[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1613 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1613
To direct the Federal Election Commission to carry out a voucher pilot
program under which individuals may use vouchers to make small dollar
contributions to qualified candidates for election for the office of
Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the
Congress, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 7, 2019
Ms. Jayapal (for herself and Ms. DelBene) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Federal Election Commission to carry out a voucher pilot
program under which individuals may use vouchers to make small dollar
contributions to qualified candidates for election for the office of
Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the
Congress, 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 ``Democracy Dollars Act''.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROGRAM.
(a) Establishment.--The Federal Election Commission (hereafter in
this Act referred to as the ``Commission'') shall establish a pilot
program under which the Commission shall select 3 eligible States to
operate a voucher pilot program which is described in section 3 during
the program operation period.
(b) Eligibility of States.--A State is eligible to be selected to
operate a voucher pilot program under this Act if, not later than 180
days after the beginning of the program application period, the State
submits to the Commission an application containing--
(1) information and assurances that the State will operate
a voucher program which contains the elements described in
section 3(a);
(2) information and assurances that the State will
establish fraud prevention mechanisms described in section
3(b);
(3) information and assurances that the State will
establish a commission to oversee and implement the program as
described in section 3(c);
(4) information and assurances that the State will carry
out a public information campaign as described in section 3(d);
(5) information and assurances that the State will submit
reports as required under section 4; and
(6) such other information and assurances as the Commission
may require.
(c) Selection of Participating States.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the beginning
of the program application period, the Commission shall select
the 3 States which will operate voucher pilot programs under
this Act.
(2) Criteria.--In selecting States for the operation of the
voucher pilot programs under this Act, the Commission shall
apply such criteria and metrics as the Commission considers
appropriate to determine the ability of a State to operate the
program successfully, and shall attempt to select States in a
variety of geographic regions and with a variety of political
party preferences.
(3) No supermajority required for selection.--The selection
of States by the Commission under this subsection shall require
the approval of only half of the Members of the Commission.
(d) Duties of States During Program Preparation Period.--During the
program preparation period, each State selected to operate a voucher
pilot program under this Act shall take such actions as may be
necessary to ensure that the State will be ready to operate the program
during the program operation period, and shall complete such actions
not later than 90 days before the beginning of the program operation
period.
(e) Termination.--Each voucher pilot program under this Act shall
terminate as of the first day after the program operation period.
(f) Reimbursement of Costs.--Upon receiving the report submitted by
a State under section 4(a) with respect to an election cycle, the
Commission shall transmit a payment to the State in an amount equal to
the reasonable costs incurred by the State in operating the voucher
pilot program under this Act during the cycle.
SEC. 3. VOUCHER PROGRAM DESCRIBED.
(a) General Elements of Program.--
(1) Elements described.--The elements of a voucher pilot
program operated by a State under this Act are as follows:
(A) The State shall provide each qualified
individual upon the individual's request with a voucher
worth $25 to be known as a ``My Voice Voucher'' during
the election cycle which will be assigned a routing
number and which at the option of the individual will
be provided in either paper or electronic form.
(B) Using the routing number assigned to the My
Voice Voucher, the individual may submit the My Voice
Voucher in either electronic or paper form to qualified
candidates for election for the office of
Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner
to, the Congress and allocate such portion of the value
of the My Voice Voucher in increments of $5 as the
individual may select to any such candidate.
(C) If the candidate transmits the My Voice Voucher
to the Commission, the Commission shall pay the
candidate the portion of the value of the My Voice
Voucher that the individual allocated to the candidate,
which shall be considered a contribution by the
individual to the candidate for purposes of the Federal
Election Campaign Act of 1971.
(2) Designation of qualified individuals.--For purposes of
paragraph (1)(A), a ``qualified individual'' with respect to a
State means an individual--
(A) who is a resident of the State;
(B) who will be of voting age as of the date of the
election for the candidate to whom the individual
submits a My Voice Voucher; and
(C) who is not prohibited under Federal law from
making contributions to candidates for election for
Federal office.
(3) Treatment as contribution to candidate.--For purposes
of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, the submission of
a My Voice Voucher to a candidate by an individual shall be
treated as a contribution to the candidate by the individual in
the amount of the portion of the value of the Voucher that the
individual allocated to the candidate.
(b) Fraud Prevention Mechanism.--In addition to the elements
described in subsection (a), a State operating a voucher pilot program
under this Act shall permit an individual to revoke a My Voice Voucher
not later than 2 days after submitting the My Voice Voucher to a
candidate.
(c) Oversight Commission.--In addition to the elements described in
subsection (a), a State operating a voucher pilot program under this
Act shall establish a commission or designate an existing entity to
oversee and implement the program in the State, except that no such
commission or entity may be comprised of elected officials.
(d) Public Information Campaign.--In addition to the elements
described in subsection (a), a State operating a voucher pilot program
under this Act shall carry out a public information campaign to
disseminate awareness of the program among qualified individuals.
SEC. 4. REPORTS.
(a) Preliminary Report.--Not later than 6 months after the first
election cycle of the program operation period, a State which operates
a voucher pilot program under this Act shall submit a report to the
Commission analyzing the operation and effectiveness of the program
during the cycle and including such other information as the Commission
may require.
(b) Final Report.--Not later than 6 months after the end of the
program operation period, the State shall submit a final report to the
Commission analyzing the operation and effectiveness of the program and
including such other information as the Commission may require.
(c) Report by Commission.--Not later than the end of the first
election cycle which begins after the program operation period, the
Commission shall submit a report to Congress which summarizes and
analyzes the results of the voucher pilot program, and shall include in
the report such recommendations as the Commission considers appropriate
regarding the expansion of the pilot program to all States and
territories, along with such other recommendations and other
information as the Commission considers appropriate.
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
(a) Election Cycle.--In this Act, the term ``election cycle'' means
the period beginning on the day after the date of the most recent
regularly scheduled general election for Federal office and ending on
the date of the next regularly scheduled general election for Federal
office.
(b) Definitions Relating to Periods.--In this Act, the following
definitions apply:
(1) Program application period.--The term ``program
application period'' means the first election cycle which
begins after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(2) Program preparation period.--The term ``program
preparation period'' means the first election cycle which
begins after the program application period.
(3) Program operation period.--The term ``program operation
period'' means the first 2 election cycles which begin after
the program preparation period.
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