Empower Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4053 To amend chapters 95 and 96 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reform the system of public financing for Presidential election campaigns, 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, and in addition to the Com- mittees on the Judiciary, and Ways and Means, 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 chapters 95 and 96 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reform the system of public financing for Presidential election campaigns, 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 ‘‘Empower 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 04:53 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H4053.IH H4053 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4053 IH TITLE I—PRIMARY ELECTIONS Sec. 101. Increase in and modifications to matching payments. Sec. 102. Eligibility requirements for matching payments. Sec. 103. Repeal of expenditure limitations. Sec. 104. Period of availability of matching payments. Sec. 105. Examination and audits of matchable contributions. Sec. 106. Modification to limitation on contributions for Presidential primary candidates. Sec. 107. Use of Freedom From Influence Fund as source of payments. TITLE II—GENERAL ELECTIONS Sec. 201. Modification of eligibility requirements for public financing. Sec. 202. Repeal of expenditure limitations and use of qualified campaign con- tributions. Sec. 203. Matching payments and other modifications to payment amounts. Sec. 204. Increase in limit on coordinated party expenditures. Sec. 205. Establishment of uniform date for release of payments. Sec. 206. Amounts in Presidential Election Campaign Fund. Sec. 207. Use of general election payments for general election legal and ac- counting compliance. Sec. 208. Use of Freedom From Influence Fund as source of payments. TITLE III—FREEDOM FROM INFLUENCE FUND Sec. 301. Freedom From Influence Fund. Sec. 302. Assessments against fines and penalties. TITLE IV—OTHER CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORMS Sec. 401. Rules relating to joint fundraising committees. Sec. 402. Repeal of special contribution limits for contributions to national par- ties for certain purposes. TITLE V—EFFECTIVE DATE Sec. 501. Effective date. TITLE I—PRIMARY ELECTIONS 1 SEC. 101. INCREASE IN AND MODIFICATIONS TO MATCHING 2 PAYMENTS. 3 (a) INCREASE AND MODIFICATION.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The first sentence of section 5 9034(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 6 amended— 7 (A) by striking ‘‘an amount equal to the 8 amount of each contribution’’ and inserting ‘‘an 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:53 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4053.IH H4053 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4053 IH amount equal to 600 percent of the amount of 1 each matchable contribution (disregarding any 2 amount of contributions from any person to the 3 extent that the total of the amounts contributed 4 by such person for the election exceeds $200)’’; 5 and 6 (B) by striking ‘‘authorized committees’’ 7 and all that follows through ‘‘$250’’ and insert- 8 ing ‘‘authorized committees’’. 9 (2) MATCHABLE CONTRIBUTIONS.—Section 10 9034 of such Code is amended— 11 (A) by striking the last sentence of sub- 12 section (a); and 13 (B) by adding at the end the following new 14 subsection: 15 ‘‘(c) MATCHABLE CONTRIBUTION DEFINED.—For 16 purposes of this section and section 9033(b)— 17 ‘‘(1) MATCHABLE CONTRIBUTION.—The term 18 ‘matchable contribution’ means, with respect to the 19 nomination for election to the office of President of 20 the United States, a contribution by an individual to 21 a candidate or an authorized committee of a can- 22 didate with respect to which the candidate has cer- 23 tified in writing that— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:53 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4053.IH H4053 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4053 IH ‘‘(A) the individual making such contribu- 1 tion has not made aggregate contributions (in- 2 cluding such matchable contribution) to such 3 candidate and the authorized committees of 4 such candidate in excess of $1,000 for the elec- 5 tion; 6 ‘‘(B) such candidate and the authorized 7 committees of such candidate will not accept 8 contributions from such individual (including 9 such matchable contribution) aggregating more 10 than the amount described in subparagraph 11 (A); and 12 ‘‘(C) such contribution was a direct con- 13 tribution. 14 ‘‘(2) CONTRIBUTION.—For purposes of this 15 subsection, the term ‘contribution’ means a gift of 16 money made by a written instrument which identi- 17 fies the individual making the contribution by full 18 name and mailing address, but does not include a 19 subscription, loan, advance, or deposit of money, or 20 anything of value or anything described in subpara- 21 graph (B), (C), or (D) of section 9032(4). 