Amend the committee amendment, as and if amended, by adding appropriately numbered new SECTIONS to read:
/ SECTION __. Section 8-13-1300(6) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(6) 'Committee' means an association, a club, an organization, or a group of persons which, to influence the outcome of an elective office, receives contributions or makes expenditures in excess of five hundred dollars in the aggregate during an election cycle. It also means a person who, to influence the outcome of an elective office, makes:
(a) contributions aggregating at least twenty-five thousand dollars during an election cycle to or at the request of a candidate or a committee, or a combination of them; or
(b) independent expenditures aggregating five hundred dollars or more during an election cycle for the election or defeat of a candidate. a person, two or more individuals, such as any person, association, organization, or other entity that makes or accepts anything of value to make contributions or expenditures, and has one or more of the following characteristics:
(a) is a political party or executive committee of a political party or is controlled by a political party or executive committee of a political party; or
(b) has the major purpose to support or oppose the nomination or election of one or more clearly identified candidates.
Supporting or opposing the election of clearly identified candidates includes supporting or opposing the candidates of a clearly identified political party.
If the entity qualifies as a 'committee' pursuant to this section, it continues to be a committee if it receives contributions or makes expenditures or maintains assets or liabilities. A committee ceases to exist when it winds up its operations, disposes of its assets, and files its final report.
'Committee' includes a party committee, a legislative caucus committee, a noncandidate committee, or a committee that is not a campaign committee for a candidate but that is organized for the purpose of influencing an election and has as the major purpose to support or oppose the nomination or election of a candidate to an elective office."
SECTION __. Section 8-13-1300(7) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(7) 'Contribution' means a gift, subscription, loan, guarantee upon which collection is made, forgiveness of a loan, an advance, in-kind contribution or expenditure, a deposit of money, or anything of value made to a candidate or committee to influence an election; or payment or compensation for the personal service of another person which is rendered for any purpose to a candidate or committee without charge, whether any of the above are made or offered directly or indirectly. 'Contribution' does not include (a) volunteer personal services on behalf of a candidate or committee for which the volunteer or any person acting on behalf of or instead of the volunteer receives no compensation either in cash or in-kind, directly or indirectly, from any source; or (b) a gift, subscription, loan, guarantee upon which collection is made, forgiveness of a loan, an advance, in-kind contribution or expenditure, a deposit of money, or anything of value made to a committee, other than a candidate committee, and is used to pay for communications made not more than forty-five days before the election to influence the outcome of an elective office as defined in Section 8-13-1300(31)(c). These funds must be deposited in an account separate from a campaign account as required in Section 8-13-1312."
SECTION __. Section 8-13-1300(23) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(23) 'Noncandidate committee' means a committee that is not a campaign committee for a candidate but is organized to influence an election or to support or oppose a candidate or public official, for the major purpose to support or oppose the nomination or election of a candidate to elective office, which receives contributions or makes expenditures in excess of five hundred dollars in the aggregate during an election cycle. 'Noncandidate committee' does not include political action committees that contribute solely to federal campaigns."
SECTION __. Section 8-13-1300(32) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(32) 'Ballot measure committee' means:
(a) an association, club, an organization, or a group of persons which, to influence the outcome of a ballot measure, receives contributions or makes expenditures in excess of two thousand five hundred dollars in the aggregate during an election cycle;
(b) a person, other than an individual, who, to influence the outcome of a ballot measure, makes contributions aggregating at least fifty thousand dollars during an election cycle to or at the request of a ballot measure committee; or
(c) a person, other than an individual, who, to influence the outcome of a ballot measure, makes independent expenditures aggregating two thousand five hundred dollars or more during an election cycle.
a person, two or more individuals, such as any person, association, organization, or other entity that makes or accepts anything of value to make contributions or expenditures that has the major purpose to support or oppose the passage of a ballot measure."
SECTION __. Section 8-13-1300 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding an appropriately numbered subsection to read:
"( ) 'electioneering communication' means any broadcast, cable, or satellite communication or mass postal mailing or telephone bank that has the following characteristics:
(a) refers to a candidate for elected office;
(b) is publically aired or distributed within sixty days prior to a general election or within thirty days prior to a primary for that office; and
(c) may be received by either:
(i) fifty thousand or more individuals in the State in an election for statewide office, or seven thousand five hundred or more individuals in any other election if in the form of broadcast, cable, or satellite communication; or
(ii) twenty thousand or more households, cumulative per election, in a statewide election or two thousand five hundred households, cumulative per election, in any other election if in the form of mass mailing or telephone bank.
