To reform the financing of Federal elections. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

TITLE I--SENATE ELECTION SPENDING LIMITS AND BENEFITS

SEC. 101. SENATE ELECTION SPENDING LIMITS AND BENEFITS. (a) IN GENERAL- The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 is amended by adding at the end the following new title: (b)OUT-OF-STATE RESIDENT CONTRIBUTION LIMIT REQUIREMENT IN GENERAL- The requirement of this subsection is met if at least 60 percent of the total amount of contributions accepted by the candidate and the candidate's authorized committees are from individuals who are legal residents of the candidate's State.

SEC. 501. BENEFITS FOR ELIGIBLE CANDIDATES. `If an eligible Senate candidate has an opponent who has qualified for the ballot and who has received contributions (or expended funds from a source described in section 503(a)(2)) in an amount equal to 10 percent or more of the applicable expenditure limit, the eligible Senate candidate shall be entitled to-- `(1) the broadcast media rates provided under section 315(b) of the Communications Act of 1934; `(2) the free broadcast time provided under section 315(c) of the Communications Act of 1934; and `(3) the reduced postage rates provided in section 3626(e) of title 39, United States Code.

SEC. 102. FREE BROADCAST TIME. (a) IN GENERAL- Section 315 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 315) is amended-- (1) in the third sentence of subsection (a) by striking `within the meaning of this subsection' and inserting `within the meaning of this subsection and subsection (c)'; (2) by redesigning subsections (c) and (d) as subsections (d) and (e), respectively; (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the following: `(c) FREE BROADCAST TIME- `(1) IN GENERAL- Except as provided in paragraph (3), each eligible Senate candidate who has qualified for the general election ballot as a candidate of a major or minor party shall be entitled to receive a total of 30 minutes of free broadcast time from broadcast ing stations within the candidate's State or an adjacent State. `(2) TIME- (A) PRIME TIME- Unless a candidate elects otherwise, the broadcast time made available under this subsection shall be between 6:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. on any day that falls on Monday through Friday. (B) LENGTH OF BROADCAST- Except as otherwise provided in this Act, a candidate may use such time as the candidate elects, but time may not be used in lengths of less than 30 seconds or more than 5 minutes. `(C) MAXIMUM REQUIRED OF ANY ONE STATION- A candidate may not request that more than 15 minutes of free broadcast time be aired by any one broadcasting station.

SEC. 103. REDUCED POSTAGE RATES. (a) IN GENERAL- Section 3626(e) of title 39, United States Code, is amended-- (1) in paragraph (2)-- (A) in subparagraph (A)-- (i) by striking `and the National' and inserting `the National'; and (ii) by inserting before the semicolon the following, and , subject to paragraph (3), the principal campaign committee of an eligible Senate candidate; (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking `and' after the semicolon; (C) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period and inserting a semicolon; and (D) by adding at the end the following: (D) the term `principal campaign committee' has the meaning given in section 301 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971; and (E) the term `eligible Senate candidate' has the meaning given in section 501 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.'; and (2) by adding after paragraph (2) the following: to an eligible Senate candidate shall apply only to that number of pieces of mail that is equal to 2 times the number of individuals in the voting age population (as certified under section 315(e) of th e Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971) of the State.'. (b) EFFECTIVE DATE- The amendments made by this section shall ta ke effect on the date that is 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act.

SUBTITLE A--INDIVIDUALS

Sec. 201. Limit on individual contributions (a) IN GENERAL-- Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 is amended by changing the limits of individual con tributions: (I) from $1,000 to a candidate or a candidate committee per election to $250 (ii) from $20,000 to a national party committee per calendar year to $1,000 (iii) from $5,000 to any other political committee per calen dar year to $500 (iv) from $25,000 total per calendar year contribution limit to $$1,500.

