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Calendar No. 725
106th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2941
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to provide
meaningful campaign finance reform through requiring better reporting,
decreasing the role of soft money, and increasing individual
contribution limits, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 26, 2000
Mr. Hagel (for himself, Mr. Kerrey, Mr. Abraham, Mr. Breaux, Mr.
DeWine, Mr. Gorton, Mrs. Hutchison, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Smith of
Oregon, and Mr. Thomas) introduced the following bill; which
was read the first timeYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
July 27, 2000
Read the second time and placed on the calendar
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A BILL
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to provide
meaningful campaign finance reform through requiring better reporting,
decreasing the role of soft money, and increasing individual
contribution limits, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Open and Accountable Campaign
Financing Act of 2000''.
TITLE I--DISCLOSURE
SEC. 101. ADDITIONAL MONTHLY AND QUARTERLY DISCLOSURE REPORTS.
(a) Principal Campaign Committees.--
(1) Monthly reports.--Section 304(a)(2)(A) of the Federal
Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(a)(2)(A)) is
amended by striking clause (iii) and inserting the following:
``(iii) additional monthly reports, which shall be
filed not later than the 20th day after the last day of
the month and shall be complete as of the last day of
the month, except that monthly reports shall not be
required under this clause in November and December and
a year end report shall be filed not later than January
31 of the following calendar year.''.
(2) Quarterly reports.--Section 304(a)(2)(B) of such Act is
amended by striking ``the following reports'' and all that
follows through the period and inserting ``the treasurer shall
file quarterly reports, which shall be filed not later than the
15th day after the last day of each calendar quarter, and which
shall be complete as of the last day of each calendar quarter,
except that the report for the quarter ending December 31 shall
be filed not later than January 31 of the following calendar
year.''.
(b) National Committee of a Political Party.--Section 304(a)(4) of
the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(a)(4)) is
amended by adding at the end the following flush sentence:
``Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, a national committee of a
political party shall file the reports required under subparagraph
(B).''.
(c) Conforming Amendments.--
(1) Section 304.--Section 304(a) of the Federal Election
Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(a)) is amended--
(A) in paragraph (3)(A)(ii), by striking
``quarterly reports'' and inserting ``monthly
reports''; and
(B) in paragraph (8), by striking ``quarterly
report under paragraph (2)(A)(iii) or paragraph
(4)(A)(i)'' and inserting ``monthly report under
paragraph (2)(A)(iii) or paragraph (4)(A)''.
(2) Section 309.--Section 309(b) of the Federal Election
Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 437g(b)) by striking ``calendar
quarter'' and inserting ``month''.
SEC. 102. REPORTING BY NATIONAL POLITICAL PARTY COMMITTEES.
Section 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C.
434) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(d) Political Committees.--
``(1) National and congressional political committees.--The
national committee of a political party, any national
congressional campaign committee of a political party, and any
subordinate committee of either, shall report all receipts and
disbursements during the reporting period.
``(2) Itemization.--If a political committee has receipts
or disbursements to which this subsection applies from any
person aggregating in excess of $200 for any calendar year, the
political committee shall separately itemize its reporting for
such person in the same manner as required in paragraphs
(3)(A), (5), and (6) of subsection (b).
``(3) Reporting periods.--Reports required to be filed
under this subsection shall be filed for the same time periods
required for political committees under subsection (a).''.
SEC. 103. INCREASED ELECTRONIC DISCLOSURE.
Section 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C.
434), as amended by section 102, is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``(e) Internet Availability.--The Commission shall make the
information contained in the reports submitted under this section
available on the Internet and publicly available at the offices of the
Commission as soon as practicable (but in no case later than 24 hours)
after the information is received by the Commission.''.
SEC. 104. PUBLIC ACCESS TO BROADCASTING RECORDS.
Section 315 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 315) is
amended by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as subsections (d) and
(e), respectively, and inserting after subsection (b) the following:
``(c) Political Record.--
``(1) In general.--A licensee shall maintain, and make
available for public inspection, a complete record of a request
to purchase broadcast time that--
``(A) is made by or on behalf of a legally
qualified candidate for public office; or
``(B) communicates a message relating to any
political matter of national importance, including--
``(i) a legally qualified candidate;
``(ii) any election to Federal office; or
``(iii) a national legislative issue of
public importance.
``(2) Contents of record.--A record maintained under
paragraph (1) shall contain information regarding--
``(A) whether the request to purchase broadcast
time is accepted or rejected by the licensee;
``(B) the rate charged for the broadcast time;
``(D) the date and time that the communication is
aired;
``(E) the class of time that is purchased;
``(F) the name of the candidate to which the
communication refers and the office to which the
candidate is seeking election, the election to which
the communication refers, or the issue to which the
communication refers (as applicable);
``(G) in the case of a request made by, or on
behalf of, a candidate, the name of the candidate, the
authorized committee of the candidate, and the
treasurer of such committee; and
``(H) in the case of any other request, the name of
the person purchasing the time, the name, address, and
phone number of a contact person for such person, and a
list of the chief executive officers or members of the
executive committee or of the board of directors of
such person.
