To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to repeal the limit on the aggregate amount of campaign contributions that may be made by individuals during an election cycle, to repeal the limit on the amount of expenditures political parties may make on behalf of their candidates in general elections for Federal office, to allow State and local parties to make certain expenditures using nonfederal funds, to restore certain rights to exempt organizations under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and for other purposes.

March 15, 2005

Mr. PENCE (for himself and Mr. WYNN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to repeal the limit on the aggregate amount of campaign contributions that may be made by individuals during an election cycle, to repeal the limit on the amount of expenditures political parties may make on behalf of their candidates in general elections for Federal office, to allow State and local parties to make certain expenditures using nonfederal funds, to restore certain rights to exempt organizations under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 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 `527 Fairness Act of 2005'.

SEC. 2. REPEAL OF AGGREGATE LIMIT ON CONTRIBUTIONS BY INDIVIDUALS.

(a) Repeal of Limit- Section 315(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(a)) is amended by striking paragraph (3).

(b) Conforming Amendments-

(1) INDEXING- Section 315(c) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441a(c)) is amended by striking `(a)(3),' each place it appears in paragraphs (1)(B)(i), (1)(C), and (2)(B)(ii).

(2) INCREASE IN LIMITS FOR SENATE CANDIDATES FACING WEALTHY OPPONENTS- Section 315(i)(1)(C) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441a(i)(1)(C)) is amended--

(A) by amending clause (i) to read as follows:

`(i) 2 times the threshold amount, but not over 4 times that amount, the increased limit shall be 3 times the applicable limit;';

(B) by amending clause (ii) to read as follows:

`(ii) 4 times the threshold amount, but not over 10 times that amount, the increased limit shall be 6 times the applicable limit; and'; and

(C) in clause (iii)--

(i) by adding `and' at the end of subclause (I),

(ii) by striking subclause (II), and

(iii) by redesignating subclause (III) as subclause (II).

(3) INCREASE IN LIMITS FOR HOUSE CANDIDATES FACING WEALTHY OPPONENTS- Section 315A(a)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441a-1(a)(1)) is amended--

(A) by adding `and' at the end of subparagraph (A);

(B) by striking subparagraph (B); and

(C) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as subparagraph (B).

SEC. 3. REPEAL OF LIMIT ON AMOUNT OF PARTY EXPENDITURES ON BEHALF OF CANDIDATES IN GENERAL ELECTIONS.

(a) Repeal of Limit- Section 315(d) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(d)) is amended--

(1) in paragraph (1)--

(A) by striking `(1) Notwithstanding' and inserting `Notwithstanding',

(B) by striking `expenditures or limitations on' and inserting `amounts of expenditures or contributions', and

(C) by striking `Federal office, subject to the limitations contained in paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) of this subsection' and inserting `Federal office in any amount'; and

(2) by striking paragraphs (2), (3), and (4).

(b) Conforming Amendments-

(1) INDEXING- Section 315(c) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441a(c)) is amended--

(A) in paragraph (1)(B)(i), by striking `(d),'; and

(B) in paragraph (2)(B)(i), by striking `subsections (b) and (d)' and inserting `subsection (b)'.

(2) INCREASE IN LIMITS FOR SENATE CANDIDATES FACING WEALTHY OPPONENTS- Section 315(i) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441a(i)(1)) is amended--

(A) in paragraph (1)(C), as amended by section 2(b)(2)(C), by amending clause (iii) to read as follows:

`(iii) 10 times the threshold amount, the increased limit shall be 6 times the applicable limit.';

(B) in paragraph (2)(A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking `, and a party committee shall not make any expenditure,';

(C) in paragraph (2)(A)(ii), by striking `and party expenditures previously made'; and

(D) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking `and a party shall not make any expenditure'.

(3) INCREASE IN LIMITS FOR HOUSE CANDIDATES FACING WEALTHY OPPONENTS- Section 315A(a) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441a-1(a)) is amended--

(A) in paragraph (1), as amended by section 2(b)(3), by striking `exceeds $350,000--' and all that follows and inserting the following: `exceeds $350,000, the limit under subsection (a)(1)(A) with respect to the candidate shall be tripled.';

(B) in paragraph (3)(A) in the matter preceding clause (i), `, and a party committee shall not make any expenditure,';

(C) in paragraph (3)(A)(ii), by striking `and party expenditures previously made'; and

(D) in paragraph (3)(B), by striking `and a party shall not make any expenditure'.

