Campopiano / 1 Senator Christensen

S.W._____

A BILL
To provide 50 million dollars to the top fifteen presidential candidates for their campaigns and to cap all private
donations at 100 dollars per individual donor, including Political Action Committees, corporations, and the
candidates themselves.
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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 Funding Act of 2015.
SECTION 2. FINDINGS
Congress hereby finds and declares that,
1) In 2013-2014, only 0.31 percent of American population over eighteen years of age donated more than 200 dollars
to presidential campaigns.
2) 84 percent of Americans say money has too much influence in politics, and 85 percent of those surveyed said that
the campaign financing system should be either completely rebuilt or fundamentally changed.
3) The Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling resulted in a tremendous uptick in election-related
spending and it demonstrated the extent to which corporate influence is now distorting the political process
frustrating candidates and the public alike.
4) Election-related funds have been collected and spent nearly in secret, eroding campaign finance protections and
leaving the electorate blind to the special interest groups funding or opposing the candidacies of their elected
officials.
5) A total of six billion dollars was spent on campaigns during the 2012 election cycle; this was due to unrestricted
spending on elections by corporations made possible by the Citizens United ruling.
6) This clear misinterpretation of federal law has had disastrous consequences, allowing 501(c)(4)s to spend up to 49
percent of their total expenditures on political campaign activities while hiding their donors.
7) In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment prohibited the government from restricting
independent political expenditures by corporations, unions, non-profits and many other organizations.
8) Special interest groups work to change or influence public policy by lobbying elected officials. Part of lobbying
can involve attending fundraisers and donating to political campaigns.
SECTION 3. STATUTORY LANGUAGE
A) The Campaign Funding Act of 2015 shall provide 50 million dollars to fifteen viable presidential candidates in the
eighteen months before the Presidential Election. These candidates shall come from different parties: five democrats,
five republicans, and five independents. Any citizen interested in running for president shall turn in an application to
a government funded website, starting after each presidential election up to two years before the next election.
During this time these candidates shall not use any source of money for their campaigns. The only forms of
campaigning allowed shall be free, social media for an example. The public shall have the ability to view these
candidates and then vote, online, for their favorites. The public shall choose twenty of these candidates from each
party to debate for the top five spots which shall be voted on eighteen months before the election. The bill shall also
cap all donations towards the fifteen candidates presidential campaigns at 100 dollars. This includes all private
organizations, PACs (political action committees), and the candidates own money.
B) The Federal Election Commission shall administer this law. A new team of ten members shall be hired and given a
salary of 100 thousand dollars with a budget of ten thousand dollars each. This team shall review all applications, run
the website, and administer anything else needed for this law. The funding for this bill includes the 50 million dollars
for each candidate, the government-run website, and the funding for the Federal Election Commission. This sum of
751.1 million dollars shall be taken, over four years, from the military.
C) This format shall be the one and only way any citizen can run for presidency. Any candidate who receives any
donation over 100 dollars, or uses any of his or her own money over 100 dollars, shall be disqualified from the race.
This act shall be enacted January 1, 2017.