(d) The definition does not include:
(i) a communication appearing in a news story, commentary, or editorial distributed through the facilities of any broadcasting station, unless those facilities are owned or controlled by any political party, political committee, or candidate;
(ii) a communication that constitutes an expenditure or independent expenditure under this Article;
(iii) a communication that constitutes a candidate debate or forum conducted pursuant to rules adopted by a political party or that solely promotes that debate or forum and is made by or on behalf of the person sponsoring the debate or forum;
(iv) a communication made which, incidental to advocacy for or against a specific piece of legislation, ordinance, or local initiative pending before the General Assembly or governing body of a political subdivision, urges the audience to communicate with a member or members of the General Assembly or the governing body of a political subdivision, concerning that piece of legislation, ordinance, or local initiative; or
(v) a communication that meets all of the following criteria:
(1) does not mention any election, candidacy, political party, opposing candidate, or voting by the general public;
(2) does not take a position on the candidate's character or qualifications and fitness for office; and
(3) proposes a commercial transaction."
SECTION __. Section 8-13-1300 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding an appropriately numbered subsection to read:
"( ) 'Independent expenditure-only committee' means a committee that:
(a) is not made by, controlled by, coordinated with, requested by, or made in consultation with a candidate, an agent of a candidate, a political party, or an agent of a political party;
(b) does not make contributions to any candidate or other committee, with the exception of other independent expenditure-only committees;
(c) makes only independent expenditures as defined by Section 8-13-1300(17); and
(d) is organized for the major purpose to support or oppose the nomination or election of a candidate to elective office."
SECTION __. Chapter 13, Title 8 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 8-13-1301. For purposes of this article, factors that shall be considered to determine whether a committee, ballot measure committee, a party committee, a legislative caucus committee, a noncandidate committee, or independent expenditure-only committee has the major purpose of supporting or opposing one or more candidates or the passage of one or more ballot measures include, but are not limited to:
(A) any of the committee's organizational documents, including bylaws or articles of incorporation, identify advocacy to support or to oppose one or more candidates or the passage of one or more ballot measures as its major purpose;
(B) over fifty percent of the committee's disbursements made within the State in a calendar year are made to support or to oppose one or more candidates or the passage of one or more ballot measures; or
(C) over fifty percent of the committee's total disbursements made in a calendar year are made to support or to oppose one or more candidates or the passage of one or more ballot measures; or
(D) the committee's public statements, including statements made in oral or written fundraising solicitations, identify advocacy in support of or in opposition to one or more candidates or the passage of one or more ballot measures as its major purpose."
SECTION __. Chapter 13, Title 8 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 8-13-1311. Independent expenditure-only committees must:
(A) file a statement of organization with the State Ethics Commission no later than five days after receiving or expending more than five hundred dollars in the aggregate during an election cycle to influence the outcome of an elective office;
(B) under penalty of perjury, the chief executive officer or the controlling individual of the committee must file a certification that the independent expenditure-only committee is not made in cooperation, consultation, or concert, with, or at the request or suggestion of, any candidate or any authorized committee or agent of such candidate;
(C) only make independent expenditures as defined by Section 8-13-1300(17); and
(D) comply with all requirements, disclosures, and restrictions of committees under this Article except contribution limits under section 8-13-1322."
SECTION __. Chapter 13, Title 8 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 8-13-1313. A person who is not a committee required to file subject to Section 8-13-1304 and who makes an independent expenditure as defined by Section 8-13-1300(17), in an aggregate amount or value in excess of five hundred dollars during a calendar year or makes an electioneering communication must file a report of such expenditure or communication with the State Ethics Commission pursuant to Section 8-13-365. This report must be filed within thirty days of making the independent expenditure, or if the independent expenditure or electioneering communication is made within thirty days before an election, the report must be filed within forty-eight hours. The report must include:
(1) a detailed description of the use of the expenditure or communication and the amount of the expenditure or the cost of the communication;
(2) the full name, primary occupation, street address, and phone number of the reporting person;
(3) the identification of the chief executive officer, or for all controlling individuals if the reporting person is a business or another organization that is not an individual, to include name, title, employer, and address;
(4) the name of the candidate or ballot measure that is the target of the independent expenditure or electioneering communication and whether the expenditure or communication was made in support of, or opposition to, the candidate or ballot measure;
(5) the chief executive officer or controlling individual must file, under penalty of perjury, a certification that the independent expenditure is not made in cooperation, consultation, or concert, with, or at the request or suggestion of, any candidate or any authorized committee or agent of such candidate;
(6) the identification of the top five donors to the reporting person and for any donor who has donated more than ten thousand dollars to the committee within the previous twelve months, to include name, primary occupation, address, and amount of the donation; and
(7) if the donor is a business or another organization that is not an individual, then the identification must indicate the name and title of the chief executive officer or the controlling individual of the donor organization."
SECTION __. Section 8-13-1322 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 8-13-1322. (A) A person may not contribute to a committee and a committee may not accept from a person contributions aggregating more than three thousand five hundred dollars in a calendar year.
(B) A person may not contribute to a committee and a committee may not accept from a person a cash contribution unless the cash contribution does not exceed twenty-five dollars for each election and is accompanied by a record of the amount of the contribution and the name and address of the contributor.
(C) The provisions of subsection (A) do not apply to independent expenditure-only committees registered with the State Ethics Commission." /
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.