SUBTITLE B--MULTICANDIDATE COMMITTEES

Sec. 211. Limit on Multicandidate Committee Contributions (a) IN GENERAL--Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 is amended by changing the limits of Multicandidate com mittee contributions: (i) from $5,000 to a candidate or candidate committee per el ection to $1,000 (ii) from $15,000 to a national committee per calendar year to $2,500 (iii) from $5,000 to any other political committee per calen dar to $500 SUBTITLE C--PROVISIONS RELATING TO SOFT MONEY OF POLITICAL PARTY COMMITTEES

SEC. 221. SOFT MONEY OF POLITICAL PARTY COMMITTEE. Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 4 31 et seq.) (as amended by section 201) is amended by adding at th e end the following: SEC. 325. SOFT MONEY OF PARTY COMMITTEES. (a) NATIONAL COMMITTEES- A national committee of a political party (including a national congressional campaign committee of a polit ical party), an entity that is directly or indirectly established, financed, maintained, or controlled by a national committee or its a gent, an entity acting on behalf of a national committee, and an o fficer or agent acting on behalf of any such committee or entity ( but not including an entity regulated under subsection (b)) shall not solicit or receive any contributions, donations, or transfers of funds, or spend any funds, that are not subject to the limitations , prohibitions, and reporting requirements of this Act. (b) STATE, DISTRICT, AND LOCAL COMMITTEES- (1) IN GENERAL- Any amount that is expended or disbursed by a S tate, district, or local committee of a political party (including an entity that is directly or indirectly established, financed, m aintained, or controlled by a State, district, or local committee of a political party and an officer or agent acting on behalf of any such committee or entity) during a calendar year in which a Federa l election is held, for any activity that might affect the outcome of a Federal election, including any voter registration or get-out-t he-vote activity, any generic campaign activity, and any communica tion that refers to a candidate (regardless of whether a candidate fo r State or local office is also mentioned or identified) shall be made from funds subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and repo rting requirements of this Act. `(2) ACTIVITY EXCLUDED FROM PARAGRAPH (1)- (A) IN GENERAL- Paragraph (1) shall not apply to an expenditure or disbursement made by a State, district, or local committee of a political party for-- (i) a contribution to a candidate for State or local office if the contribution is not designated or otherwise earmar ked to pay for an activity described in paragraph (1); (ii) the costs of a State, district, or local political conv ention; (iii) the non-Federal share of a State, district, or local p arty committee's administrative and overhead expenses (but not including the compensation in any month of any i ndividual who spends more than 20 percent of the individual's time on activity during the month that may affect the outcome o f a Federal election) except that for purposes of this pa ragraph, the non-Federal share of a party committee's adm inistrative and overhead expenses shall be determined by applying the ratio of the non-Federal disbursements to the total F ederal expenditures and non-Federal disbursements made by the committee during the previous presidential electi on year to the committee's administrative and overhead expenses in the election year in question; (iv) the costs of grassroots campaign materials, including b uttons, bumper stickers, and yard signs that name or depi ct only a candidate for State or local office; and (v) the cost of any campaign activity conducted solely on b ehalf of a clearly identified candidate for State or loca l office, if the candidate activity is not an activity de scribed in paragraph (1). (B) FUNDRAISING COSTS- Any amount spent by a national, State, d istrict, or local committee, by an entity that is established, fin anced, maintained, or controlled by a State, district, or local committee of a political party, or by an agent or officer of any suc h committee or entity to raise funds that are used, in whole or in part, to pay the costs of an activity described in paragraph (1) shall be made from funds subject to the limitations, prohibitions, an d reporting requirements of this Act. (c) TAX-EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS- A national, State, district, or loca l committee of a political party (including a national congression al campaign committee of a political party, an entity that is dire ctly or indirectly established, financed, maintained, or controlled by any such national, State, district, or local committee or its a gent, an agent acting on behalf of any such party committee, and a n officer or agent acting on behalf of any such party committee or en tity), shall not solicit any funds for or make any donations to an organization that is exempt from Federal taxation under section 5 01(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. (d) CANDIDATES- (1) IN GENERAL- A candidate, individual holding Federal office, or agent of a candidate or individual holding Federal office shal l not-- `(A) solicit, receive, transfer, or spend funds in connectio n with an election for Federal office unless the funds are s ubject to the limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requi rements of this Act; (B) solicit, receive, or transfer funds that are to be expen ded in connection with any election other than a Federal ele ction unless the funds-- (i) are not in excess of the amounts permitted with respe ct to contributions to candidates and political commit tees under section 315(a) (1) and (2); and (ii) are not from sources prohibited by this Act from mak ing contributions with respect to an election for Fede ral office; or (C) solicit, receive, or transfer any funds on behalf of any person that are not subject to the limitations, prohibition s, and reporting requirements of the Act if the funds are fo r use in financing any campaign-related activity or any communication that refers to a clearly identified candidate for Federal o ffice. (2) EXCEPTION- Paragraph (1) does not apply to the solicitation or receipt of funds by an individual who is a candidate for a State or local office if the solicitation or receipt of funds is permitted under State law for the individual's State or local camp aign committee.'.

