The legislative files include information on specific legislation or on general topics. There is correspondence from constituents, colleagues, public interest groups, professional organizations, administration officials, and local governments. Also included are internal memos and notes, drafts, final reports and studies, copies of bills, publications, clippings, position papers and talking points, press releases, and copies of testimonies by Payne and others before congressional committees. Some of the topics represented are abortion, balanced budget amendment, banking and insurance, budget reconciliation, Caribbean Basin Initiative, Clinton economic plan, government reform and spending, health insurance reform, Medicare, tobacco legislation, and trade. There is also an overview and information relating to issues affecting the 104th Congress filed at the end of the series. Also included are copies of co-signed letters and co-sponsorship information, legislative activity guides and profiles distributed by the House Clerk, and voting record scorecards and publications from various interest groups.

The weekly "Legislative Reports" from the Democratic Study Group of the United States House of Representatives, and "House Action Reports" prepared by Congressional Quarterly, were issued from 1993 to 1996. The publications contain information on specific legislation, including the floor situation, background summaries and basic provisions of bills and amendments, arguments for and against, Administration positions, weekly schedules of the House, and fact sheets. Many of the reports pertain to appropriations legislation. Interspersed among the reports are internal office memos to Payne from his staff that also provide background and summaries on specific legislation. This series is arranged alphabetically by agency or subject area.

The project files include material on the establishment, construction, renovation, or maintenance of projects of local interest in Virginia's Fifth Congressional district, or issues in which Payne took a specific action. Some of the projects, issues, or groups represented include biotechnology, Buckingham County landfill Superfund site, coal industry retiree health benefits "reachback" provisions, economic development, electric co-ops, Federal Prison Industries, Inc., Interstate 73, the Lake Gaston pipeline project, Medicare reform, power marketing administrations, rural land conservation, the Sandy River Reservoir, and textiles. This series contains notes, clippings, correspondence, interoffice memoranda, background materials, drafts, reports, feasibility studies, grant proposals and notifications, and publications.

The press files include newspaper clippings, photographs and slides, and press releases. The clippings cover the period from January 1994 to September 1996, and include newspaper and magazine articles on state and national politics, as well as stories relating specifically to Congressman Payne, including his statements on various issues, campaign news, and appearances at local events. There are also copies of his weekly column "L.F. Payne...from Washington" and op-ed pieces authored by him that were printed in many newspapers in the Fifth District. There is one folder containing photographs and slides. They include early family photographs, and images of Payne with local citizens, as well as famous dignitaries, including Charles Robb, Al Gore, and Jerry Garcia and Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead. The press releases date from January 1995 to November 1996. They include drafts and final copies of the release, distribution lists, background information, and staff memorandums. The releases cover Payne's appearances at local events and speeches before constituent groups, his floor statements and congressional testimonies and positions on various issues, legislative actions taken by Congress, grant award announcements, articles and op-ed pieces he wrote, and constituent mailings.

There is one box of office files containing information on Payne's chief of staff Mark T. Bowles, including his financial disclosure statement, as well as a small amount of constituent correspondence, a staff handbook, an analysis of a staff seminar, visitors' register, and other items.

The campaign files contain information relating to Payne's campaigns for Congress in 1992 and 1994, but the vast majority of the files concern his unsuccessful run for lieutenant governor of Virginia. Payne announced his resignation from Congress on 5 February 1996, and his bid for lieutenant governor on 16 September 1996. He lost the race to John Hager in the November 1997 election. The campaign files contain letters sent to Payne upon his retirement from Congress, opposition research, media files, candidate questionnaires, debate preparation information, press releases issued by Don Beyer, who was the Democratic nominee for Governor, event schedules, campaign literature, election results, issues and opinion research and polling information prepared by consultants, campaign plans and strategies, policy ideas and information, and message development. There is a substantial amount of information concerning fundraising, including budgets, campaign contribution and expenditure reports for Payne and other candidates submitted to the State Board of Elections, contacts, donor lists, plans and projections, phone call lists, fundraising event files, and copies of donation checks and lists of deposits. There is also a large campaign banner at the end of the collection. There is additional campaign material in the Special Media series.

The special media include cassette tapes, computer floppy discs, and VHS videotapes. The cassette tapes contain campaign radio spots as well as interviews by Payne and others on local radio stations. The videotapes are mostly related to Payne's campaigns for Congress and lieutenant governor, including television commercials prepared by political consulting firms, as well as coverage of debates, local news spots, and appearances. There are also short local news segments containing interviews with Payne where he shares his views on various topics and events, including Medicare, Iraq and the Mideast, education, NAFTA, tobacco legislation, and the federal budget deficit. The files contained on computer floppy discs have been reproduced in hard copy. They relate to Payne's campaign for lieutenant governor, and include staff memorandums, form letters, speeches, and fundraising information.