Kay Bailey Hutchison: “Today I am pleased to again be offering legislation that will solve a significant issue for State and local legislators…”

“Today I am pleased to again be offering legislation that will solve a significant issue for State and local legislators and candidates across the country and which I know is of serious concern. Two years ago, Congress enacted the Full and Fair Political Activities Disclosure Act of 2000, Public Law 106-230, a law that imposed new IRS reporting requirements on political organizations claiming tax-exempt status under Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code. The purpose of this law was to uncover so-called 'stealth PACs,' tax-exempt groups which, prior to the enactment of this law, did not have to disclose any contributions or expenditures and were free to influence elections in virtual anonymity. While Public Law 106-230 was intended to target 'stealth PACs,' it has had the unintended consequence of imposing burdensome and duplicative reporting requirements on State and local candidates who are not involved in any federal election activities. To correct this problem, I have worked closely with Senator Lieberman, among others, to develop legislation that would exempt state and local candidates from some of the IRS reporting requirements of Public Law 106-230.”