22 ‘‘(3) DIRECT CONTRIBUTION.— 23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this 24 subsection, the term ‘direct contribution’ 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:53 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4053.IH H4053 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4053 IH means, with respect to a candidate, a contribu- 1 tion which is made directly by an individual to 2 the candidate or an authorized committee of the 3 candidate and is not— 4 ‘‘(i) forwarded from the individual 5 making the contribution to the candidate 6 or committee by another person; or 7 ‘‘(ii) received by the candidate or com- 8 mittee with the knowledge that the con- 9 tribution was made at the request, sugges- 10 tion, or recommendation of another person. 11 ‘‘(B) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—In subpara- 12 graph (A)— 13 ‘‘(i) the term ‘person’ does not include 14 an individual (other than an individual de- 15 scribed in section 304(i)(7) of the Federal 16 Election Campaign Act of 1971), a polit- 17 ical committee of a political party, or any 18 political committee which is not a separate 19 segregated fund described in section 20 316(b) of the Federal Election Campaign 21 Act of 1971 and which does not make con- 22 tributions or independent expenditures, 23 does not engage in lobbying activity under 24 the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:53 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4053.IH H4053 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 4053 IH U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), and is not estab- 1 lished by, controlled by, or affiliated with 2 a registered lobbyist under such Act, an 3 agent of a registered lobbyist under such 4 Act, or an organization which retains or 5 employs a registered lobbyist under such 6 Act; and 7 ‘‘(ii) a contribution is not ‘made at 8 the request, suggestion, or recommendation 9 of another person’ solely on the grounds 10 that the contribution is made in response 11 to information provided to the individual 12 making the contribution by any person, so 13 long as the candidate or authorized com- 14 mittee does not know the identity of the 15 person who provided the information to 16 such individual.’’. 17 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 18 (A) Section 9032(4) of such Code is 19 amended by striking ‘‘section 9034(a)’’ and in- 20 serting ‘‘section 9034’’. 21 (B) Section 9033(b)(3) of such Code is 22 amended by striking ‘‘matching contributions’’ 23 and inserting ‘‘matchable contributions’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:53 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4053.IH H4053 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 4053 IH (b) MODIFICATION OF PAYMENT LIMITATION.—Sec- 1 tion 9034(b) of such Code is amended— 2 (1) by striking ‘‘The total’’ and inserting the 3 following: 4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The total’’; 5 (2) by striking ‘‘shall not exceed’’ and all that 6 follows and inserting ‘‘shall not exceed 7 $250,000,000.’’; and 8 (3) by adding at the end the following new 9 paragraph: 10 ‘‘(2) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.— 11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any ap- 12 plicable period beginning after 2029, the dollar 13 amount in paragraph (1) shall be increased by 14 an amount equal to— 15 ‘‘(i) such dollar amount, multiplied by 16 ‘‘(ii) the cost-of-living adjustment de- 17 termined under section 1(f)(3) for the cal- 18 endar year following the year which such 19 applicable period begins, determined by 20 substituting ‘calendar year 2028’ for ‘cal- 21 endar year 1992’ in subparagraph (B) 22 thereof. 23 ‘‘(B) APPLICABLE PERIOD.—For purposes 24 of this paragraph, the term ‘applicable period’ 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:53 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4053.IH H4053 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 4053 IH means the 4-year period beginning with the 1 first day following the date of the general elec- 2 tion for the office of President and ending on 3 the date of the next such general election. 4 ‘‘(C) ROUNDING.—If any amount as ad- 5 justed under subparagraph (1) is not a multiple 6 of $10,000, such amount shall be rounded to 7 the nearest multiple of $10,000.’’. 8 SEC. 102. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR MATCHING 9 PAYMENTS. 10 (a) AMOUNT OF AGGREGATE CONTRIBUTIONS PER 11 STATE; DISREGARDING OF AMOUNTS CONTRIBUTED IN 12 EXCESS OF $200.—Section 9033(b)(3) of the Internal 13 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 14 (1) by striking ‘‘$5,000’’ and inserting 15 ‘‘$25,000’’; and 16 (2) by striking ‘‘20 States’’ and inserting the 17 following: ‘‘20 States (disregarding any amount of 18 contributions from any such resident to the extent 19 that the total of the amounts contributed by such 20 resident for the election exceeds $200)’’. 