HR 2630
7-23-07, House Agreed to Bill by Voice Vote
Referred to Senate Committee on Rules
& Administration
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2630
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 24, 2007
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration
AN ACT
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit
certain political committees from compensating the spouse of the candidate
for services provided to or on behalf of the committee, to require such
committees to report on payments made to the spouse and the immediate family
members of the candidate, 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 `Campaign Expenditure Transparency Act'.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITING USE OF CAMPAIGN FUNDS TO COMPENSATE SPOUSES OF CANDIDATES;
DISCLOSURE OF PAYMENTS MADE TO SPOUSES AND FAMILY MEMBERS.
(a) Prohibition; Disclosure- Section 313 of the Federal Election Campaign
Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 439a) is amended by adding at the end the following
new subsection:
`(c) Prohibiting Compensation of Spouses; Disclosure of Payments to Spouses
and Family Members-
`(1) PROHIBITING COMPENSATION OF SPOUSES- Notwithstanding any other provision
of this Act, no authorized committee of a candidate or any other political
committee established, maintained, or controlled by a candidate or an
individual holding Federal office (other than a political committee of
a political party) shall directly or indirectly compensate the spouse
of the candidate or individual (as the case may be) for services provided
to or on behalf of the committee.
`(2) DISCLOSURE OF PAYMENTS TO SPOUSES AND IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBERS- In
addition to any other information included in a report submitted under
section 304 by a committee described in paragraph (1), the committee shall
include in the report a separate statement of any payments, including
direct or indirect compensation, made to the spouse or any immediate family
member of the candidate or individual involved during the period covered
by the report.
`(3) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER DEFINED- In this subsection, the term `immediate
family member' means the son, daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, mother,
father, brother, sister, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, or grandchild
of the candidate or individual involved.'.
(b) Conforming Amendment- Section 313(a)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 439a(a)(1))
is amended by striking `for otherwise' and inserting `subject to subsection
(c), for otherwise'.
SEC. 3. IMPOSITION OF PENALTY AGAINST CANDIDATE OR OFFICEHOLDER.
(a) In General- Section 309 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971
(2 U.S.C. 437g) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
`(e) In the case of a violation of section 313(c) committed by a committee
described in such section, if the candidate or individual involved knew
of the violation, any penalty imposed under this section shall be imposed
on the candidate or individual and not on the committee.'.
(b) Prohibiting Reimbursement by Committee- Section 313(c) of such Act (2
U.S.C. 439a(c)), as added by section 2(a), is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (4); and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following new paragraph:
`(3) PROHIBITING REIMBURSEMENT BY COMMITTEE OF PENALTY PAID BY CANDIDATE
FOR VIOLATIONS- A committee described in paragraph (1) may not make any
payment to reimburse the candidate or individual involved for any penalty
imposed for a violation of this subsection which is required to be paid
by the candidate or individual under section 309(e).'.
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect to elections occurring
after December 2007.
Passed the House of Representatives July 23, 2007.
Attest:
LORRAINE C. MILLER,
Clerk.
By Deborah M. Spriggs,
Deputy Clerk.
END
