OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
H.B. 112 Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Cl ick he Click here for H.B. 112’s Fiscal Note. 306’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Introduced
Primary Sponsors: Reps. Sweeney and Miranda
Effective Date:
S. Ben Fogle, Attorney
SUMMARY
Political contributing entities
 Expands and clarifies the definition of a political contributing entity (PCE) to include any
entity that makes contributions or expenditures and that is not an individual, a
campaign committee, a political party, a legislative campaign fund (LCF), or a political
action committee (PAC).
 Subjects certain entities that currently are not considered a PCE or another regulated
political entity, such as corporations and continuing associations, to continuing law
campaign finance requirements.
 Requires a PCE that is a corporation or an unincorporated business to include certain
information about its leaders and owners in its periodic reports of contributions and
expenditures.
 Expands the definition of a contribution when it is made to a PCE in order to require a
PCE to report the source of all donations if the PCE uses its general fund to make
expenditures.
 Clarifies the application of the continuing law dollar contribution limits to a PCE that is
an unincorporated labor organization, business, or association.
 Changes the definition of an independent expenditure to include any use of funds or
anything of value for that purpose, meaning that a PCE that uses its own money instead
of contributions to fund an independent expenditure must report the expenditure.
 Clarifies that “independent expenditure” refers only to expenditures concerning
candidates, whereas any expenditure concerning a ballot issue is labeled simply an
“expenditure.”
 Requires corporations and labor organizations to report all expenditures in the same
manner as other PCEs.
April 14, 2023
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
 Makes clear that all PCEs must comply with the continuing law that requires entities
that engage in political advertising to report the expenditure and to identify themselves
in the advertisement as the funding source.
Political activity by foreign nationals
 Increases the scope of the law that prohibits foreign nationals from being involved in
political campaigns by restricting participation in ballot issue campaigns and by
expanding the definition of a foreign national with respect to corporations.
Name of bill
 Specifies that the bill is to be known as the Ohio Anti-Corruption Act.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Background on Ohio’s Campaign Finance Law ............................................................................... 2
Political entities ........................................................................................................................... 3
Contributions and expenditures ................................................................................................. 4
Political contributing entities .......................................................................................................... 5
Expanded definition of PCE ......................................................................................................... 5
PCE ownership information......................................................................................................... 8
Contributions to PCEs .................................................................................................................. 8
Definition of contribution ....................................................................................................... 8
Contribution limits .................................................................................................................. 9
Expenditures by PCEs .................................................................................................................. 9
Definition of independent expenditure ................................................................................. 9
Reporting corporation and labor organization expenditures .............................................. 10
Identification of source of political advertising by PCEs ........................................................... 10
Political activity by foreign nationals ............................................................................................ 10
Name of bill ................................................................................................................................... 11
DETAILED ANALYSIS
Background on Ohio’s Campaign Finance Law
In general, the state Campaign Finance Law is designed to require candidates and
political entities to file publicly available reports about the money they accept or spend for the
purpose of influencing state or local election results, abide by certain dollar contribution limits,
disclose the source of political advertising, and follow other campaign related regulations. It is
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important to note that this law does not apply to federal elections, and under the home rule
provisions of the Ohio Constitution, a municipality or chartered county may have its own
system for regulating campaign finance in local elections.1
Political entities
Ohio’s Campaign Finance Law currently categorizes political entities as follows:
 Campaign committee – A candidate or the candidate’s campaign committee.
 Political party – A group recognized by the state as a political party.
 Legislative campaign fund (LCF) – A campaign entity associated with a caucus of the
General Assembly.
 Political action committee (PAC) – A group of two or more persons whose primary or
major purpose is to support or oppose any candidate, political party, or issue, or to
influence the result of any election through express advocacy, and that is not another
entity included in this list. (“Express advocacy” means a communication that contains
express words advocating the nomination, election or defeat of a candidate or the
adoption or defeat of a ballot question or issue.) Neither of the following are considered
a PAC:
 A continuing association that makes disbursements for the direct costs of producing
or airing electioneering communications and that does not engage in express
advocacy.
 A political club that is formed primarily for social purposes and that consists of 100
members or less, has officers and periodic meetings, has less than $2,500 in its
treasury at all times, and makes an aggregate total contribution of $1,000 or less per
calendar year.
 Continuing association – An association, other than a campaign committee, political
party, LCF, PCE, or labor organization, that is intended to be a permanent organization
that has a primary purpose other than supporting or opposing specific candidates,
political parties, or ballot issues, and that functions on a regular basis throughout the
year. The term includes nonprofit organizations that are exempt from federal taxation
under subsection (501)(c)(3), (501)(c)(4), or (501)(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code.
 Political contributing entity (PCE) – Any entity, including a corporation or labor
organization, that may lawfully make contributions and expenditures and that is not an
individual, a campaign committee, a political party, an LCF, a PAC, or a continuing
association.
