S. 936 (110th): Fair Elections Now Act

Introduced:
Mar 20, 2007 (110th Congress, 2007–2009)
Sponsor:
Sen. Richard Durbin [D-IL]
Status:
Died (Referred to Committee)
See Instead:
This bill was re-introduced as S. 752 (111th) on Mar 31, 2009.

The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. S. stands for Senate bill.

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Status

This bill was introduced on March 20, 2007, in a previous session of Congress, but was not enacted.

Progress
Introduced Mar 20, 2007
Referred to Committee Mar 20, 2007
Cosponsors
3 cosponsors (3D) (show)
Committees

Senate Finance

The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.

Full Title

A bill to reform the financing of Senate elections, and for other purposes.

Summary

No summaries available.

Text

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Last updated Mar 20, 2007.
85 pages

Primary Source

View on THOMAS (The Library of Congress)

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GovTrack’s Bill Summary

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Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

3/20/2007--Introduced.
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.
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide a tax credit for voluntary donations to the Senate Fair Elections Fund. 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 notices of public meetings) 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.

House Republican Conference Summary

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House Democratic Caucus Summary

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The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:

United States Code

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