Brief⁽¹⁾

House Sub. for Senate Sub. for S.B. 271 would amend the Campaign Finance Act and create the Voluntary Political Contributions Act of 1999.

The substitute bill would:

• Include in the definition of "express advocacy" any communications that in context would expressly advocate for the support or opposition of the nomination, election, or defeat of a specific candidate.



• Change the crime of corrupt political advertising as it applies to individuals by lowering the expenditure threshold to $1,000 from the current $2,500 which triggers the requirement that the name of an individual responsible for publication be printed on a flier or brochure.



• Make corrupt political advertising by any individual, trust, committee, corporation, partnership, organization, or association within 60 days of an election a class C misdemeanor. Corrupt political advertising by candidates, candidate committees, or party committees at any time would continue to be a class C misdemeanor.

• Remove candidate committees and party committees from the definition of political committee (PAC). Party and candidate committees were not included in the PAC definition prior to the 1998 amendment of the campaign finance law.



• Require local candidates' campaign finance reports to be filed within 30 days after the April general election. These reports would be in addition to current reporting requirements.

Background

The House Committee on Governmental Organization and Elections deleted the provisions in Senate Sub. for S.B. 271 and replaced them with provisions contained in H.B. 2022.

The House Committee on Final Action amended the definition of "express advocacy" and increased the expenditure threshold to $1,000 from $100 which triggers the requirement that the name of the individual responsible for publication be printed on a flier or brochure.

The House on Final Action also included a provision to require local candidates' reports to be filed within 30 days after the April general election.

1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/bill_search.html