Fair Elections Now Act
Latest action · Jun 20, 2007 Committee on Rules and Administration. Hearings held.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMay 3, 2007
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Fair Elections Now Act - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA) with respect to: (1) eligibility and qualifying contribution requirements, seed money limits, and benefits of fair elections financing of Senate election campaigns; (2) establishment of a Senate Fair Elections Fund; (3) eligibility for Fund allocations as well as such allocations; (4) a seed money contribution requirement; (5) contribution and expenditure requirements; (6) certification of whether or not a federal election candidate is a participating candidate; (7) benefits for participating candidates; (8) payment of fair fight funds; (9) administration of the Senate Fair Elections System; (10) reporting requirements for nonparticipating candidates; (11) modification of electioneering communication reporting requirements; and (12) the limitation on coordinated expenditures by political party committees with participating candidates.
Amends the Communications Act of 1934 with respect to the deposit of proceeds from recovered spectrum auctions
Establishes the Fair Elections Review Commission.
Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to: (1) entitle participating candidates to receive specified reduced broadcast rates in certain circumstances; and (2) provide for political advertisement vouchers for them.
Directs the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to charge non-public broadcast stations a spectrum use fee, which shall be deposited into the Senate Fair Elections Fund.
Amends federal postal law to prohibit franked mass mailings by Members of Congress (except public meeting notices) during the 90 days before primary and general election periods, unless they are not candidates for re-election.
Amends FECA to: (1) empower the FEC to petition the U.S. Supreme Court for a proceeding on certiorari; (2) revise requirements for filing with the FEC by Senate candidates; and (3) reduce from 48 to 24 hours the deadline for electronic filing with the FEC of reports by each political committee of contributions received within 90 days before an election.
Cosponsors 9
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from May 3, 2007 to Jun 15, 2007; 3 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-PA | Arlen Specter | Original | May 3, 2007 |
| D-IL | Barack Obama | Original | May 3, 2007 |
| D-WI | Russell D. Feingold | Original | May 3, 2007 |
| D-CA | Barbara Boxer | Jun 15, 2007 | |
| D-MD | Benjamin L. Cardin | Jun 15, 2007 | |
| D-MO | Claire McCaskill | Jun 15, 2007 | |
| D-MA | Edward M. Kennedy | Jun 15, 2007 | |
| D-DE | Thomas R. Carper | Jun 15, 2007 | |
| D-IA | Tom Harkin | Jun 15, 2007 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| Senate | Rules and Administration Committee | Referred May 3, 2007Hearings Jun 20, 2007 |
Actions 3
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jun 20, 2007Committee on Rules and Administration. Hearings held.
- May 3, 2007Introduced in Senate
- May 3, 2007Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration. (text of measure as introduced: CR S5571-5580)
In the Congressional Record 1
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senate | Text printed S5571–S5580 | Richard J. Durbin D-IL (text) | May 3, 2007 |
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
CRS reports 5
Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.
Cite it 5
Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.
| Product | Title | Kind | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| RS22771 | Congressional Franking Privilege: Background and Recent Legislation Archived | Report | May 4, 2016 |
| RL33814 | Public Financing of Congressional Campaigns: Overview and Analysis Archived | Report | Apr 11, 2011 |
| R40091 | Campaign Finance: Potential Legislative and Policy Issues for the 111th Congress Archived | Report | Jan 28, 2011 |
| R40569 | Election Year Restrictions on Mass Mailings by Members of Congress: How H.R. 2056 Would Change Current Law Archived | Report | Aug 20, 2010 |
| RL34324 | Campaign Finance: Legislative Developments and Policy Issues in the 110th Congress Archived | Report | Oct 22, 2008 |
Related bills 3
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 936 | Fair Elections Now Act | Related bill | Mar 20, 2007 |
| HR 1614 | Clean Money, Clean Elections Act of 2007 | Related bill | Mar 21, 2007 |
| HR 7022 | Fair Elections Now Act | Related bill | Sep 23, 2008 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- A bill to reform the financing of Senate elections, and for other purposes.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Fair Elections Now Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Government Operations and Politics.
- Administrative procedure
- Auctions
- Auditing
- Campaign funds
- Congress
- Congressional elections
- Congressional mail
- Congressional reporting requirements
- Economics and Public Finance
- Election administration
- Election candidates
- Electronic data interchange
- Executive reorganization
- Expedited congressional procedure
- Federal Election Commission
- Finance and Financial Sector
- Fines (Penalties)
- Franking privilege
- Government Operations and Politics
- Government paperwork
- Government trust funds
- Governmental investigations
- House rules and procedure
- Judicial review
- Law
- Legislation
- Licenses
- Negative campaigning
- Political action committees
- Political advertising
- Political parties
- Primaries
- Radio spectrum allocation
- Radio stations
- Science, Technology, Communications
- Senate
- Senate rules and procedure
- Supreme Court
- Taxation
- Telecommunication rates
- Television stations
- User charges
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- May 3, 2007Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
