67th Legislature SB 319.1
1 SENATE BILL NO. 319
2 INTRODUCED BY G. HERTZ
3
4 A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: “AN ACT GENERALLY REVISING CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAWS;
5 CREATING JOINT FUNDRAISING COMMITTEES; PROVIDING FOR CERTAIN REPORTING; AND
6 AMENDING SECTIONS 13-1-101, 13-35-225, 13-35-237, 13-37-201, 13-37-202, 13-37-203, 13-37-204, 13-37-
7 205, 13-37-207, 13-37-208, 13-37-216, 13-37-217, 13-37-218, 13-37-225, 13-37-226, 13-37-227, 13-37-228,
8 AND 13-37-229, MCA.”
9
10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
11
12 NEW SECTION. Section 1. Joint fundraising committee. (1) (a) One or more candidates for a
13 statewide office and political committees may join together to establish a joint fundraising committee to act as a
14 f undraising representative for all participants. A joint fundraising committee may not be construed to be a
15 political committee.
16 (b) The participants in a joint fundraising committee may only include a candidate for statewide office,
17 an independent committee, or a political party committee. Any combination of these entities may form a joint
18 f undraising committee.
19 (c) The participants in a joint fundraising committee may not include an incidental committee, a ballot
20 issue committee, a judicial candidate, or a political committee that is a corporation or a union.
21 (d) The joint f undraising committee may not be a participant in any other joint fundraising effort .
22 (e) A participant may participate in no more than three concurrent joint fundraising committees.
23 (f ) A joint fundraising committee may not amend its list of participants after filing its certification and
24 organizational statement as provided by 13-37-201.
25 (2) A joint f undraising committee shall:
26 (a) appoint a campaign treasurer and certify an organization statement pursuant to 13-37-201;
27 (b) designate one separate campaign depository as provided in 13-37-205 to be used solely for the
28 receipt of all contributions received and the disbursement of all expenditures made by the joint fundraising
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1 committee; and
2 (c) keep records as provided by 13-37-207 and 13-37-208.
3 (3) The participants in a joint fundraising committee shall enter into a written agreement that states a
4 f ormula for the allocation of fundraising proceeds. The f ormula must be stated as the amount or percentage of
5 each contribution received to be allocated to each participant. The joint fundraising committee shall retain the
6 written agreement for the same amount of time the campaign treasurer is required to retain accounts under 13-
7 37-208(3) and shall make it available to the commissioner on request.
8 (4) Each solicitation for contributions to the joint fundraising committee must include a notice that
9 includes the following information:
10 (a) the name of each participant in the joint fundraising committee;
11 (b) the allocation formula to be used for distributing joint fundraising proceeds;
12 (c) a statement informing contributors that, despite the state allocation formula, they may designate
13 their contributions for particular participants;
14 (d) a statement informing contributors that the allocation formula may change if a contributor makes a
15 contribution that would exceed the amount that a contributor may give to a participant; and
16 (e) if one or more participants engage in the joint fundraising activity solely to satisfy outstanding
17 debts, a statement informing contributors that the allocation formula may change if a participant receives
18 suf ficient funds to pay its outstanding debts.
19 (5) (a) A joint f undraising committee may accept contributions on behalf of its participants under the
20 provisions of the fundraising formula and may make expenditures on behalf of and to its participants under the
21 limitations provided in this section.
22 (b) Except as provided by subsection (8), a joint fundraising committee may not accept a contribution
23 that, when allocated pursuant to the joint fundraising committee's allocation formula in subsection (3), in
24 addition to any other contributions received by the participant from that contributor, would be in excess of the
25 contribution limits of that contributor calculated pursuant to this section. A participant may not accept
26 contributions allocated from the joint fundraising committee that, but for the joint fundraising committee acting
27 as an intermediary, the participant could not otherwise accept.
28 (c) Contributions to the joint fundraising committee may only be deposited in the joint fundraising
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1 committee depository.
2 (d) The joint f undraising committee shall report and maintain records concerning contributions as
3 provided by Title 13, chapter 37. The joint fundraising committee shall make its records available to each
4 participant.
5 (e) A participant shall make the participant's contributor records available to the joint fundraising
6 committee to enable the joint fundraising committee to carry out its duty to screen contributions pursuant to
7 subsection (6)(a).
