,i  #aafth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #afac  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,march #g1 #bjai,ms4 
,jayapal 7for herself and ,ms4          
,del,bene7 introduced the following     
bill2 which was referred to the         
,committee on ,house ,administration  ,a
 ,,bill  ,to direct the ,federal        
,election ,commission to carry out a    
voucher pilot program under which       
individuals may use vouchers to make    
small dollar contributions to qualified 
candidates for election for the office  
of ,representative in1 or ,delegate or  
,resident ,commissioner to1 the         
,congress1 and for other purposes4  #a4 
,short title ,this ,act may be cited as 
the ,democracy ,dollars ,act4  #b4      
,establishment of pilot program  7a7    
,establishment ,the ,federal ,election  
,commission 7hereafter in this ,act     
referred to as the ,commission7 shall   
establish a pilot program under which   
the ,commission shall select #c eligible
 ,states to operate a voucher pilot     

program which is described in section #c
 during the program operation period4   
7b7 ,eligibility of ,states ,a ,state is
 eligible to be selected to operate a   
voucher pilot program under this ,act   
if1 not later than #ahj days after the  
beginning of the program application    
period1 the ,state submits to the       
,commission an application containing-- 
7#a7 information and assurances that the
 ,state will operate a voucher program  
which contains the elements described in
 section #c7;a72  7#b7 information and  
assurances that the ,state will         
establish fraud prevention mechanisms   
described in section #c7;b72  7#c7      
information and assurances that the     
,state will establish a commission to   
oversee and implement the program as    
described in section #c7;c72  7#d7      
information and assurances that the     
,state will carry out a public          
information campaign as described in    
section #c7;d72  7#e7 information and   
assurances that the ,state will submit  

reports as required under section #d2   
and  7#f7 such other information and    
assurances as the ,commission may       
require4  7c7 ,selection of             
participating ,states  7#a7 ,in general 
,not later than #a year after the       
beginning of the program application    
period1 the ,commission shall select the
 #c ,states which will operate voucher  
pilot programs under this ,act4  7#b7   
,criteria ,in selecting ,states for the 
operation of the voucher pilot programs 
under this ,act1 the ,commission shall  
apply such criteria and metrics as the  
,commission considers appropriate to    
determine the ability of a ,state to    
operate the program successfully1 and   
shall attempt to select ,states in a    
variety of geographic regions and with a
 variety of political party preferences4
  7#c7 ,no supermajority required for   
selection ,the selection of ,states by  
the ,commission under this subsection   
shall require the approval of only half 
of the ,members of the ,commission4  7d7

 ,duties of ,states during program      
preparation period ,during the program  
preparation period1 each ,state selected
 to operate a voucher pilot program     
under this ,act shall take such actions 
as may be necessary to ensure that the  
,state will be ready to operate the     
program during the program operation    
period1 and shall complete such actions 
not later than #ij days before the      
beginning of the program operation      
period4  7e7 ,termination ,each voucher 
pilot program under this ,act shall     
terminate as of the first day after the 
program operation period4  7f7          
,reimbursement of ,costs ,upon receiving
 the report submitted by a ,state under 
section #d7;a7 with respect to an       
election cycle1 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 ,act   
during the cycle4  #c4 ,voucher program 
described  7a7 ,general elements of     

program  7#a7 ,elements described ,the  
elements of a voucher pilot program     
operated by a ,state under this ,act are
 as follows3 7,a7 ,the ,state shall     
provide each qualified individual upon  
the individual's request with a voucher 
worth #be to be known as a ,my ,voice   
,voucher during the election cycle which
 will be assigned a routing number and  
which at the option of the individual   
will be provided in either paper or     
electronic form4  7,b7 ,using the       
routing number assigned to the ,my      
,voice ,voucher1 the individual may     
submit the ,my ,voice ,voucher in either
 electronic or paper form to qualified  
candidates for election for the office  
of ,representative in1 or ,delegate or  
,resident ,commissioner to1 the         
,congress and allocate such portion of  
the value of the ,my ,voice ,voucher in 
increments of #e as the individual may  
select to any such candidate4  7,c7 ,if 
the candidate transmits the ,my ,voice  
,voucher to the ,commission1 the        

