Stop Super PAC–Candidate Coordination Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4055 To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act to clarify the treatment of coordinated expenditures as contributions made to candidates under such Act, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 25, 2019 Mr. PRICE of North Carolina introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration A BILL To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act to clarify the treatment of coordinated expenditures as contribu- tions made to candidates under such Act, 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 ‘‘Stop Super PAC–Can- 4 didate Coordination Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4055.IH H4055 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4055 IH SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF TREATMENT OF COORDINATED 1 EXPENDITURES AS CONTRIBUTIONS TO CAN- 2 DIDATES. 3 (a) TREATMENT AS CONTRIBUTION TO CAN- 4 DIDATE.—Section 301(8)(A) of the Federal Election Cam- 5 paign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101(8)(A)) is amended— 6 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause (i); 7 (2) by striking the period at the end of clause 8 (ii) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 9 (3) by adding at the end the following new 10 clause: 11 ‘‘(iii) any payment made by any person 12 (other than a candidate, an authorized com- 13 mittee of a candidate, or a political committee 14 of a political party) for a coordinated expendi- 15 ture (as such term is defined in section 325) 16 which is not otherwise treated as a contribution 17 under clause (i) or clause (ii).’’. 18 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Title III of such Act (52 U.S.C. 19 30101 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 20 lowing new section: 21 ‘‘SEC. 325. PAYMENTS FOR COORDINATED EXPENDITURES. 22 ‘‘(a) COORDINATED EXPENDITURES.— 23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 24 301(8)(A)(iii), the term ‘coordinated expenditure’ 25 means— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4055.IH H4055 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4055 IH ‘‘(A) any expenditure, or any payment for 1 a covered communication described in sub- 2 section (d), which is made in cooperation, con- 3 sultation, or concert with, or at the request or 4 suggestion of, a candidate, an authorized com- 5 mittee of a candidate, a political committee of 6 a political party, or agents of the candidate or 7 committee, as defined in subsection (b); or 8 ‘‘(B) any payment for any communication 9 which republishes, disseminates, or distributes, 10 in whole or in part, any video or broadcast or 11 any written, graphic, or other form of campaign 12 material prepared by the candidate or com- 13 mittee or by agents of the candidate or com- 14 mittee (including any excerpt or use of any 15 video from any such broadcast or written, 16 graphic, or other form of campaign material). 17 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR PAYMENTS FOR CERTAIN 18 COMMUNICATIONS.—A payment for a communication 19 (including a covered communication described in 20 subsection (d)) shall not be treated as a coordinated 21 expenditure under this subsection if— 22 ‘‘(A) the communication appears in a news 23 story, commentary, or editorial distributed 24 through the facilities of any broadcasting sta- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4055.IH H4055 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4055 IH tion, newspaper, magazine, or other periodical 1 publication, unless such facilities are owned or 2 controlled by any political party, political com- 3 mittee, or candidate; or 4 ‘‘(B) the communication constitutes a can- 5 didate debate or forum conducted pursuant to 6 regulations adopted by the Commission pursu- 7 ant to section 304(f)(3)(B)(iii), or which solely 8 promotes such a debate or forum and is made 9 by or on behalf of the person sponsoring the de- 10 bate or forum. 11 ‘‘(b) COORDINATION DESCRIBED.— 12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec- 13 tion, a payment is made ‘in cooperation, consulta- 14 tion, or concert with, or at the request or suggestion 15 of,’ a candidate, an authorized committee of a can- 16 didate, a political committee of a political party, or 17 agents of the candidate or committee, if the pay- 18 ment, or any communication for which the payment 19 is made, is not made entirely independently of the 20 candidate, committee, or agents. For purposes of the 21 previous sentence, a payment or communication not 22 made entirely independently of the candidate or 23 committee includes any payment or communication 24 made pursuant to any general or particular under- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4055.IH H4055 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4055 IH standing with, or pursuant to any communication 1 with, the candidate, committee, or agents about the 2 payment or communication. 