II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2257 To reform the financing of Senate elections, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 24, 2019 Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BENNET, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. COONS, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mrs. GILLI- BRAND, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. HEINRICH, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. KING, Ms. KLO- BUCHAR, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. MURPHY, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SCHATZ, Ms. SMITH, Mr. UDALL, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and Ms. WARREN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To reform the financing of Senate elections, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Fair Elections Now Act of 2019’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 6 this Act is as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Jul 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S2257.IS S2257 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2257 IS TITLE I—SMALL DOLLAR FINANCING OF SENATE ELECTION CAMPAIGNS Sec. 101. Eligibility requirements and benefits of Fair Elections financing of Senate election campaigns. Sec. 102. Prohibition on joint fundraising committees. Sec. 103. Exception to limitation on coordinated expenditures by political party committees with participating candidates. TITLE II—IMPROVING VOTER INFORMATION Sec. 201. Broadcasts relating to all Senate candidates. Sec. 202. Broadcast rates for participating candidates. Sec. 203. FCC to prescribe standardized form for reporting candidate campaign ads. TITLE III—RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION Sec. 301. Petition for certiorari. Sec. 302. Electronic filing of FEC reports. TITLE IV—REVENUE PROVISIONS Sec. 401. Fair Elections Fund revenue. TITLE V—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS Sec. 501. Severability. Sec. 502. Effective date. TITLE I—SMALL DOLLAR FI- 1 NANCING OF SENATE ELEC- 2 TION CAMPAIGNS 3 SEC. 101. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS AND BENEFITS OF 4 FAIR ELECTIONS FINANCING OF SENATE 5 ELECTION CAMPAIGNS. 6 The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 7 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 8 the following: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Jul 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2257.IS S2257 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2257 IS ‘‘TITLE V—FAIR ELECTIONS FI- 1 NANCING OF SENATE ELEC- 2 TION CAMPAIGNS 3 ‘‘Subtitle A—General Provisions 4 ‘‘SEC. 501. DEFINITIONS. 5 ‘‘In this title: 6 ‘‘(1) ALLOCATION FROM THE FUND.—The term 7 ‘allocation from the Fund’ means an allocation of 8 money from the Fair Elections Fund to a partici- 9 pating candidate pursuant to section 522. 10 ‘‘(2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘Commission’ 11 means the Federal Election Commission. 12 ‘‘(3) ENHANCED MATCHING CONTRIBUTION.— 13 The term ‘enhanced matching contribution’ means 14 an enhanced matching payment provided to a par- 15 ticipating candidate for qualified small dollar con- 16 tributions, as provided under section 524. 17 ‘‘(4) ENHANCED SUPPORT QUALIFYING PE- 18 RIOD.—The term ‘enhanced support qualifying pe- 19 riod’ means, with respect to a general election, the 20 period which begins 60 days before the date of the 21 election and ends 14 days before the date of the 22 election. 23 ‘‘(5) FAIR ELECTIONS QUALIFYING PERIOD.— 24 The term ‘Fair Elections qualifying period’ means, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Jul 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2257.IS S2257 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2257 IS with respect to any candidate for Senator, the pe- 1 riod— 2 ‘‘(A) beginning on the date on which the 3 candidate files a statement of intent under sec- 4 tion 511(a)(1); and 5 ‘‘(B) ending on the date that is 30 days 6 before— 7 ‘‘(i) the date of the primary election; 8 or 9 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a State that does 10 not hold a primary election, the date pre- 11 scribed by State law as the last day to 12 qualify for a position on the general elec- 13 tion ballot. 14 ‘‘(6) FAIR ELECTIONS START DATE.—The term 15 ‘Fair Elections start date’ means, with respect to 16 any candidate, the date that is 180 days before— 17 ‘‘(A) the date of the primary election; or 18 ‘‘(B) in the case of a State that does not 19 hold a primary election, the date prescribed by 20 State law as the last day to qualify for a posi- 21 tion on the general election ballot. 22 ‘‘(7) FUND.—The term ‘Fund’ means the Fair 23 Elections Fund established by section 502. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Jul 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2257.IS S2257 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2257 IS ‘‘(8) IMMEDIATE FAMILY.