,commission shall pay the candidate the 
portion of the value of the ,my ,voice  
,voucher that the individual allocated  
to the candidate1 which shall be        
considered a contribution by the        
individual to the candidate for purposes
 of the ,federal ,election ,campaign    
,act of #aiga4  7#b7 ,designation of    
qualified individuals ,for purposes of  
paragraph 7#a77;,a71 a qualified        
individual with respect to a ,state     
means an individual-- 7,a7 who is a     
resident of the ,state2  7,b7 who will  
be of voting age as of the date of the  
election for the candidate to whom the  
individual submits a ,my ,voice         
,voucher2 and  7,c7 who is not          
prohibited under ,federal law from      
making contributions to candidates for  
election for ,federal office4  7#c7     
,treatment as contribution to candidate 
,for purposes of the ,federal ,election 
,campaign ,act of #aiga1 the submission 
of a ,my ,voice ,voucher to a candidate 
by an individual shall be treated as a  

contribution to the candidate by the    
individual in the amount of the portion 
of the value of the ,voucher that the   
individual allocated to the candidate4  
7b7 ,fraud prevention mechanism ,in     
addition to the elements described in   
subsection 7a71 a ,state operating a    
voucher pilot program under this ,act   
shall permit an individual to revoke a  
,my ,voice ,voucher not later than #b   
days after submitting the ,my ,voice    
,voucher to a candidate4  7c7 ,oversight
 commission ,in addition to the elements
 described in subsection 7a71 a ,state  
operating a voucher pilot program under 
this ,act shall establish a commission  
or designate an existing entity to      
oversee and implement the program in the
 ,state1 except that no such commission 
or entity may be comprised of elected   
officials4  7d7 ,public information     
campaign ,in addition to the elements   
described in subsection 7a71 a ,state   
operating a voucher pilot program under 
this ,act shall carry out a public      

information campaign to disseminate     
awareness of the program among qualified
 individuals4  #d4 ,reports  7a7        
,preliminary report ,not later than #f  
months after the first election cycle of
 the program operation period1 a ,state 
which operates a voucher pilot program  
under this ,act shall submit a report to
 the ,commission analyzing the operation
 and effectiveness of the program during
 the cycle and including such other     
information as the ,commission may      
require4  7b7 ,final report ,not later  
than #f months after the end of the     
program operation period1 the ,state    
shall submit a final report to the      
,commission analyzing the operation and 
effectiveness of the program and        
including such other information as the 
,commission may require4  7c7 ,report by
 ,commission ,not later than the end of 
the first election cycle which begins   
after the program operation period1 the 
,commission shall submit a report to    
,congress which summarizes and analyzes 

the results of the voucher pilot        
program1 and shall include in the report
 such recommendations as the ,commission
 considers appropriate regarding the    
expansion of the pilot program to all   
,states and territories1 along with such
 other recommendations and other        
information as the ,commission considers
 appropriate4  #e4 ,definitions  7a7    
,election cycle ,in this ,act1 the term 
election cycle means the period         
beginning on the day after the date of  
the most recent regularly scheduled     
general election for ,federal office and
 ending on the date of the next         
regularly scheduled general election for
 ,federal office4  7b7 ,definitions     
relating to periods ,in this ,act1 the  
following definitions apply3 7#a7       
,program application period ,the term   
program application period means the    
first election cycle which begins after 
the date of the enactment of this ,act4 
7#b7 ,program preparation period ,the   
term program preparation period means   

the first election cycle which begins   
after the program application period4   
7#c7 ,program operation period ,the term
 program operation period means the     
first #b election cycles which begin    
after the program preparation period4