The House of Representatives passed legislation that would subject independent political committees, exempt under Section 527 of the tax code, that work on federal elections to essentially the same contribution limits and reporting requirements as federal candidate campaigns and political parties. H.R. 513, the 527 Reform Act of 2005, passed the House on April 5 by a vote of 218-209. If the bill becomes law, 527 groups would no longer be required to report donations and expenditures to the Internal Revenue Service and would report instead to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). The legislation will now move to the Senate where it faces an uncertain future. The House version of the lobby reform bill also contains language regulating independent 527s as political committees under FEC rules. The lobby reform bill passed in the Senate lacks such a provision. Since 527 legislation is not currently on the Senate calendar, the fate of H.R. 513 is uncertain. H.R. 513 calls for FEC regulation of all 527 groups except for those with annual receipts under $25,000 and those that are state or local political committees that only refer to non-federal candidates or referendums in voter mobilization activities. Once subject to FEC regulation, a 527 could not receive more than $25,000 per year from any one individual for efforts to mobilize voters around issues. The bill does not directly cover 501(c) organizations. Groups that are allowed to have affiliated 527 political committees, such as social welfare organizations and labor unions, however, would have less flexibility with funds that are not subject to FEC advocacy rules around references to federal candidates. The bill’s proponents claim it is necessary to rein in groups that collected unlimited soft money contributions during the 2004 election. Conversely, its opponents claim it will unnecessarily hamper citizen involvement in elections.