3 ‘‘(2) NO FINDING OF COORDINATION BASED 4 SOLELY ON SHARING OF INFORMATION REGARDING 5 LEGISLATIVE OR POLICY POSITION.—For purposes 6 of this section, a payment shall not be considered to 7 be made by a person in cooperation, consultation, or 8 concert with, or at the request or suggestion of, a 9 candidate or committee, solely on the grounds that 10 the person or the person’s agent engaged in discus- 11 sions with the candidate or committee, or with any 12 agent of the candidate or committee, regarding that 13 person’s position on a legislative or policy matter 14 (including urging the candidate or committee to 15 adopt that person’s position), so long as there is no 16 communication between the person and the can- 17 didate or committee, or any agent of the candidate 18 or committee, regarding the candidate’s or commit- 19 tee’s campaign advertising, message, strategy, pol- 20 icy, polling, allocation of resources, fundraising, or 21 other campaign activities. 22 ‘‘(3) NO EFFECT ON PARTY COORDINATION 23 STANDARD.—Nothing in this section shall be con- 24 strued to affect the determination of coordination 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4055.IH H4055 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 4055 IH between a candidate and a political committee of a 1 political party for purposes of section 315(d). 2 ‘‘(4) NO SAFE HARBOR FOR USE OF FIRE- 3 WALL.—A person shall be determined to have made 4 a payment in cooperation, consultation, or concert 5 with, or at the request or suggestion of, a candidate 6 or committee, in accordance with this section with- 7 out regard to whether or not the person established 8 and used a firewall or similar procedures to restrict 9 the sharing of information between individuals who 10 are employed by or who are serving as agents for the 11 person making the payment. 12 ‘‘(c) PAYMENTS BY COORDINATED SPENDERS FOR 13 COVERED COMMUNICATIONS.— 14 ‘‘(1) PAYMENTS MADE IN COOPERATION, CON- 15 SULTATION, OR CONCERT WITH CANDIDATES.—For 16 purposes of subsection (a)(1)(A), if the person who 17 makes a payment for a covered communication, as 18 defined in subsection (d), is a coordinated spender 19 under paragraph (2) with respect to the candidate 20 as described in subsection (d)(1), the payment for 21 the covered communication is made in cooperation, 22 consultation, or concert with the candidate. 23 ‘‘(2) COORDINATED SPENDER DEFINED.—For 24 purposes of this subsection, the term ‘coordinated 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4055.IH H4055 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 4055 IH spender’ means, with respect to a candidate or an 1 authorized committee of a candidate, a person (other 2 than a political committee of a political party) for 3 which any of the following applies: 4 ‘‘(A) During the 4-year period ending on 5 the date on which the person makes the pay- 6 ment, the person was directly or indirectly 7 formed or established by or at the request or 8 suggestion of, or with the encouragement of, 9 the candidate (including an individual who later 10 becomes a candidate) or committee or agents of 11 the candidate or committee, including with the 12 approval of the candidate or committee or 13 agents of the candidate or committee. 14 ‘‘(B) The candidate or committee or any 15 agent of the candidate or committee solicits 16 funds, appears at a fundraising event, or en- 17 gages in other fundraising activity on the per- 18 son’s behalf during the election cycle involved, 19 including by providing the person with names of 20 potential donors or other lists to be used by the 21 person in engaging in fundraising activity, re- 22 gardless of whether the person pays fair market 23 value for the names or lists provided. For pur- 24 poses of this subparagraph, the term ‘election 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4055.IH H4055 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 4055 IH cycle’ means, with respect to an election for 1 Federal office, the period beginning on the day 2 after the date of the most recent general elec- 3 tion for that office (or, if the general election 4 resulted in a runoff election, the date of the 5 runoff election) and ending on the date of the 6 next general election for that office (or, if the 7 general election resulted in a runoff election, 8 the date of the runoff election). 9 ‘‘(C) The person is established, directed, or 10 managed by the candidate or committee or by 11 any person who, during the 4-year period end- 12 ing on the date on which the person makes the 13 payment, has been employed or retained as a 14 political, campaign media, or fundraising ad- 15 viser or consultant for the candidate or com- 16 mittee or for any other entity directly or indi- 17 rectly controlled by the candidate or committee, 18 or has held a formal position with the candidate 19 or committee (including a position as an em- 20 ployee of the office of the candidate at any time 21 the candidate held any Federal, State, or local 22 public office during the 4-year period). 