South Carolina General Assembly
117th Session, 2007-2008

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Bill 11

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter


(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

Indicates Matter Stricken

Indicates New Matter

AS PASSED BY THE SENATE

April 23, 2008

S. 11

Introduced by Senators Hayes, Vaughn, Richardson, Mescher and Fair

S. Printed 4/23/08--S.

Read the first time January 9, 2007.

            

A BILL

TO AMEND SECTION 8-13-1120, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE CONTENTS OF THE STATEMENT OF ECONOMIC INTERESTS, TO CLARIFY THAT A PUBLIC OFFICIAL, PUBLIC MEMBER, OR PUBLIC EMPLOYEE IS REQUIRED TO REPORT THE SOURCE OF ANY GIFTS, INCLUDING TRANSPORTATION, LODGING, FOOD, ENTERTAINMENT, OR ANYTHING OF VALUE WORTH TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS OR MORE IN A DAY OR WORTH TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS OR MORE IN THE AGGREGATE IN A CALENDAR YEAR; AND TO AMEND SECTION 8-13-1302, RELATING TO A CANDIDATE'S MAINTENANCE OF RECORDS OF CONTRIBUTIONS, CONTRIBUTORS, AND EXPENDITURES, TO DELETE THE REQUIREMENT THAT THE CANDIDATE MUST MAINTAIN AND PRESERVE AN ACCOUNT OF THE OCCUPATION OF EACH PERSON MAKING A CONTRIBUTION.

Amend Title To Conform

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION    1.    Section 8-13-1120(A)(9) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(9)    the source and a brief description of any gifts, including transportation, lodging, food, or entertainment, or anything of value worth twenty-five dollars or more in a day or worth two hundred dollars or more in the aggregate received during the preceding calendar year from:

(a)    a person, if there is reason to believe the donor would not give the gift, gratuity, or favor but for the official's or employee's office or position; or

(b)    a person, or from an officer or director of a person, if the public official or public employee has reason to believe the person:

(i)        has or is seeking to obtain contractual or other business or financial relationship with the official's or employee's agency; or

(ii)    conducts operations or activities which are regulated by the official's or employee's agency if the value of the gift is twenty-five dollars or more in a day or if the value totals, in the aggregate, two hundred dollars or more in a calendar year."

SECTION    2.    Section 8-13-1302(A) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(A)    A candidate, committee, or ballot measure committee must maintain and preserve an account of:

(1)    the total amount of contributions accepted by the candidate, committee, or ballot measure committee;

(2)    the name and address of each person making a contribution and the amount and date of receipt of each contribution;

(3)    the total amount of expenditures made by or on behalf of the candidate, committee, or ballot measure committee;

(4)    the name and address of each person to whom an expenditure is made including the date, amount, purpose, and beneficiary of the expenditure; and

(5)    all receipted bills, canceled checks, or other proof of payment for each expenditure; and

(6)    the occupation of each person making a contribution."

SECTION    3.    Section 8-13-740(B) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(B)    A member of the General Assembly, when he, an individual with whom he is associated, or a business with which he is associated represents a client for compensation as permitted by subsection (A)(2)(c), must file within his annual statement of economic interests a listing of fees earned, services rendered, names of persons represented, and the nature of contacts made with the governmental entities."

SECTION    4.    Chapter 13, Title 8 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 8-13-1331.    Notwithstanding Section 8-13-1332(3), a corporation or committee of a corporation may solicit the shareholders and executive or administrative personnel of the corporation and its subsidiaries, branches, divisions, and affiliates and their families. For purposes of this section, all committees established, financed, maintained, or controlled by the same corporation, including any direct or indirect parent, subsidiary, branch, or division thereof, are affiliated. With respect to a corporation or committee of a corporation that solicits contributions pursuant to this section, contributions made or received by affiliated committees are considered to be made or received by a single committee for purposes of contribution limits in Sections 8-13-1314 and 8-13-1322. A corporation or committee of a corporation that solicits contributions pursuant to this section must certify in the manner prescribed by Section 8-13-1308(H) that contributions made or received by the committee and its affiliated committees, if any, have complied with contribution limits in Sections 8-13-1314 and 8-13-1322 as if the committee and its affiliated committees, if any, were a single committee."

SECTION    5.    Section 8-13-1306(A) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(A)    The statement of organization of a committee or a ballot measure committee must include:

(1)    the full name of the committee or ballot measure committee;

(2)    the complete address and telephone number of the committee or ballot measure committee;

(3)    the date the committee or ballot measure committee was organized;

(4)    a summary of the purpose of the committee or ballot measure committee;

(5)    the name and address of a corporation or an organization that sponsors the committee or ballot measure committee or is affiliated with the committee or ballot measure committee. If the committee or ballot measure committee is not sponsored by or affiliated with a corporation or an organization, the committee or ballot measure committee must specify the trade, profession, or primary interest of contributors to the committee or ballot measure committee;

(6)    the name and address of affiliated committees, as defined in Section 8-13-1331;

(67)    the full name, address, telephone number, occupation, and principal place of business of the chairman and treasurer of the committee or ballot measure committee;

(78)    the full name, address, telephone number, occupation, and principal place of business of the custodian of the books and accounts, if the custodian is not one of the designated officers;

(89)    the full name and address of the depository in which the committee or ballot measure committee maintains its campaign account and the number of the account; and

(910)    a certification of the statement by the chairman and the treasurer."

SECTION    6.    Section 8-13-1308 of the 1976 Code is amended to by adding subsection (H) at the end to read:

"(H)    A committee that solicits contributions pursuant to Section 8-13-1331 must certify compliance with that section on a form prescribed by the State Ethics Commission."

SECTION    7.        Section 8-13-1346(A) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(A)    A person may not use or authorize the use of public funds, property, or time to influence the outcome of an election or_ballot measure."

SECTION 8.    Section 8-13-365(A) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 8-13-365.    (A)(1)    The commission must establish a system of electronic filing for all disclosures and reports required pursuant to Article 13 of Chapter 13 of Title 8 from all candidates and entities subject to its jurisdiction. These disclosures and reports for candidates and committees for statewide offices must be filed using an internet-based filing system as prescribed by the commission. Reports and disclosures filed with the Ethics Committees of the Senate and House of Representatives for legislative offices must be in a format such that these filings can be forwarded to the State Ethics Commission using an internet-based system. The information contained in the campaign disclosure form, with the exception of social security numbers, campaign bank account numbers, and tax ID numbers, must be publicly accessible, searchable, and transferable.

(2)    Until a method is developed and implemented to allow contribution and expenditure information to be uploaded and integrated into the internet-based filing system required by item (1) from an electronic database or spreadsheet maintained by the filer, the provisions of item (1) concerning filing contribution and expenditure disclosures and reports are satisfied if the filer provides with his disclosure or report a separate electronic database or spreadsheet containing the contribution and expenditure information required on the campaign disclosure form. All separate electronic databases or spreadsheets submitted to the commission pursuant to this item must be posted on the commission's internet website in a downloadable format. The commission must report to the General Assembly when the internet-based filing system can accept and integrate uploaded electronic databases and spreadsheets as provided in this item.

SECTION    9.    If any section, subsection, 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 act, and each and every section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, clause, phrase, and word thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more other sections, subsections, paragraphs, subparagraphs, sentences, clauses, phrases, or words hereof may be declared to be unconstitutional, invalid, or otherwise ineffective.

SECTION    10.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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