8 (6) (a) The joint f undraising committee shall screen all contributions received to ensure the
9 prohibitions provided in Title 13, chapters 35 and 37, are f ollowed.
10 (b) A corporation or a union prohibited from making a contribution to a candidate under 13-35-227(1)
11 may not make a contribution to a joint fundraising committee. A joint fundraising committee may not accept or
12 receive a contribution prohibited under 13-35-277(1).
13 (c) A joint f undraising committee may not make an expenditure in contravention of 13-35-231 if a
14 participant is a political party committee.
15 (d) A joint fundraising committee may not act as an intermediary for contributions or expenditures by
16 any entity, including participants, that is otherwise prohibited under Title 13, chapters 35 and 37.
17 (7) For reporting and limitation purposes:
18 (a) the joint f undraising committee shall report contributions in the reporting period in which they are
19 received and expenditures in the reporting period in which they are made; and
20 (b) the date of receipt of a contribution by a participant is the date that the contribution is disbursed by
21 the joint f undraising committee to the participant. However, the funds must be allocated to the general election
22 or primary election cycle during which the joint fundraising committee received them.
23 (8) (a) Expenditures by the joint fundraising committee must be allocated to each participant in
24 proportion to the formula in the written agreement provided for in subsection (3).
25 (b) If expenditures are made for f undraising costs, a participant may pay more than its proportionate
26 share. However, the amount that is in excess of the participant's proportionate share may not exceed the
27 amount that the participant could legally contribute to the remaining participants. A participant may only pay
28 expenditures on behalf of another participant subject to the limits provided in 13-37-216 and 13-37-218.
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1 (c) If distribution according to the fundraising formula extinguishes the debts of one or more
2 participants and results in a surplus for those participants, or if distribution under the formula results in a
3 violation of the contribution limits under 13-37-216 or 13-37-218, the joint fundraising committee may reallocate
4 the excess funds. Reallocation must be based on the remaining participants' proportionate shares under the
5 allocation formula. If reallocation results in a violation of a contributor's limit under 13-37-216, the joint
6 f undraising committee shall return the amount of the contribution that exceeds the limit to the contributor.
7 However, contributions that have been designated by a contributor may not be reallocated by the joint
8 f undraising committee without prior written permission of the contributor. If the contributor does not give the
9 contributor's permission for reallocation, the funds must be returned to the contributor.
10 (9) The joint f undraising committee shall allocate total gross contributions received by the joint
11 f undraising committee to the participants. The joint fundraising committee shall inform each participant of the
12 participant's gross contribution total, make the joint fundraising committee's contribution and expenditure
13 records available to each participant, and subject to the limitations provided in 13-37-216, 13-37-218, and this
14 section, pay fundraising expenses and distribute each participant's allocated net contributions.
15 (10) An independent committee may not be construed to violate the requirement that it is not
16 controlled directly or indirectly by a candidate or that it may not coordinate with a candidate in connection with
17 the making of expenditures as provided in 13-1-101 solely because:
18 (a) the independent committee participates in a joint fundraising committee; and
19 (b) the joint fundraising committee makes a total gross contribution to a candidate that is in excess of
20 an individual independent committee's limits provided in 13-37-216 but that is not in excess of the remaining
21 combined limit, if any, of all the entities within the joint fundraising committee.
22 (11) A candidate may not be construed to violate the provisions of 13-37-218 solely because the joint
23 f undraising committee receives aggregate contributions in excess of the limit on the candidate's total combined
24 monetary contributions from political committees, as long as the gross amount allocated to the candidate by the
25 joint f undraising committee on behalf of political committees, along with any other contributions received by the
26 candidate from political committees, does not exceed the limits provided in 13-37-218.
27 (12) The joint f undraising committee is liable for its violations of the provisions of Title 13, chapters 35
28 and 37. In addition, each participant of a joint fundraising committee is severally liable for violations of the
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1 provisions of Title 13, chapters 35 and 37, pertaining to the contributions allocated or disbursed to the
2 participant by the joint fundraising committee.
3
4 Section 2. Section 13-1-101, MCA, is amended to read:
5 "13-1-101. Definitions. As used in this title, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the
6 f ollowing definitions apply:
7 (1) "Active elector" means an elector whose name has not been placed on the inactive list due to
8 f ailure to respond to confirmation notices pursuant to 13-2-220 or 13-19-313.