SUBTITLE D--SOFT MONEY OF PERSONS OTHER THAN POLITICAL PARTIES

SEC. 231. SOFT MONEY OF PERSONS OTHER THAN POLITICAL PARTIES. Section 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434) (as amended by section 213) is amended by adding at the end the following: (a) ELECTION ACTIVITY OF PERSONS OTHER THAN POLITICAL PARTIES- (1) IN GENERAL- A person other than a committee of a political party that makes aggregate disbursements totaling in excess of $10,000 for activities described in paragraph (2) shal l file a statement with the Commission-- (A) within 48 hours after the disbursements are made; or (B) in the case of disbursements that are made within 20 day s of an election, within 24 hours after the disbursements are made. (2) ACTIVITY- The activity described in this paragraph is-- (A) any activity described in section 316(b)(2)(A) that refe rs to any candidate for Federal office, any political party, or any Federal election; and (B) any activity described in subparagraph (B) or (C) of sec tion 316(b)(2). (3) ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS- An additional statement shall be fil ed each time additional disbursements aggregating $10,000 ar e made by a person described in paragraph (1). (4) APPLICABILITY- This subsection does not apply to-- (A) a candidate or a candidate's authorized committees; or (B) an independent expenditure. (5) CONTENTS- A statement under this section shall contain such information about the disbursements as the Commission shall prescribe, including-- (A) the name and address of the person or entity to whom the disbursement was made; (B) the amount and purpose of the disbursement; and (C) if applicable, whether the disbursement was in support o f, or in opposition to, a candidate or a political party, and the name of the candidate or the political party.'.

TITLE III--ENFORCEMENTS

SEC. 301. AUDITS. (a) RANDOM AUDITS- Section 311(b) of the Federal Election Campaig n Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 438(b)) is amended-- (1) by inserting `(1)' before `The Commission'; and (2) by adding at the end the following: (2) RANDOM AUDITS- (A) IN GENERAL- Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Commissio n may conduct random audits and investigations to ensure vol untary compliance with this Act. (B) SELECTION OF SUBJECTS- The aggregate amount of contri butions received by an eligible Senate candidate as of the e nd of each reporting period under section 304 shall meet the requirement of paragraph (1). (C) LIMITATION- The Commission shall not conduct an audit or investigation of a candidate's authorized committee under p aragraph (1) until the candidate is no longer a candidate for t he office sought by the candidate in an election cycle. (D) APPLICABILITY- This paragraph does not apply to an autho rized committee of a candidate for President or Vice Pres ident subject to audit under section 9007 or 9038 of the Int ernal Revenue Code of 1986.'. (b) EXTENSION OF PERIOD DURING WHICH CAMPAIGN AUDITS MAY BE BEGUN- Section 311(b) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 438(b)) is amended by striking `6 months' and inserting `12 months'.

SEC. 302. INCREASE IN PENALTY FOR KNOWING AND WILLFUL VIOLATIONS. Section 309(a)(5)(B) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 437g(a)(5)(B)) is amended by striking `the greater of $1 0,000 or an amount equal to 200 percent' and inserting `the greate r of $15,000 or an amount equal to 300 percent'.

SEC. 303. PROHIBITION OF CONTRIBUTIONS BY INDIVIDUALS NOT QUALIFIED T O VOTE. (a) PROHIBITION- Section 319 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441e) is amended-- (1) in the heading by adding `AND INDIVIDUALS NOT QUALIFIED TO REGISTER TO VOTE' at the end; and (2) in subsection (a)-- (A) by striking `(a) It shall' and inserting the following: (a) PROHIBITIONS- (1) FOREIGN NATIONALS- It shall'; and (B) by adding at the end the following: (2) INDIVIDUALS NOT QUALIFIED TO VOTE- It shall be unlawful for an individual who is not qualified to register to vote in a Federal election to make a contribution, or to promise expr essly or impliedly to make a contribution, in connection with a Feder al election; or for any person to solicit, accept, or receiv e a contribution in connection with a Federal election from an individual who is not qualified to register to vote in a Federal election.'.