SEC. 4. INDEXING OF LIMITS ON AMOUNT OF CONTRIBUTIONS MADE TO OR BY MULTICANDIDATE POLITICAL COMMITTEES.

(a) Indexing- Section 315(c)(1) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441a(c)(1)) is amended by inserting after `(a)(1)(B)' each place it appears in subparagraphs (B)(i) and (C) the following: `(a)(1)(C), (a)(2),'.

(b) Timing of Increase- Section 315(c)(1)(B) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441a(c)(1)(B)) is amended in the matter preceding clause (i) by striking `after 2002' and inserting `after 2002 (or, in the case of the limitations established under subsection (a)(1)(C) or (a)(2), after 2004)'.

(c) Determination of Base Year- Section 315(c)(2)(B) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441a(c)(2)(B)) is amended--

(1) by striking `and' at the end of clause (i);

(2) by striking the period at the end of clause (ii) and inserting `; and'; and

(3) by adding at the end the following new clause:

`(iii) for purposes of subsections (a)(1)(C) and (a)(2), calendar year 2003.'.

SEC. 5. PERMITTING EXPENDITURES FOR ELECTIONEERING COMMUNICATIONS BY CERTAIN ORGANIZATIONS.

(a) Permitting Organizations to Make Expenditures for Certain Targeted Electioneering Communications- Section 316(c) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441b(c)) is amended by striking paragraph (6).

(b) Expanding Types of Organizations Eligible to Make Expenditures-

(1) IN GENERAL- Section 316(c) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441b(c)) is amended by striking `section 501(c)(4) organization' each place it appears in paragraphs (2), (3)(A), and (4)(B) and inserting `section 501(c)(4), (5), or (6) organization'.

(2) DEFINITION- Section 316(c)(4)(A)(i) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441b(c)(4)(A)(i)) is amended by striking `section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986' and inserting `paragraph (4), (5), or (6) of section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986'.

(c) Clarification of Effect on Tax Treatment of Expenditures- Section 316(c)(5) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441b(c)(5)) is amended by striking the period at the end and inserting the following: `, or to affect the treatment under such Code of any expenditures described in section 527(e) of such Code which are made by a section 501(c)(4), (5), or (6) organization.'.

SEC. 6. EXPANDING ABILITY OF CORPORATIONS AND LABOR ORGANIZATIONS TO COMMUNICATE WITH MEMBERS.

(a) Types of Communications Permitted- Section 316(b)(4)(B) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441b(b)(4)(B)) is amended by striking `only by mail addressed' and inserting `only by communications addressed or otherwise delivered'.

(b) Solicitations by Trade Associations- Section 316(b)(4)(D) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441b(b)(4)(D)) is amended by striking `to the extent that' and all that follows and inserting a period.

SEC. 7. PERMITTING STATE AND LOCAL POLITICAL PARTIES TO USE NONFEDERAL FUNDS FOR VOTER REGISTRATION AND SAMPLE BALLOTS.

(a) In General- Section 301(20) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(20)) is amended--

(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking clause (i) and redesignating clauses (ii) through (iv) as clauses (i) through (iii); and

(2) in subparagraph (B)--

(A) in clause (i), by striking `subparagraph (A)(i) or (ii)' and inserting `subparagraph (A)(i)';

(B) by striking `and' at the end of clause (iii);

(C) by striking the period at the end of clause (iv); and

(D) by adding at the end the following new clauses:

`(v) voter registration activities; and

`(vi) the costs incurred with the preparation of a sample ballot for an election in which a candidate for Federal office and a candidate for State or local office appears on the ballot, if the sample ballot includes the names of every candidate for Federal office listed on the sample ballot.'.

(b) Conforming Amendments- (1) Section 304(f)(3)(B)(iv) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 434(f)(3)(B)(iv)) is amended by striking `section 301(20)(A)(iii)' and inserting `section 301(20)(A)(ii)'.

(2) Section 323 of such Act (2 U.S.C. 441i) is amended--

(A) in subsection (b)(2)(A), by striking `clause (i) or (ii)' and inserting `clause (i)';

(B) in subsection (e)(4), by striking `clauses (i) and (ii)' each place it appears in subparagraphs (A) and (B) and inserting `clause (i)'; and

(C) in subsection (f), by striking `section 301(20)(A)(iii)' and inserting `section 301(20)(A)(ii)'.

SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE.

The amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect to elections for Federal office occurring after 2004.

END