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Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
AMENDED
February 6, 2008
S. 714
Introduced by Senators Leatherman, Reese, Alexander, Patterson, Moore, Thomas, Williams, Ford, Hutto, Malloy, Anderson, Martin, Elliott, Land, O'Dell, Cleary, Rankin, Knotts, Scott, Cromer, Matthews, Pinckney, McGill, Hayes, Drummond, Hawkins, Lourie and Jackson
S. Printed 2/6/08--S.
Read the first time April 25, 2007.
TO AMEND SECTION 2-17-10, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO DEFINITIONS USED REGARDING LOBBYISTS AND LOBBYING, SO AS TO DEFINE A "POLITICAL AWARENESS ORGANIZATION"; BY ADDING SECTION 2-17-27 SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR THE MANNER OF REGISTRATION OF POLITICAL AWARENESS ORGANIZATIONS; BY ADDING SECTION 2-17-37 SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR THE FILING OF A CERTIFIED CONTRIBUTION REPORT BY A POLITICAL AWARENESS ORGANIZATION; AND TO AMEND SECTION 2-17-130, RELATING TO PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS BY LOBBYISTS OR LOBBYIST'S PRINCIPALS, SO AS TO PROVIDE A PENALTY FOR A POLITICAL AWARENESS ORGANIZATION WHICH WILFULLY VIOLATES THE PROVISIONS OF CHAPTER 17, TITLE 2, LOBBYISTS AND LOBBYING.
Amend Title To Conform
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. The 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 8-13-1339. A political action committee organized by or on behalf of the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, any other statewide constitutional officer, a member of the General Assembly, a director or deputy director of a state department appointed by the Governor is prohibited. Any political action committee prohibited by this section in existence on the effective date of this act must distribute all unexpended contributions in the manner provided for in Section 8-13-1370(C). A political action committee does not include a candidate committee."
SECTION 2. Section 8-13-1340 in the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 8-13-1340. (A) Except as provided in subsections (B) and (E), a candidate or public official shall not make a contribution to another candidate or make an independent expenditure on behalf of another candidate or public official from the candidate's or public official's campaign account or through a committee, except legislative caucus committees, directly or indirectly established, financed, maintained, or controlled by the candidate or public official.
(B) This section does not prohibit a candidate from:
(1) making a contribution from the candidate's own personal funds on behalf of the candidate's candidacy or to another candidate for a different office; or
(2) providing the candidate's surplus funds or material assets upon final disbursement to a legislative caucus committee or party committee in accordance with the procedures for the final disbursement of a candidate under Section 8-13-1370 of this article.
(C) Assets or funds which are the proceeds of a campaign contribution and which are held by or under the control of a public official or a candidate for public office on January 1, 1992, are considered to be funds held by a candidate and subject to subsection (A).
(D) A committee is considered to be directly or indirectly established, financed, maintained, or controlled by a candidate or public official if any of the following are applicable:
(1) the candidate or public official, or an agent of either, has signature authority on the committee's checks;
(2) funds contributed or disbursed by the committee are authorized or approved by the candidate or public official;
(3) the candidate or public official is clearly identified on either the stationery or letterhead of the committee;
(4) the candidate or public official signs solicitation letters or other correspondence on behalf of the entity;
(5) the candidate, public official, or his campaign staff, office staff, or immediate family members, or any other agent of either, has the authority to approve, alter, or veto the committee's solicitations, contributions, donations, disbursements, or contracts to make disbursements; or
(6) the committee pays for travel by the candidate or public official, his campaign staff or office staff, or any other agent of the candidate or public official, in excess of one hundred dollars per calendar year.
(E) The provisions of subsection (A) do not apply to a committee directly or indirectly established, financed, maintained, or controlled by a candidate or public official if the candidate or public official directly or indirectly establishes, finances, maintains, or controls only one committee in addition to any committee formed by the candidate or public official to solely promote his own candidacy and one legislative caucus committee.
(F) No committee operating under the provisions of Section 8-13-1340(E) may:
(1) solicit or accept a contribution from a registered lobbyist if that lobbyist engages in lobbying the public office or public body for which the candidate is seeking election; or
(2) transfer anything of value to any other committee except as a contribution under the limitations of Section 8-13-1314(A) or the dissolution provisions of Section 8-13-1370."
SECTION 3. Section 2-17-10 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 344 of 2006, is further amended by adding at the end:
"(22) 'Political awareness organization' means an organization or committee that receives contributions and makes expenditures, totally or in part, for the purpose of promoting specific issues in order to influence public opinion with the intent to impact or change local and state government or its subdivisions, or both, and has the Internal Revenue Service classification of '501(C)(4)' or '527' or operates within an organization with the Internal Revenue Service classification of '501(C)(4)' or '527'."
SECTION 4. Chapter 17, Title 2 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 2-17-27. (A) A political awareness organization which receives or expends more than two thousand five hundred dollars in the aggregate during a calendar year, within fifteen days of incorporation, shall register with the State Ethics Commission as provided in this section. Each political awareness organization registering shall pay a fee of one hundred dollars.
(B) The registration must be in a form prescribed by the State Ethics Commission to include:
(1) the full name, address, and telephone number of the political awareness organization. If the organization is an individual, the organization also shall include his occupation, name of employer, principal place of business, and position of authority held in that business;
(2) an identification of the public offices or governmental entities, which the political awareness organization wishes to target for public or social awareness;
(3) certification by the political awareness organization that the information contained on the registration statement is true and correct; and
(4) if the political awareness organization fails to identify the public offices or governmental entities for which it is targeting as required by item (2), then the organization is deemed to be targeting all public offices or government entities of the State.