—The term ‘imme- 1 diate family’ means, with respect to any candidate— 2 ‘‘(A) the candidate’s spouse; 3 ‘‘(B) a child, stepchild, parent, grand- 4 parent, brother, half-brother, sister, or half-sis- 5 ter of the candidate or the candidate’s spouse; 6 and 7 ‘‘(C) the spouse of any person described in 8 subparagraph (B). 9 ‘‘(9) MATCHING CONTRIBUTION.—The term 10 ‘matching contribution’ means a matching payment 11 provided to a participating candidate for qualified 12 small dollar contributions, as provided under section 13 523. 14 ‘‘(10) NONPARTICIPATING CANDIDATE.—The 15 term ‘nonparticipating candidate’ means a candidate 16 for Senator who is not a participating candidate. 17 ‘‘(11) PARTICIPATING CANDIDATE.—The term 18 ‘participating candidate’ means a candidate for Sen- 19 ator who is certified under section 514 as being eli- 20 gible to receive an allocation from the Fund. 21 ‘‘(12) QUALIFYING CONTRIBUTION.—The term 22 ‘qualifying contribution’ means, with respect to a 23 candidate, a contribution that— 24 ‘‘(A) is in an amount that is— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Jul 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2257.IS S2257 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2257 IS ‘‘(i) not less than the greater of $5 or 1 the amount determined by the Commission 2 under section 531; and 3 ‘‘(ii) not more than the greater of 4 $200 or the amount determined by the 5 Commission under section 531; 6 ‘‘(B) is made by an individual— 7 ‘‘(i) who is a resident of the State in 8 which such candidate is seeking election; 9 and 10 ‘‘(ii) who is not otherwise prohibited 11 from making a contribution under this Act; 12 ‘‘(C) is made during the Fair Elections 13 qualifying period; and 14 ‘‘(D) meets the requirements of section 15 512(b). 16 ‘‘(13) QUALIFIED SMALL DOLLAR CONTRIBU- 17 TION.—The term ‘qualified small dollar contribution’ 18 means, with respect to a candidate, any contribution 19 (or series of contributions)— 20 ‘‘(A) which is not a qualifying contribution 21 (or does not include a qualifying contribution); 22 ‘‘(B) which is made by an individual who 23 is not prohibited from making a contribution 24 under this Act; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Jul 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2257.IS S2257 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 2257 IS ‘‘(C) the aggregate amount of which does 1 not exceed the greater of— 2 ‘‘(i) $200 per election; or 3 ‘‘(ii) the amount per election deter- 4 mined by the Commission under section 5 531. 6 ‘‘(14) QUALIFYING MULTICANDIDATE POLIT- 7 ICAL COMMITTEE CONTRIBUTION.— 8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualifying 9 multicandidate political committee contribution’ 10 means any contribution to a candidate that is 11 made from a qualified account of a multi- 12 candidate political committee (within the mean- 13 ing of section 315(a)(2)). 14 ‘‘(B) QUALIFIED ACCOUNT.—For purposes 15 of subparagraph (A), the term ‘qualified ac- 16 count’ means, with respect to a multicandidate 17 political committee, a separate, segregated ac- 18 count of the committee that consists solely of 19 contributions which meet the following require- 20 ments: 21 ‘‘(i) All contributions to such account 22 are made by individuals who are not pro- 23 hibited from making contributions under 24 this Act. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Jul 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2257.IS S2257 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 2257 IS ‘‘(ii) The aggregate amount of con- 1 tributions from each individual to such ac- 2 count and all other accounts of the polit- 3 ical committee do not exceed the amount 4 described in paragraph (13)(C). 5 ‘‘SEC. 502. FAIR ELECTIONS FUND. 6 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 7 Treasury a fund to be known as the ‘Fair Elections Fund’. 8 ‘‘(b) AMOUNTS HELD BY FUND.—The Fund shall 9 consist of the following amounts: 10 ‘‘(1) APPROPRIATED AMOUNTS.— 11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Amounts appropriated 12 to the Fund. 13 ‘‘(B) SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING 14 APPROPRIATIONS.—It is the sense of the Senate 15 that— 16 ‘‘(i) there should be imposed on any 17 payment made to any person (other than a 18 State or local government or a foreign na- 19 tion) who has a contract with the Govern- 20 ment of the United States in excess of 21 $10,000,000 a tax equal to 0.50 percent of 22 amount paid pursuant to each contract, ex- 23 cept that the aggregate tax on each con- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Jul 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2257.IS S2257 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 2257 IS tract for any taxable year shall not exceed 1 $500,000; and 2 ‘‘(ii) the revenue from such tax should 3 be appropriated to the Fund. 4 ‘‘(2) VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS.—Voluntary 5 contributions to the Fund. 6 ‘‘(3) OTHER DEPOSITS.—Amounts deposited 7 into the Fund under— 8 ‘‘(A) section 513(c) (relating to exceptions 9 to contribution requirements); 10 ‘‘(B) section 521(c) (relating to remittance 11 of allocations from the Fund); 12 ‘‘(C) section 532 (relating to violations); 13 and 14 ‘‘(D) any other section of this Act. 15 ‘‘(4) INVESTMENT RETURNS.