Judicial Ads Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4183 To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require organiza- tions that spend more than $50,000 on Federal judicial nomination communications to file statements disclosing donors and certain other information with the Federal Election Commission. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 2, 2020 Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. COONS, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. MERKLEY, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. KING, Mr. MARKEY, and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require organizations that spend more than $50,000 on Federal judicial nomination communications to file state- ments disclosing donors and certain other information with the Federal Election Commission. 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 ‘‘Judicial Ads Act’’. 4 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:28 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4183.IS S4183 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4183 IS SEC. 2. STATEMENTS OF SPENDING ON FEDERAL JUDICIAL 1 NOMINATION COMMUNICATIONS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Federal Election 3 Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101) is amended by 4 adding at the end the following new subtitle: 5 ‘‘Subtitle B—Federal Judicial 6 Nomination Communications 7 ‘‘SEC. 351. STATEMENTS OF SPENDING ON FEDERAL JUDI- 8 CIAL NOMINATION COMMUNICATIONS. 9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 10 ‘‘(1) STATEMENT REQUIRED.—Any covered or- 11 ganization that spends or contracts to spend a total 12 of more than $50,000 on Federal judicial nomina- 13 tion communications during any calendar year shall 14 file a statement with the Commission at the times 15 described in paragraph (2) and containing the infor- 16 mation described in paragraph (3). 17 ‘‘(2) TIME FOR FILING STATEMENT.—A state- 18 ment shall be required to be filed under this sub- 19 section not later than 48 hours after each of the fol- 20 lowing: 21 ‘‘(A) The first date during any calendar 22 year by which the covered organization has 23 spent or contracted to spend a total of more 24 than $50,000 on Federal judicial nomination 25 communications. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:28 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4183.IS S4183 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4183 IS ‘‘(B) Any date during such calendar year 1 after the date described in subparagraph (A) by 2 which the covered organization has spent or 3 contracted to spend a total of more than 4 $50,000 on Federal judicial nomination commu- 5 nications since the most recent date on which a 6 statement was required to be filed under this 7 subsection for such calendar year. 8 ‘‘(C) The last day of any calendar year in 9 which a covered organization has filed a state- 10 ment under subparagraph (A). 11 ‘‘(3) CONTENTS OF STATEMENT.—Each state- 12 ment required to be filed under this subsection shall 13 be made under penalty of perjury and shall contain 14 the following information: 15 ‘‘(A) The name of the covered organiza- 16 tion. 17 ‘‘(B) The principal place of business of the 18 covered organization. 19 ‘‘(C) If the covered organization is a cor- 20 poration (other than a business concern that is 21 an issuer of a class of securities registered 22 under section 12 of the Securities Exchange 23 Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78l) or that is required 24 to file reports under section 15(d) of that Act 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:28 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4183.IS S4183 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4183 IS (15 U.S.C. 78o(d))) or an entity described in 1 subsection (d)(2)(B), a list of the beneficial 2 owners of the covered organization that in- 3 cludes, for each beneficial owner— 4 ‘‘(i) the name; 5 ‘‘(ii) the current residential or busi- 6 ness street address; and 7 ‘‘(iii) if the beneficial owner exercises 8 control over the covered organization 9 through another legal entity, such as a cor- 10 poration, partnership, limited liability com- 11 pany, or trust, for the other legal entity— 12 ‘‘(I) the name; 13 ‘‘(II) the current residential or 14 business street address; and 15 ‘‘(III) each beneficial owner who 16 is authorized to use that other legal 17 entity to exercise control over the cov- 18 ered organization. 19 ‘‘(D)(i) If the covered organization makes 20 disbursements for Federal judicial nomination 21 communications using exclusively funds in a 22 segregated bank account consisting of funds 23 paid directly to such account by persons other 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:28 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4183.IS S4183 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4183 IS than the covered organization that controls the 1 account— 2 ‘‘(I) the names and addresses of all 3 persons who donated an aggregate amount 4 of $5,000 or more to that account during 5 the period beginning on the first day of the 6 preceding calendar year and ending on the 7 date described in paragraph (2) with re- 8 spect to such statement; and 9 ‘‘(II) the information described in 10 subparagraph (C) with respect to each 11 beneficial owner of any donor described in 12 subclause (I) that is not an individual. 