Campaign Finance Transparency Act

Summary#

The Campaign Finance Transparency Act would change rules for contributions to federal campaigns. It would require online credit or debit card donors to give the card verification value (CVV) or code and the billing ZIP code. If a donor's mailing address is not in a State, the donor must provide additional ID or a U.S. mailing address used for voter registration, a U.S. passport copy, or comparable ID. Political committees must treat digital wallet donations as meeting these rules, and recurring donations need the information only on the first charge. Committees that store card information must collect the required information when the card is first stored.

The bill also requires the name on a card to match the donor's name and bars committees from knowingly accepting gift-card or store gift-card donations. It removes the current $200 threshold for reporting contributions so committees must report all contributions consistent with Federal Election Commission rules. The bill adds a prohibition on directing or helping someone make a contribution in another person’s name and requires recipients who suspect such a contribution to report it to the Federal Election Commission. Treasurers must keep records, forward contributions and donor information to the treasurer within 10 days, and refund noncompliant contributions unless best efforts to comply are shown.

The Federal Election Commission must write regulations within 90 days after the act becomes law, consult with payment card networks when writing those rules, and the new rules apply to contributions after the 90-day period that follows the FEC's regulations.

What it means for you#

• If you give online by credit or debit card, you would need to provide the card verification number and the billing ZIP code when you donate. If your mailing address is not in a State, you may need to give a U.S. mailing address used for voter registration or show a passport or other accepted ID.
• If you set up a recurring donation or a campaign stores your card, you generally only need to give the required information once for that card.
• Campaigns must not accept donations from gift cards or from cards where the cardholder name does not match the donor name.
• Campaign treasurers must record and report all contributions, forward donor details to the treasurer within 10 days, and refund contributions that do not meet the rules if they know they are not compliant (unless they can show they used best efforts to comply).
• If you suspect a donation was made in another person’s name, the recipient must report that suspicion to the FEC.
• The FEC will issue rules within 90 days, and the changes apply after a further 90-day waiting period following those rules.

Expenses#

No publicly available information.

Proponents' View#

The sponsors introduced this measure to modify contribution requirements related to federal elections and to improve the operation of the Federal Election Commission. The bill directs the FEC to consult with payment card networks when writing regulations.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.