23 ‘‘(D) The person has retained the profes- 24 sional services of any person who, during the 2- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4055.IH H4055 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 4055 IH year period ending on the date on which the 1 person makes the payment, has provided or is 2 providing professional services relating to the 3 campaign to the candidate or committee, with- 4 out regard to whether the person providing the 5 professional services used a firewall. For pur- 6 poses of this subparagraph, the term ‘profes- 7 sional services’ includes any services in support 8 of the candidate’s or committee’s campaign ac- 9 tivities, including advertising, message, strat- 10 egy, policy, polling, allocation of resources, 11 fundraising, and campaign operations, but does 12 not include accounting or legal services. 13 ‘‘(E) The person is established, directed, or 14 managed by a member of the immediate family 15 of the candidate, or the person or any officer or 16 agent of the person has had more than inci- 17 dental discussions about the candidate’s cam- 18 paign with a member of the immediate family 19 of the candidate. For purposes of this subpara- 20 graph, the term ‘immediate family’ has the 21 meaning given such term in section 9004(e) of 22 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 23 ‘‘(d) COVERED COMMUNICATION DEFINED.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4055.IH H4055 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 4055 IH ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec- 1 tion, the term ‘covered communication’ means, with 2 respect to a candidate or an authorized committee of 3 a candidate, a public communication (as defined in 4 section 301(22)) which— 5 ‘‘(A) expressly advocates the election of the 6 candidate or the defeat of an opponent of the 7 candidate (or contains the functional equivalent 8 of express advocacy); 9 ‘‘(B) promotes or supports the election of 10 the candidate, or attacks or opposes the election 11 of an opponent of the candidate (regardless of 12 whether the communication expressly advocates 13 the election or defeat of a candidate or contains 14 the functional equivalent of express advocacy); 15 or 16 ‘‘(C) refers to the candidate or an oppo- 17 nent of the candidate but is not described in 18 subparagraph (A) or subparagraph (B), but 19 only if the communication is disseminated dur- 20 ing the applicable election period. 21 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE ELECTION PERIOD.—In para- 22 graph (1)(C), the ‘applicable election period’ with re- 23 spect to a communication means— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4055.IH H4055 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 4055 IH ‘‘(A) in the case of a communication which 1 refers to a candidate in a general, special, or 2 runoff election, the 120-day period which ends 3 on the date of the election; or 4 ‘‘(B) in the case of a communication which 5 refers to a candidate in a primary or preference 6 election, or convention or caucus of a political 7 party that has authority to nominate a can- 8 didate, the 60-day period which ends on the 9 date of the election or convention or caucus. 10 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULES FOR COMMUNICATIONS IN- 11 VOLVING CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES.—For pur- 12 poses of this subsection, a public communication 13 shall not be considered to be a covered communica- 14 tion with respect to a candidate for election for an 15 office other than the office of President or Vice 16 President unless it is publicly disseminated or dis- 17 tributed in the jurisdiction of the office the can- 18 didate is seeking. 19 ‘‘(e) PENALTY.— 20 ‘‘(1) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT.—Any per- 21 son who knowingly and willfully commits a violation 22 of this Act by making a contribution which consists 23 of a payment for a coordinated expenditure shall be 24 fined an amount equal to the greater of— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4055.IH H4055 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 4055 IH ‘‘(A) in the case of a person who makes a 1 contribution which consists of a payment for a 2 coordinated expenditure in an amount exceeding 3 the applicable contribution limit under this Act, 4 300 percent of the amount by which the 5 amount of the payment made by the person ex- 6 ceeds such applicable contribution limit; or 7 ‘‘(B) in the case [Text truncated for display. 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