 14 ‘‘(b) RESTRICTION ON SUBSEQUENT CONTRIBU- 15 TIONS.— 16 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITING DONOR FROM MAKING SUB- 17 SEQUENT NON-QUALIFIED CONTRIBUTIONS DURING 18 ELECTION CYCLE.— 19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An individual who 20 makes a qualified small dollar contribution to a 21 candidate or the authorized committees of a 22 candidate with respect to an election may not 23 make any subsequent contribution to such can- 24 didate or the authorized committees of such 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:45 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 0 [Text truncated for display. 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