SEC. 304. EXPEDITED PROCEDURES. Section 309(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S .C. 437g(a)) (as amended by section 303) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: (14)(A) If the complaint in a proceeding was filed within 60 da ys immediately preceding a general election, the Commission may ta ke action described in this subparagraph. (B) If the Commission determines, on the basis of facts alleged in the complaint and other facts available to the Commission, tha t there is clear and convincing evidence that a violation of this Act has occurred, is occurring, or is about to occur and it appears that the requirements for relief stated in paragraph (13)(A) (ii), (iii), and (iv) are met, the Commission may-- `(i) order expedited proceedings, shortening the time period s for proceedings under paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and (4) as necessary to allow the matter to be resolved in sufficient time before the election to avoid harm or prejudice to the interests of the parties; or (ii) if the Commission determines that there is insufficient time to conduct proceedings before the election, immediatel y seek relief under paragraph (13)(A). (C) If the Commission determines, on the basis of facts alleged in the complaint and other facts available to the Commission, tha t the complaint is clearly without merit, the Commission may-- (i) order expedited proceedings, shortening the time periods for proceedings under paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and (4) as necessary to allow the matter to be resolved in sufficien t time before the election to avoid harm of prejudice to the inter ests of the parties; or (ii) if the Commission determines that there is insufficient time to conduct proceedings before the election, summarily dismiss t he complaint.'

TITLE IV--MISCELLANEOUS

SEC. 401. USE OF CONTRIBUTED AMOUNTS FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES. Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 4 31 et seq.) is amended by striking section 313 and inserting the foll owing: SEC. 313. USE OF CONTRIBUTED AMOUNTS FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES. Amounts received by a candidate as contributions, and any other am ounts received by an individual as support for his or her activities as a holder of Federal office, may be used by such candidate or indiv idual for expenditures in connection with his or her campaign for Fed eral office, for any ordinary and necessary expenses incurred in conn ection with his or her duties as a holder of Federal office, for cont ributions to any organization described in section 170(c) of title 26 , or for transfers to any national, State or local committee of any p olitical party. No such amounts may be converted by any person to any personal use. For the purposes of this section, such amounts are co nverted to personal use if they are used to fulfill any commitment, obligation, or expense of any person that would exist irrespective of the candidate's campaign or individual's responsibilities as a Feder al officeholder, including but not limited to, a home mortgage, rent, or utility payment; clothing purchas e; noncampaign automob

SEC. 402. LIMIT ON CONGRESSIONAL USE OF THE FRANKING PRIVILEGE. (a) IN GENERAL- Section 3210(a)(6)(A) of title 39, United States C ode, is amended to read as follows: (A) A Member of Congress shall not mail any campaign-related ma ss mailing as franked mail during a year in which there will be an election for the seat held by the Member during the period betwee n January 1 of that year and the date of the general election for tha t Office, unless the Member has made a public announcement that th e Member will not be a candidate for reelection to that year or fo r election to any other Federal office.'.