—Interest on, and 16 the proceeds from, the sale or redemption of, any 17 obligations held by the Fund under subsection (c). 18 ‘‘(c) INVESTMENT.—The Commission shall invest 19 portions of the Fund in obligations of the United States 20 in the same manner as provided under section 9602(b) 21 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 22 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUND.— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Jul 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2257.IS S2257 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 2257 IS ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The sums in the Fund 1 shall be used to provide benefits to participating 2 candidates as provided in subtitle C. 3 ‘‘(2) INSUFFICIENT AMOUNTS.—Under regula- 4 tions established by the Commission, rules similar to 5 the rules of section 9006(c) of the Internal Revenue 6 Code shall apply. 7 ‘‘Subtitle B—Eligibility and 8 Certification 9 ‘‘SEC. 511. ELIGIBILITY. 10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A candidate for Senator is eligi- 11 ble to receive an allocation from the Fund for any election 12 if the candidate meets the following requirements: 13 ‘‘(1) The candidate files with the Commission a 14 statement of intent to seek certification as a partici- 15 pating candidate under this title during the period 16 beginning on the Fair Elections start date and end- 17 ing on the last day of the Fair Elections qualifying 18 period. 19 ‘‘(2) The candidate meets the qualifying con- 20 tribution requirements of section 512. 21 ‘‘(3) Not later than the last day of the Fair 22 Elections qualifying period, the candidate files with 23 the Commission an affidavit signed by the candidate 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Jul 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2257.IS S2257 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 2257 IS and the treasurer of the candidate’s principal cam- 1 paign committee declaring that the candidate— 2 ‘‘(A) has complied and, if certified, will 3 comply with the contribution and expenditure 4 requirements of section 513; 5 ‘‘(B) if certified, will not run as a non- 6 participating candidate during such year in any 7 election for the office that such candidate is 8 seeking; and 9 ‘‘(C) has either qualified or will take steps 10 to qualify under State law to be on the ballot. 11 ‘‘(b) GENERAL ELECTION.—Notwithstanding sub- 12 section (a), a candidate shall not be eligible to receive an 13 allocation from the Fund for a general election or a gen- 14 eral runoff election unless the candidate’s party nominated 15 the candidate to be placed on the ballot for the general 16 election or the candidate otherwise qualified to be on the 17 ballot under State law. 18 ‘‘SEC. 512. QUALIFYING CONTRIBUTION REQUIREMENT. 19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A candidate for Senator meets 20 the requirement of this section if, during the Fair Elec- 21 tions qualifying period, the candidate obtains— 22 ‘‘(1) a number of qualifying contributions equal 23 to the greater of— 24 ‘‘(A) the sum of— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Jul 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2257.IS S2257 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •S 2257 IS ‘‘(i) 2,000; plus 1 ‘‘(ii) 500 for each congressional dis- 2 trict in the State with respect to which the 3 candidate is seeking election; or 4 ‘‘(B) the amount determined by the Com- 5 mission under section 531; and 6 ‘‘(2) a total dollar amount of qualifying con- 7 tributions equal to the greater of— 8 ‘‘(A) 10 percent of the amount of the allo- 9 cation such candidate would be entitled to re- 10 ceive for the primary election under section 11 522(c)(1) (determined without regard to para- 12 graph (5) thereof) if such candidate were a par- 13 ticipating candidate; or 14 ‘‘(B) the amount determined by the Com- 15 mission under section 531. 16 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO RECEIPT OF 17 QUALIFYING CONTRIBUTION.—Each qualifying contribu- 18 tion— 19 ‘‘(1) may be made by means of a personal 20 check, money order, debit card, credit card, or elec- 21 tronic payment account; 22 ‘‘(2) shall be accompanied by a signed state- 23 ment containing— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Jul 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2257.IS S2257 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •S 2257 IS ‘‘(A) the contributor’s name and the con- 1 tributor’s address in the State in which the con- 2 tributor is registered to vote; and 3 ‘‘(B) an oath declaring that the contrib- 4 utor— 5 ‘‘(i) understands that the purpose of 6 the qualifying contribution is to show sup- 7 port for the candidate so that the can- 8 didate may qualify for Fair Elections fi- 9 nancing; 10 ‘‘(ii) is making the contribution in his 11 or her own name and from his or her own 12 funds; 13 ‘‘(iii) has made the [Text truncated for display. 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