Current Status Bill Number:383 Type of Legislation:General Bill GB Introducing Body:Senate Introduced Date:19970218 Primary Sponsor:Bryan All Sponsors:Bryan and Leventis Drafted Document Number:res1285.jeb Residing Body:Senate Current Committee:Judiciary Committee Subject:Candidate to limit campaign expenditures, income tax deduction for political contributor, Elections, Ethics, Taxation
Body Date Action Description Com Leg Involved
______ ________ _______________________________________ _______ ____________
Senate 19970218 Introduced, read first time, 11 SJ
referred to Committee
View additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.
TO AMEND ARTICLE 13, CHAPTER 13, TITLE 8, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO CAMPAIGN PRACTICES, BY ADDING SECTION 8-13-1315, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT A CANDIDATE MAY CHOOSE TO LIMIT HIS CAMPAIGN EXPENDITURES TO SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS PER CONSTITUENT AND TO PROVIDE FOR A STATE INCOME TAX DEDUCTION FOR CONTRIBUTORS AS LONG AS THE CANDIDATE ADHERES TO HIS PLEDGE; TO AMEND SECTION 12-6-1140 OF THE 1976 CODE, RELATING TO DEDUCTIONS IN COMPUTING INDIVIDUAL TAXABLE INCOME, SO AS TO MAKE POLITICAL CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 8-13-1315 TAX DEDUCTIBLE; AND TO AMEND ARTICLE 9, CHAPTER 6, TITLE 12 OF THE 1976, RELATING TO TAXABLE INCOME CALCULATION , BY ADDING SECTION 12-6-1230 SO AS TO PROVIDE ALL TAXPAYERS THE INCOME TAX DEDUCTION FOR POLITICAL CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 8-13-1315.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Article 13, Chapter 13, Title 8 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 8-13-1315. (A) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a candidate may pledge to limit the amount of expenditures and expenditures incurred, or any combination thereof, in an election cycle to seventy-five cents per constituent, as defined in subsection (B). Expenditures by party committees or expenditures by legislative caucus committees based upon party affiliation are included in this limit. An election cycle is determined for expenditure limits as it is determined for contribution limits pursuant to Section 8-13-1300(10). If a candidate chooses to limit such expenditures according to this section, he must sign a pledge within ten days of the close of filing. The candidate must file the pledge in the same manner as the statement of economic interests provided for in Section 8-13-1356. If the candidate adheres to the limits set forth in his pledge, then a contributor to his campaign during the election cycle in which he signed the pledge may deduct the amount of his contribution from his state taxable income pursuant to Section 12-6-1140. If a candidate signs such a pledge and fails to adhere to it and exceeds the pledged limit, at the time he files his final report in accordance with 8-13-920, he must notify each of his campaign's contributors that they are not eligible for the tax deduction.
(B) For the purposes of this section, the number of constituents is determined by population, as determined by the last official decennial census adopted by the State. For offices which represent more than one county, the number of constituents is determined by the statewide population divided by the number of districts or circuits there are for that particular office. For local single-member district candidates, the number of constituents is determined by the population of the entire local area divided by the number of districts for that particular office. For candidates running at large the number of constituents is determined by the population of the area the office represents."
SECTION 2. Section 12-6-1140 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding an appropriately numbered item at the end to read:
"( ) contributions to political campaigns in accordance with Section 8-13-1315."
SECTION 3. Article 9, Chapter 6, Title 12 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 12-6-1230. A taxpayer may deduct from state taxable income the amount of contributions to political campaigns in accordance with the provisions of Section 8-13-1315."
SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor and is effective for taxable years beginning after 1996.