13 Nothing in this clause is to be construed as a 14 prohibition on the use of funds in such a seg- 15 regated account for a purpose other than Fed- 16 eral judicial nomination communications. 17 ‘‘(ii) If the covered organization makes dis- 18 bursements for Federal judicial nomination 19 communications using funds other than funds 20 in a segregated bank account described in 21 clause (i)— 22 ‘‘(I) the names and addresses of all 23 persons who donated an aggregate amount 24 of $5,000 or more to the covered organiza- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:03 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4183.IS S4183 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4183 IS tion making the disbursement during the 1 period beginning on the first day of the 2 preceding calendar year and ending on the 3 date described in paragraph (2) with re- 4 spect to such statement; and 5 ‘‘(II) the information described in 6 subparagraph (C) with respect to each 7 beneficial owner of any donor described in 8 subclause (I) that is not an individual. 9 ‘‘(E) For each Federal judicial nomination 10 communication during the reporting period— 11 ‘‘(i) the name of the nominee; 12 ‘‘(ii) the date of the communication; 13 ‘‘(iii) the amount spent or contracted 14 to be spent; 15 ‘‘(iv) the name and address of the 16 person receiving payment for the commu- 17 nication; and 18 ‘‘(v) the platform through which the 19 Federal judicial nomination communication 20 was made. 21 ‘‘(F) A certification signed by the covered 22 organization’s chief executive officer under pen- 23 alty of perjury, avowing that— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:03 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4183.IS S4183 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4183 IS ‘‘(i) the covered organization is not a 1 foreign national or foreign-influenced cor- 2 poration; and 3 ‘‘(ii) after due inquiry, no amounts 4 spent on a Federal judicial nomination 5 communication were from an account that 6 includes funds received from a foreign na- 7 tional or a foreign-influenced corporation. 8 ‘‘(b) FILING.—Statements required to be filed under 9 subsection (a) shall be subject to the requirements of sec- 10 tion 304(d) to the same extent and in the same manner 11 as if such statements had been required under subsection 12 (c) or (g) of section 304. 13 ‘‘(c) ANTI-EVASION RULE.—For purposes of section 14 309, it shall be a violation of this section to structure or 15 attempt to structure any solicitation, donation, contribu- 16 tion, expenditure, disbursement, transfer, or other trans- 17 action in a manner intended to evade the reporting re- 18 quirements of this section. 19 ‘‘SEC. 352. DISCLAIMERS RELATING TO FEDERAL JUDICIAL 20 NOMINATION COMMUNICATIONS. 21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Whenever any person makes a 22 disbursement for the purpose of financing a Federal judi- 23 cial nomination communication, such communication shall 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:03 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4183.IS S4183 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4183 IS clearly state the name and permanent street address, tele- 1 phone number, or World Wide Web address of the person. 2 ‘‘(b) SPECIFICATIONS.—Except as provided in regu- 3 lations, any Federal judicial nomination communication 4 described in subsection (a) shall be subject to the same 5 specifications and additional requirements that apply to 6 communications described in section 318(a)(3). 7 ‘‘SEC. 353. PROHIBITIONS WITH RESPECT TO FOREIGN NA- 8 TIONALS AND FOREIGN-INFLUENCED COR- 9 PORATIONS. 10 ‘‘It shall be unlawful for— 11 ‘‘(1) a foreign national or foreign-influenced 12 corporation, directly or indirectly, to spend or make 13 an express or implied promise to spend money or 14 other thing of value in connection with a Federal ju- 15 dicial nomination communication; or 16 ‘‘(2) a person to solicit, accept, or receive 17 money or any other thing of value from a foreign na- 18 tional or a foreign-influenced corporation in connec- 19 tion with a Federal judicial nomination communica- 20 tion. 21 ‘‘SEC. 354. DEFINITIONS. 22 ‘‘When used in this subtitle: 23 ‘‘(1) FEDERAL JUDICIAL NOMINATION COMMU- 24 NICATION.