Senate Bill No. 396
(By Senator Grubb)
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[Introduced February 16, 1995;
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact article eight, chapter three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section two-a, relating to the regulation and control of elections; requiring that inaugural committees file detailed financial statements with the office of the secretary of state concerning the amount of contributions received and expenditures made for certain inaugural events; providing a definition of inaugural committee and inaugural event; and identifying the information an inaugural committee is required to disclose in the detailed financial statement.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article eight, chapter three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section two-a, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 8. REGULATION AND CONTROL OF ELECTIONS.
§3-8-2a. Detailed accounts and verified financial statements for certain inaugural events.
(a) Any inaugural committee soliciting or receiving contributions for the funding of all or any part of an inaugural event for any person elected to any state public office that expends in excess of one thousand dollars for any such event shall file and retain detailed records of all contributions and expenditures associated with each such event. All contributions received and expenditures made by an inaugural committee are subject to regulation under the provisions of this article.
(b) For purposes of this section:
(1) "inaugural committee" shall include any person, organization, or group of persons soliciting or receiving contributions for the purpose of funding an inaugural event for an elected state official; and
(2)"inaugural event" means any event or events held between the date of the general election for a state public office and a date sixty days after the date of the general election, whether the event is sponsored by the inaugural committee or the state political party committee representing the party of the elected official and for which the elected official is a prominent participant or for which solicitations of contributions include the name of the elected official in prominent display.
(c) Any inaugural committee, financial agent, or any person or officer acting on behalf of such committee which is subject to the provisions of this section shall file a verified financial statement with the secretary of state on forms as prescribed by the secretary of state within forty five days following the event. The financial statement shall contain information that conforms as nearly as practicable to that required in section five-a of this article. The secretary of state shall file and retain such statements as public records.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require that inaugural committees file detailed financial statements with the office of the secretary of state concerning contributions and expenditures made for each inaugural event.



Section two-a is new; therefore strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.