HR 1404 112th Congress House Congress Administrative law and regulatory procedures Broadcasting, cable, digital technologies Civil actions and liability Congressional elections Elections, voting, political campaign regulation Executive agency funding and structure Federal Election Commission (FEC) Government information and archives Government studies and investigations Government trust funds House of Representatives Judicial review and appeals Supreme Court

Fair Elections Now Act

Introduced: June 27, 2012 Introduced by: Larson, John B. Democratic · Connecticut See on congress.gov

Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps

Introduced

In committee

Reported out

Passed House

Passed Senate

To President

Became law

Apr 6, 2011

Referred to the House Committee on House Administration.

Apr 6, 2011

Introduced in House

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Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Fair Elections Now Act - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA) with respect to: (1) candidate benefits of fair elections financing of House of Representatives election campaigns; (2) allocations to candidates from the Fair Elections Fund established by this Act; (3) 500% matching payments to candidates for certain small dollar contributions; (4) Fund allocation eligibility requirements; (5) certification of a federal election candidate as a participating candidate; (6) contribution, expenditure, and fundraising requirements; (7) a public debate requirement; (8) remission to the Fair Elections Fund of unspent funds after an election; (9) establishment of the Fair Elections Fund and of a Fair Elections Oversight Board; (10) civil penalties for violation of contribution and expenditure requirements; and (11) transfer of a portion of collected civil money penalties into the Fair Elections Fund.

Prohibits: (1) use of contributions by a participating candidate for any purposes other than an election campaign, and (2) establishment of joint fundraising committees with any political committee other than a candidate's authorized committee. Prescribes a limitation on coordinated expenditures by political party committees with participating candidates.

Amends FECA to empower the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to petition the U.S. Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari to appeal a civil action.

Requires all designations, statements, and reports required to be filed under FECA to be filed: (1) directly with the FEC, and (2) in electronic form accessible by computers. Reduces from 48 hours to 24 hours after their receipt the deadline for the FEC to make designations, statements, reports, or notifications available to the public in the FEC office and on the Internet.