21 (b) CONTRIBUTION LIMIT.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (4) of section 23 9033(b) of such Code is amended to read as follows: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:53 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4053.IH H4053 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 4053 IH ‘‘(4) the candidate and the authorized commit- 1 tees of the candidate will not accept aggregate con- 2 tributions from any person with respect to the nomi- 3 nation for election to the office of President of the 4 United States in excess of $1,000 for the election.’’. 5 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 6 (A) Section 9033(b) of such Code is 7 amended by adding at the end the following 8 new flush sentence: 9 ‘‘For purposes of paragraph (4), the term ‘contribution’ 10 has the meaning given such term in section 301(8) of the 11 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.’’. 12 (B) Section 9032(4) of such Code, as 13 amended by section 101(a)(3)(A), is amended 14 by inserting ‘‘or 9033(b)’’ after ‘‘9034’’. 15 (c) PARTICIPATION IN SYSTEM FOR PAYMENTS FOR 16 GENERAL ELECTION.—Section 9033(b) of such Code is 17 amended— 18 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 19 (3); 20 (2) by striking the period at the end of para- 21 graph (4) and inserting ‘‘, and’’; and 22 (3) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol- 23 lowing new paragraph: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:53 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4053.IH H4053 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 4053 IH ‘‘(5) if the candidate is nominated by a political 1 party for election to the office of President, the can- 2 didate will apply for and accept payments with re- 3 spect to the general election for such office in ac- 4 cordance with chapter 95.’’. 5 (d) PROHIBITION ON JOINT FUNDRAISING COMMIT- 6 TEES.—Section 9033(b) of such Code, as amended by sub- 7 section (c), is amended— 8 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 9 (4); 10 (2) by striking the period at the end of para- 11 graph (5) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 12 (3) by inserting after paragraph (5) the fol- 13 lowing new paragraph: 14 ‘‘(6) the candidate will not establish a joint 15 fundraising committee with a political committee 16 other than another authorized committee of the can- 17 didate, except that if the candidate established a 18 joint fundraising committee with respect to a prior 19 election for which the candidate was not eligible to 20 receive payments under section 9037 and the can- 21 didate does not terminate the committee, the can- 22 didate shall not be considered to be in violation of 23 this paragraph so long as that joint fundraising 24 committee does not receive any contributions or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:53 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4053.IH H4053 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 4053 IH make any disbursements during the election cycle for 1 which the candidate is eligible to receive payments 2 under such section.’’. 3 SEC. 103. REPEAL OF EXPENDITURE LIMITATIONS. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 9035 of 5 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read 6 as follows: 7 ‘‘(a) PERSONAL EXPENDITURE LIMITATION.—No 8 candidate shall knowingly make expenditures from his per- 9 sonal funds, or the personal funds of his immediate family, 10 in connection with his campaign for nomination for elec- 11 tion to the office of President in excess of, in the aggre- 12 gate, $50,000.’’. 13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Paragraph (1) of 14 section 9033(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 15 amended to read as follows: 16 ‘‘(1) the candidate will comply with the per- 17 sonal expenditure limitation under section 9035,’’. 18 SEC. 104. PERIOD OF AVAILABILITY OF MATCHING PAY- 19 MENTS. 20 Section 9032(6) of the Internal Revenue Code of 21 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘the beginning of the cal- 22 endar year in which a general election for the office of 23 President of the United States will be held’’ and inserting 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:53 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4053.IH H4053 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 4053 IH ‘‘the date that is 6 months prior to the date of the earliest 1 State primary election’’. 2 SEC. 105. EXAMINATION AND AUDITS OF MATCHABLE CON- 3 TRIBUTIONS. 4 Section 9038(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 5 1986 is amended by inserting ‘‘and matchable contribu- 6 tions accepted by’’ after ‘‘qualified campaign expenses of’’. 7 SEC. 106. MODIFICATION TO LIMITATION ON CONTRIBU- 8 TIONS FOR PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY CAN- 9 DIDATES. 10 Section 315(a)(6) of the Federal El [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]