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:28 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4183.IS S4183 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4183 IS ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘Federal ju- 1 dicial nomination communication’ means any 2 communication— 3 ‘‘(i) that is by means of any broad- 4 cast, cable, or satellite, paid internet, or 5 paid digital communication, paid pro- 6 motion, newspaper, magazine, outdoor ad- 7 vertising facility, mass mailing, telephone 8 bank, telephone messaging effort of more 9 than 500 substantially similar calls or elec- 10 tronic messages within a 30-day period, or 11 any other form of general public political 12 advertising; and 13 ‘‘(ii) that is susceptible to no reason- 14 able interpretation other than promoting, 15 supporting, attacking, or opposing the 16 nomination or Senate confirmation of an 17 individual as a Federal judge or justice. 18 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Such term shall not in- 19 clude any news story, commentary, or editorial 20 distributed through the facilities of any broad- 21 casting station or any print, online, or digital 22 newspaper, magazine, publication, or periodical, 23 unless such facilities are owned or controlled by 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:28 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4183.IS S4183 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4183 IS any political party, political committee, or can- 1 didate. 2 ‘‘(2) COVERED ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘cov- 3 ered organization’ means any of the following: 4 ‘‘(A) A corporation. 5 ‘‘(B) A partnership. 6 ‘‘(C) An organization described in section 7 501(c) of such Code and exempt from taxation 8 under section 501(a) of such Code. 9 ‘‘(D) A labor organization (as defined in 10 section 316(b)). 11 ‘‘(E) A political organization (as defined in 12 section 527(e)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code 13 of 1986). 14 ‘‘(F) A political committee under this Act. 15 ‘‘(3) BENEFICIAL OWNER.—Except as provided 16 in subparagraph (B), the term ‘beneficial owner’ 17 means, with respect to any entity, a natural person 18 who, directly or indirectly through any contract, ar- 19 rangement, understanding, relationship, or other- 20 wise— 21 ‘‘(A) exercises substantial control over an 22 entity; 23 ‘‘(B) owns 25 percent or more of an entity; 24 or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:28 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4183.IS S4183 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 4183 IS ‘‘(C) receives substantial economic benefits 1 from the assets of an entity. 2 ‘‘(4) FOREIGN NATIONAL.—The term ‘foreign 3 national’ has the meaning given such term under 4 section 319(b). 5 ‘‘(5) FOREIGN-INFLUENCED CORPORATION.— 6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘foreign-in- 7 fluenced corporation’ means a corporation for 8 which at least one of the following conditions is 9 met: 10 ‘‘(i) Any single foreign owner holds, 11 owns, controls, or otherwise has direct or 12 indirect beneficial ownership of 5 percent 13 or more of the total equity, outstanding 14 voting shares, membership units, or other 15 applicable ownership interests of the cor- 16 poration. 17 ‘‘(ii) Foreign owners, in aggregate, 18 hold, own, control, or otherwise have direct 19 or indirect beneficial ownership of 20 per- 20 cent or more of the total equity, out- 21 standing voting shares, membership units, 22 or other applicable ownership interests of 23 the corporation. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:28 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4183.IS S4183 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 4183 IS ‘‘(iii) A foreign owner participates di- 1 rectly or indirectly in the corporation’s de- 2 cision-making process with respect to the 3 corporation’s activities related to Federal 4 judicial nomination communications. 5 ‘‘(B) FOREIGN OWNER.— 6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘foreign 7 owner’ means— 8 ‘‘(I) a foreign investor; or 9 ‘‘(II) a corporation wherein a for- 10 eign investor holds, owns, controls, or 11 otherwise has directly or indirectly ac- 12 quired beneficial ownership of equity 13 or voting shares in an amount that is 14 equal to or greater than 50 percent of 15 the total equity or outstanding voting 16 shares. 17 ‘‘(ii) FOREIGN INVESTOR.—The term 18 ‘foreign investor’ means a person that— 19 ‘‘(I) holds, owns, controls, or oth- 20 erwise has direct or indirect beneficial 21 ownership of equity, outstanding vot- 22 ing shares, membership units, or 23 other applicable ownership interests of 24 a corporation; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:28 Jul 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4183.IS S4183 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 4183 IS ‘‘(II) is— 1 ‘‘(aa) a government of a for- 2 eign country; 3 ‘‘(bb) a foreign political 4 party; 5 ‘‘(cc) a partnership, associa- 6 tion, corporation, organization, or 7 other combination of persons or- 8 ganized under the laws of or hav- 9 ing its principal place of business 10 in a foreign country; or 11 ‘‘(dd) an individual who [Text truncated for display. 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