9 (2) "Active list" means a list of active electors maintained pursuant to 13-2-220.
10 (3) "Anything of value" means any goods that have a certain utility to the recipient that is real and that
11 is ordinarily not given away free but is purchased.
12 (4) "Application for voter registration" means a voter registration form prescribed by the secretary of
13 state that is completed and signed by an elector, is submitted to the election administrator, and contains voter
14 registration information subject to verification as provided by law.
15 (5) "Ballot" means a paper ballot counted manually or a paper ballot counted by a machine, such as
16 an optical scan system or other technology that automatically tabulates votes cast by processing the paper
17 ballots.
18 (6) (a) "Ballot issue" or "issue" means a proposal submitted to the people at an election for their
19 approval or rejection, including but not limited to an initiative, referendum, proposed constitutional amendment,
20 recall question, school levy question, bond issue question, or ballot question.
21 (b) For the purposes of chapters 35 and 37, an issue becomes a "ballot issue" upon certification by
22 the proper official that the legal procedure necessary for its qualification and placement on the ballot has been
23 completed, except that a statewide issue becomes a "ballot issue" upon preparation and transmission by the
24 secretary of state of the form of the petition or referral to the person who submitted the proposed issue.
25 (7) "Ballot issue committee" means a political committee specifically organized to support or oppose a
26 ballot issue.
27 (8) "Candidate" means:
28 (a) an individual who has filed a declaration or petition for nomination, acceptance of nomination, or
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1 appointment as a candidate for public office as required by law;
2 (b) f or the purposes of chapter 35, 36, or 37, an individual who has solicited or received and retained
3 contributions, made expenditures, or given consent to an individual, organization, political party, or committee
4 to solicit or receive and retain contributions or make expenditures on the individual's behalf to secure
5 nomination or election to any office at any time, whether or not the office for which the individual will seek
6 nomination or election is known when the:
7 (i) solicitation is made;
8 (ii) contribution is received and retained; or
9 (iii) expenditure is made; or
10 (c) an of ficeholder who is the subject of a recall election.
11 (9) (a) "Contribution" means:
12 (i) the receipt by a candidate or a political committee of an advance, gift, loan, conveyance, deposit,
13 payment, or distribution of money or anything of value to support or oppose a candidate or a ballot issue;
14 (ii) an expenditure, including an in-kind expenditure, that is made in coordination with a candidate or
15 ballot issue committee and is reportable by the candidate or ballot issue committee as a contribution;
16 (iii) the receipt by a political committee of funds transferred from another political committee; or
17 (iv) the payment by a person other than a candidate or political committee of compensation for the
18 personal services of another person that are rendered to a candidate or political committee.
19 (b) The term does not mean services provided without compensation by individuals volunteering a
20 portion or all of their time on behalf of a candidate or political committee or meals and lodging provided by
21 individuals in their private residences for a candidate or other individual.
22 (c) This def inition does not apply to Title 13, chapter 37, part 6.
23 (10) "Coordinated", including any variations of the term, means made in cooperation with, in
24 consultation with, at the request of, or with the express prior consent of a candidate or political committee or an
25 agent of a candidate or political committee.
26 (11) "De minimis act" means an action, contribution, or expenditure that is so small that it does not
27 trigger registration, reporting, disclaimer, or disclosure obligations under Title 13, chapter 35 or 37, or warrant
28 enf orcement as a campaign practices violation under Title 13, chapter 37.
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1 (12) "Election" means a general, special, or primary election held pursuant to the requirements of state
2 law, regardless of the time or purpose.
3 (13) (a) "Election administrator" means, except as provided in subsection (13)(b), the county clerk and
4 recorder or the individual designated by a county governing body to be responsible for all election
5 administration duties, except that with regard to school elections not administered by the county, the term
6 means the school district clerk.
7 (b) As used in chapter 2 regarding voter registration, the term means the county clerk and recorder or
8 the individual designated by a county governing body to be responsible for all election administrat ion duties
9 even if the school election is administered by the school district clerk.
10 (14) (a) "Election communication" means the following forms of communication to support or oppose a
11 candidate or ballot issue:
12 (i) a paid advertisement broadcast over radio, television, cable, or satellite;
13