SEC. 403. PARTY INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES. Section 315(d) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1997 (2U.S. C. 441a(d)) is amended-- (1) in paragraph (1)-- (A) by inserting `coordinated' after `make'; and (B) by striking `(2) and (3)' and inserting `(2), (3), and (4)' ; and (2) by adding at the end the following: (3) Before a committee of a political party may make coordinated e xpenditures in connection with a general election campaign for Fed eral office in excess of $5,000 pursuant to this subsection, the committee shall file with the Commission a certification, signed by t he treasurer, that the committee has not and will not make any ind ependent expenditures in connection with that campaign for Federal office. A party committee that determines to make coordinated expend itures pursuant to this subsection shall not make any transfers of funds in the same election cycle to, or receive any transfer o f funds in the same election cycle from, any other party committee th at determines to make independent expenditures in connection with the same campaign for Federal office. (4)(A) A committee of a political party shall be considered to be in coordination with a candidate of the party if the committee-- (i) makes a payment for a communication or anything of value in coordination with the candidate, as described in section 301(8)(A )(iii); (ii) makes a coordinated expenditure under section 315(d) on b ehalf of the candidate; (iii) participates in joint fundraising with the candidate or i n any way solicits or receives a contribution on behalf of the can didate; (iv) communicates with the candidate or an agent of the candida te (including a pollster, media consultant, vendor, advisor, or staff member), acting on behalf of the candidate, about advertisi ng, message, allocation of resources, fundraising, or other campaign matters related to the candidate's campaign, including campaign op erations, staffing, tactics or strategy; or (v) provides in-kind services, polling data, or anything of val ue to the candidate. (5) For purposes of paragraphs (4) and (5), all political committe es established and maintained by a national political party (inclu ding all congressional campaign committees) and all political comm ittees established by State political parties shall be considered to be a single political committee. (6) For purposes of paragraph (5), any coordination between a comm ittee of a political party and a candidate of the party after the candidate has filed a statement of candidacy constitutes coordinat ion for the period beginning with the filing of the statement of cand idacy and ending at the end of the election cycle.'.

SEC. 404. EXPRESS ADVOCACY. (a) DEFINITION OF EXPRESS ADVOCACY- Section 301 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431) (as amended by section 212( d)) is amended by adding at the end the following: `(20) EXPRESS ADVOCACY- (A) IN GENERAL- The term `express advocacy' includes-- (i) a communication that conveys a message that advocates th e election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate for Fed eral office by using an expression such as `vote for,' `elec t,' `support,' `vote against,' `defeat,' `reject,' `(name of candidat e) for Congress', `vote pro-life,' or `vote pro-choice', acc ompanied by a listing or picture of a clearly identified can didate described as `pro-life' or `pro-choice,' `reject the incumbent ', or a similar expression; `(ii) a communication that is made through a broadcast medi um, newspaper, magazine, billboard, direct mail, or similar type of general public communication or political advertisi ng that involves aggregate disbursements of $10,000 or more, that ref ers to a clearly identified candidate, that a reasonable person would understand as advocating the election or defeat of the c andidate, and that is made within 30 days before the date of a primary election (and is targeted to the State in which the prim ary is occurring), or 60 days before a general election; or (iii) a communication that is made through a broadcast mediu m, newspaper, magazine, billboard, direct mail, or similar t ype of general public communication or political advertising that involves aggregate disbursements of $10,000 or more, that refer s to a clearly identified candidate, that a reasonable person w ould understand as advocating the election or defeat of a candi date, that is made before the date that is 30 days before the date of a primary election, or 60 days before the date of a ge neral election, and that is made for the purpose of advocati ng the election or defeat of the candidate, as shown by 1 or more factors such as a statement or action by the person making the communication, the targeting or placement of the communicat ion, or the use by the person making the communication of po lling, demographic, or other similar data relating to the candidate's campaign or election. (B) EXCLUSION- The term `express advocacy' does not include the publication or distribution of a communication that is limited so lely to providing information about the voting record of elected o fficials on legislative matters and that a reasonable person would no t understand as advocating the election or defeat of a particular candidate.'.

TITLE V--CONSTITUTIONALITY; EFFECTIVE DATE; REGULATIONS

SEC. 501. SEVERABILITY. If any provision of this Act or amendment made by this Act, or th e application of a provision or amendment to any person or circumstan ce, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act and ame ndments made by this Act, and the application of the provisions and amendment to any person or circumstance, shall not be affected by the holding.

SEC. 502. REVIEW OF CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES. An appeal may be taken directly to the Supreme Court of the United States from any final judgment, decree, or order issued by any court ruling on the constitutionality of any provision of this Act or amen dment made by this Act.

SEC. 503. EFFECTIVE DATE. Except as otherwise provided in this Act, this Act and the amendme nts made by this Act take effect on the date that is 60 days after th e date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 504. REGULATIONS. The Federal Election Commission shall prescribe any regulations re quired to carry out this Act and the amendments made by this Act not later than 270 days after the effective date of this Act.