Sec. 5101. Establishment of pilot program

911 words·~4 min read·/bill/116/hr/1/pcs/section-5101

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The Federal Election Commission (hereafter in this part referred to as the Commission ) shall establish a pilot program under which the Commission shall select 3 eligible States to operate a voucher pilot program which is described in section 5102 during the program operation period. A State is eligible to be selected to operate a voucher pilot program under this part if, not later than 180 days after the beginning of the program application period, the State submits to the Commission an application containing— information and assurances that the State will operate a voucher program which contains the elements described in section 5102(a); information and assurances that the State will establish fraud prevention mechanisms described in section 5102(b); information and assurances that the State will establish a commission to oversee and implement the program as described in section 5102(c); information and assurances that the State will carry out a public information campaign as described in section 5102(d); information and assurances that the State will submit reports as required under section 5103; and such other information and assurances as the Commission may require.

Not later than 1 year after the beginning of the program application period, the Commission shall select the 3 States which will operate voucher pilot programs under this part. In selecting States for the operation of the voucher pilot programs under this part, the Commission shall apply such criteria and metrics as the Commission considers appropriate to determine the ability of a State to operate the program successfully, and shall attempt to select States in a variety of geographic regions and with a variety of political party preferences.

The selection of States by the Commission under this subsection shall require the approval of only half of the Members of the Commission. During the program preparation period, each State selected to operate a voucher pilot program under this part shall take such actions as may be necessary to ensure that the State will be ready to operate the program during the program operation period, and shall complete such actions not later than 90 days before the beginning of the program operation period.

Each voucher pilot program under this part shall terminate as of the first day after the program operation period. Upon receiving the report submitted by a State under section 5103(a) with respect to an election cycle, the Commission shall transmit a payment to the State in an amount equal to the reasonable costs incurred by the State in operating the voucher pilot program under this part during the cycle. Payments to States under the program shall be made using amounts in the Freedom From Influence Fund under section 541 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (as added by section 5111), hereafter referred to as the Fund .

Not later than 90 days before the first day of each program operation period, the Commission shall— audit the Fund to determine whether, after first making payments to participating candidates under title V of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (as added by section 5111), the amounts remaining in the Fund will be sufficient to make payments to States under this part in the amounts provided under this subsection; and submit a report to Congress describing the results of the audit.

If, on the basis of the audit described in subparagraph (A), the Commission determines that the amount anticipated to be available in the Fund with respect to an election cycle involved is not, or may not be, sufficient to make payments to States under this part in the full amount provided under this subsection, the Commission shall reduce each amount which would otherwise be paid to a State under this subsection by such pro rata amount as may be necessary to ensure that the aggregate amount of payments anticipated to be made with respect to the cycle will not exceed the amount anticipated to be available for such payments in the Fund with respect to such cycle.

If, after reducing the amounts paid to States with respect to an election cycle under clause (i), the Commission determines that there are sufficient amounts in the Fund to restore the amount by which such payments were reduced (or any portion thereof), to the extent that such amounts are available, the Commission may make a payment on a pro rata basis to each such State with respect to the cycle in the amount by which such State’s payments were reduced under clause

(i)(or any portion thereof, as the case may be). In any case in which the Commission determines that there are insufficient moneys in the Fund to make payments to States under this part, moneys shall not be made available from any other source for the purpose of making such payments. The aggregate amount of payments made to any State with respect to any program operation period may not exceed $10,000,000. If the State determines that the maximum payment amount under this paragraph with respect to the program operation period involved is not, or may not be, sufficient to cover the reasonable costs incurred by the State in operating the program under this part for such period, the State shall reduce the amount of the voucher provided to each qualified individual by such pro rata amount as may be necessary to ensure that the reasonable costs incurred by the State in operating the program will not exceed the amount paid to the State with respect to such period.