(C) Each political awareness organization that terminates its activity requiring registration pursuant to this section shall file a written statement of termination with the State Ethics Commission. Each organization that files a written statement of termination shall file reports required by this chapter for any reporting period during which the organization was registered.
(D) A political awareness organization shall file a supplemental registration statement indicating any substantial change in the information contained in the prior registration statement within fifteen days after the date of the change.
(E) The State Ethics Commission annually shall furnish to each chairman of standing and special committees of the General Assembly, each member of the General Assembly, and each statewide constitutional officer a list of registered political awareness organizations. The State Ethics Commission shall also furnish monthly updates to the same persons. These lists must be available to state agency heads upon request.
(F) A political awareness organization shall reregister annually with the State Ethics Commission by January fifth of each year.
(G) The State Ethics Commission shall not allow a political awareness organization to register or reregister under this section until the political awareness organization complies with the reporting requirements under Section 2-17-37."
SECTION 5. Chapter 17, Title 2 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 2-17-37. (A) Upon the receipt or expenditure of contributions or the making of independent expenditures totaling, in an accumulated aggregate, two thousand five hundred dollars or more, a political awareness organization required to register with the State Ethics Commission pursuant to Section 2-17-27 shall file an initial certified report of contributions within ten days of these initial receipts or expenditures.
(B) Following the filing of an initial certified report of contributions, additional certified reports of contributions must be filed within ten days following the end of each calendar quarter in which contributions are received or expenditures are made, until the account undergoes final disbursement.
(C) A certified contribution report must contain:
(1) the total amount of contributions accepted by the political awareness organization; and
(2) the name and address of each person making a contribution of more than one hundred dollars to a political awareness organization and the amount and date of receipt of each contribution."
SECTION 6. Section 2-17-130(A) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(A) A lobbyist, or a lobbyist's principal, or a political awareness organization who wilfully violates the provisions of this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than two thousand five hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both. In addition, any a lobbyist, or a lobbyist's principal, or a political awareness organization convicted of or pleading guilty or nolo contendere to a misdemeanor under the provisions of this section is barred from acting as a lobbyist, or a lobbyist's principal, or a political awareness organization for a period of three years from the date of the conviction."
SECTION 7. Section 8-13-530 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 8-13-530. Each ethics committee shall:
(1) ascertain whether a person has failed to comply fully and accurately with the disclosure requirements of this chapter and promptly notify the person to file the necessary notices and reports to satisfy the requirements of this chapter;
(2) receive complaints filed by individuals and, upon a majority vote of the total membership of the committee, file complaints when alleged violations are identified;
(3) upon the filing of a complaint, investigate possible violations of breach of a privilege governing a member or staff of the appropriate house, the alleged breach of a rule governing a member of, legislative caucus committees for, or a candidate, or staff for the appropriate house, misconduct of a member of, legislative caucus committees for, or a candidate for the appropriate house, or staff or a violation of this chapter or Chapter 17 of Title 2;
(4) receive and hear a complaint which alleges a breach of a privilege governing a member or staff of the appropriate house, the alleged breach of a rule governing a member or staff of or candidate for the appropriate house, misconduct of a member or staff of or candidate for the appropriate house, or a violation of this chapter or Chapter 17 of Title 2. No complaint may be accepted by the ethics committee concerning a member of or candidate for the appropriate house during the fifty-day period before an election in which the member or candidate is a candidate. During this fifty-day period, any person may petition the court of common pleas alleging the violations complained of and praying for appropriate relief by way of mandamus or injunction, or both. Within ten days, a rule to show cause hearing must be held, and the court must either dismiss the petition or direct that a mandamus order or an injunction, or both, be issued. A violation of this chapter by a candidate during this fifty-day period must be considered to be an irreparable injury for which no adequate remedy at law exists. The institution of an action for injunctive relief does not relieve any party to the proceeding from any penalty prescribed for violations of this chapter. The court must award reasonable attorneys fees and costs to the nonpetitioning party if a petition for mandamus or injunctive relief is dismissed based upon a finding that the:
(i) petition is being presented for an improper purpose such as harassment or to cause delay;
(ii) claims, defenses, and other legal contentions are not warranted by existing law or are based upon a frivolous argument for the extension, modification, or reversal of existing law or the establishment of new law; and
(iii) allegations and other factual contentions do not have evidentiary support or, if specifically so identified, are not likely to have evidentiary support after reasonable opportunity for further investigation or discovery.
Action on a complaint filed against a member or candidate which was received more than fifty days before the election but which cannot be disposed of or dismissed by the ethics committee at least thirty days before the election must be postponed until after the election;
(5) obtain information and investigate complaints as provided in Section 8-13-540 with respect to any complaint filed pursuant to this chapter or Chapter 17 of Title 2 and to that end may compel by subpoena the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of pertinent books and papers;
(6) administer or recommend sanctions appropriate to a particular member or staff of or candidate for the appropriate house pursuant to Section 8-13-540 or dismiss the charges; and
(7) act as an advisory body to the General Assembly and to individual members of or candidates for the appropriate house on questions pertaining to the disclosure and filing requirements of members of or candidates for the appropriate house."
SECTION 8. If any section, subsection, item, subitem, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this act is for any reason held to be unconstitutional or invalid, such holding shall not affect the constitutionality or validity of the remaining portions of this act, the General Assembly hereby declaring that it would have passed this chapter, and each and every section, subsection, item, subitem, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, clause, phrase, and word thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one of more other sections, subsections, items, subitems, paragraphs, subparagraphs, sentences, clauses, phrases, or words hereof may be declared to be unconstitutional, invalid, or otherwise ineffective.
SECTION 9. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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