``(3) Time to maintain file.--The information required
under this subsection shall be placed in a political file as
soon as possible and shall be retained by the licensee for a
period of not less than 2 years.''.
TITLE II--SOFT MONEY OF NATIONAL POLITICAL PARTIES AND CONTRIBUTION
LIMITS
SEC. 201. LIMIT ON SOFT MONEY OF NATIONAL POLITICAL PARTY COMMITTEES.
Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C.
431 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 324. LIMIT ON SOFT MONEY OF NATIONAL POLITICAL PARTY COMMITTEES.
``(a) Limitation.--A national committee of a political party, a
congressional campaign committee of a national party, or an entity
directly or indirectly established, financed, maintained, or controlled
by such committee shall not accept a donation, gift, or transfer of
funds of any kind (not including transfers from other committees of the
political party or contributions), during a calendar year, from a
person (including a person directly or indirectly established,
financed, maintained, or controlled by such person) in an aggregate
amount in excess of $60,000.
``(b) Aggregate Limit on Donor.--A person shall not make an
aggregate amount of disbursements described in subsection (a) in excess
of $60,000 in any calendar year.
``(c) Index of Amount.--In the case of any calendar year after
2000--
``(1) each $60,000 amount under subsections (a) and (b)
shall be increased based on the increase in the price index
determined under section 315(c), except that the base period
shall be calendar year 2000; and
``(2) each amount so increased shall be the amount in
effect for the calendar year.''.
SEC. 202. JUDICIAL REVIEW.
(a) Expedited Review.--Any Member of Congress, candidate, national
committee of a political party, or any person adversely affected by
section 324 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as added by
section 201, may bring an action, in the United States District Court
for the District of Columbia, for declaratory judgment and injunctive
relief on the ground that such section 324 violates the Constitution.
(b) Appeal to Supreme Court.--Notwithstanding any other provision
of law, any order of the United States District Court for the District
of Columbia granting or denying an injunction regarding, or finally
disposing of, an action brought under subsection (a) shall be
reviewable by appeal directly to the Supreme Court of the United
States. Any such appeal shall be taken by a notice of appeal filed
within 10 calendar days after such order is entered; and the
jurisdictional statement shall be filed within 30 calendar days after
such order is entered.
(c) Expedited Consideration.--It shall be the duty of the District
Court for the District of Columbia and the Supreme Court of the United
States to advance on the docket and to expedite to the greatest
possible extent the disposition of any matter brought under subsection
(a).
(d) Enforceability.--The enforcement of any provision of section
324 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as added by section
201, shall be stayed, and such section 324 shall not be effective, for
the period--
(1) beginning on the date of the filing of an action under
subsection (a), and
(2) ending on the date of the final disposition of such
action on its merits by the Supreme Court of the United States.
(e) Applicability.--This section shall apply only with respect to
any action filed under subsection (a) not later than 30 days after the
effective date of this Act.
SEC. 203. INCREASE IN CONTRIBUTION LIMITS.
(a) Increase in Individual and Political Committee Contribution
Limits.--Section 315(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2
U.S.C. 441a(a)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)--
(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``$1,000'' and
inserting ``$3,000'';
(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``$20,000''
and inserting ``$60,000''; and
(C) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``$5,000'' and
inserting ``$15,000''; and
(2) in paragraph (3)--
(A) by striking ``$25,000'' and inserting
``$75,000''; and
(B) by striking the second sentence.
(b) Increase in Multicandidate Limits.--Section 315(a)(2) of the
Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)(2)) is
amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``$5,000'' and
inserting ``$7,500'';
(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``$15,000'' and
inserting ``$30,000''; and
(3) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``$5,000'' and
inserting ``$7,500''.
(c) Indexing.--Section 315(c) of the Federal Election Campaign Act
of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(c)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)--
(A) by striking the second and third sentences;
(B) by inserting ``(A)'' before ``At the
beginning''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(B) Except as provided in subparagraph (C), in any calendar year
after 2000--
``(i) a limitation established by subsection (a), (b), or
(d) shall be increased by the percent difference determined
under subparagraph (A); and
``(ii) each amount so increased shall remain in effect for
the calendar year.
``(C) In the case of limitations under paragraphs (1)(A) and (2)(A)
of subsection (a), each amount increased under subparagraph (B) shall
remain in effect for the 2-year period beginning on the first day
following the date of the last general election in the year preceding
the year in which the amount is increased and ending on the date of the
next general election.''; and
(2) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking ``means the calendar
year 1974'' and inserting ``means--
``(i) for purposes of subsections (b) and (d),
calendar year 1974; and
``(ii) for purposes of subsection (a), calendar
year 2000''.
(d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall
apply to calendar years beginning after December 31, 2000.
TITLE III--MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
SEC. 301. PROHIBITION OF SOLICITATION OF POLITICAL PARTY SOFT MONEY IN
FEDERAL BUILDINGS.
(a) In General.--Section 607 of title 18, United States Code, is
amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ``within the meaning of
section 301(8) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971'';
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