A campaign committee, political party, LCF, PAC, or PCE must report its contributions
and expenditures and must abide by certain other campaign finance related requirements. But,
1 Ohio Constitution, Article X, Section 3 and Article XVIII, Section 3.
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an individual, person, or entity who does not fall under the definition of a campaign committee,
political party, LCF, PAC, or PCE – for example, a continuing association – generally is not
subject to those requirements. As a result, less information is available to the government and
the public about the political activities of organizations that do not fit into one of those
definitions.2
Contributions and expenditures
The existing Campaign Finance Law generally uses the following definitions of political
contributions and expenditures for purposes of reporting requirements, contribution limits, and
other provisions of law:3
 Contribution – A loan, gift, deposit, forgiveness of indebtedness, donation, advance,
payment, or transfer of funds or anything of value, including a transfer of funds from an
inter vivos or testamentary trust or decedent’s estate, and the payment by any person
other than the person to whom the services are rendered for the personal services of
another person, which contribution is made, received, or used for the purpose of
influencing the results of an election.
 Expenditure – The disbursement or use of a contribution for the purpose of influencing
the results of an election or of making a charitable donation to certain approved
organizations.
 Independent expenditure – An expenditure by a person advocating the election or
defeat of an identified candidate or candidates, that is not made with the consent of, in
coordination, cooperation, or consultation with, or at the request or suggestion of any
candidate or candidates or of the campaign committee or agent of the candidate or
candidates.
 Electioneering communication – A broadcast, cable, or satellite communication that is
made during the run-up to an election, refers to a clearly identified candidate, and is not
coordinated with a candidate, but that does not meet the definition of an expenditure
or independent expenditure, generally because it mentions the candidate but does not
directly advocate the candidate’s election or defeat. Electioneering communications are
sometimes referred to as “soft money” or “issue” advertising because they are political
but not regulated in the same way as contributions and expenditures. Entities that make
electioneering communications are subject to a separate reporting system from the
system that applies to contributions and expenditures.
Ohio law prohibits a corporation or labor organization from using its money or property
to make political contributions or expenditures with respect to candidates or, during the
30 days before an election, to make an electioneering communication. (Corporations and labor
2 R.C. 3517.01. See also R.C. 3517.10.
3 R.C. 3517.01(C)(4), (5), and (16).
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organizations may make contributions and expenditures concerning ballot issues.) However, in
2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that
corporations and labor organizations have a First Amendment right to make unlimited
independent expenditures (including electioneering communications) and that they may make
unlimited contributions to other entities that make only independent expenditures. The bill
leaves those Revised Code restrictions on corporations and labor organizations in place,
notwithstanding the fact that they are not being enforced. But, as is discussed below, the bill
ensures that when a corporation or labor organization does make a contribution or
expenditure, it is regulated as a PCE.4
Political contributing entities
Expanded definition of PCE
The bill expands and clarifies the definition of a PCE to include any entity that makes
contributions or expenditures and that is not an individual, a campaign committee, a political
party, an LCF, or a PAC. (Essentially, under the bill, only an individual who makes contributions
or expenditures falls outside the structure of regulated entities.)
Currently, certain entities that make contributions or expenditures do not fit into the
definition of any of the regulated political entities and therefore are not required to report their
contributions and expenditures or comply with certain other restrictions. (Those entities are
sometimes called “dark money” organizations.) By expanding the definition of a PCE to include
any entity other than a campaign committee, political party, LCF, or PAC, the bill subjects those
entities to the Campaign Finance Law. For instance, the bill eliminates references to continuing
associations and instead categorizes those organizations as PCEs if they make contributions or
expenditures.
The following table describes several common types of entities that currently are not (or
might not be) considered PCEs, but that are PCEs under the bill if they make contributions or
expenditures:5
Common types of PCEs
Entity Expenditures permitted Notes
under continuing law
Corporations
Corporation, generally May contribute to ballot issue Under existing law, might not be
committees or make expenditures considered a PCE because it
4R.C. 3517.01(C)(24), 3517.1011, and 3599.03; Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, 558 U.S.
310 (2010); and American Tradition Partnership v. Bullock, 567 U.S. 516 (2012).
5R.C. 3517.01(C)(4), (7), (16), and (24) and 3599.03, and conforming changes in R.C. 3517.08, 3517.10,
3517.102, 3517.105, 3517.106, 3517.107, 3921.22, and 4503.03.
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Common types of PCEs
Entity Expenditures permitted Notes
under continuing law
about ballot issues cannot make contributions and
expenditures
Independent expenditures about According to the Secretary of
candidates are allowed under Citizens State, not currently considered a
United v. FEC (see “Contributions PCE6
and Expenditures,” above)
Nonprofit corporation – May contribute to ballot issue Internal Revenue Code prohibits
501(c)(3) charitable committees or make expenditures candidate related campaign
organization7 about ballot issues activity, but does not prohibit
ballot issue related campaign
activity
Nonprofit corporation – May contribute to ballot issue Internal Revenue Code permits
501(c)(4) social welfare committees or make expenditures campaign activity, so long as that
organization about ballot issues is not the organization’s primary
activity
Independent expenditures about
candidates are allowed under Citizens
United v. FEC
Nonprofit corporation – May contribute to ballot issue Internal Revenue Code permits
501(c)(5) labor, committees or make expenditures campaign activity, so long as that
agricultural, or about ballot issues is not the organization’s primary
horticultural organization activit