Introduced Version
Senate Bill 88 History
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Committee Substitute (1)
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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
Senate Bill No. 88
(By Senators Green, Miller, Sypolt and McCabe)
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[Introduced February 13, 2013; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §3-8-2 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to regulation and control of
elections; and prohibiting fundraising by members of the
Legislature during the sixty-day period of the regular
session.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §3-8-2 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be
amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 8. REGULATION AND CONTROL OF ELECTIONS.
§3-8-2. Accounts for receipts and expenditures in elections;
requirements for reporting independent expenditures;
when fund raising prohibited by members of Legislature.
(a) Except for: (1) Candidates for party committeeman and committeewoman; and (2) federal committees required to file under
the provisions of 2 U.S.C. §434, all candidates for nomination or
election and all persons supporting, aiding or opposing the
nomination, election or defeat of any candidate shall keep for a
period of six months records of receipts and expenditures which are
made for political purposes. All of the receipts and expenditures
are subject to regulation by the provisions of this article.
Verified financial statements of the records and expenditures shall
be made and filed as public records by all candidates and by their
financial agents, representatives or any person acting for and on
behalf of any candidate and by the treasurers of all political
party committees.
(b) (1) In addition to any other reporting required by the
provisions of this chapter, any person who makes independent
expenditures in an aggregate amount or value in excess of $1,000
during a calendar year shall file a disclosure statement, on a form
prescribed by the Secretary of State, that contains all of the
following information:
(A) The name of (i) The person making the expenditure; (ii)
the name of any person sharing or exercising direction or control
over the activities of the person making the expenditure; and (iii)
the name of the custodian of the books and accounts of the person
making the expenditure;
(B) If the person making the expenditure is not an individual,
the principal place of business of the partnership, corporation,
committee, association, organization or group which made the
expenditure;
(C) The amount of each expenditure of more than $1,000 made
during the period covered by the statement and the name of the
person to whom the expenditure was made;
(D) The elections to which the independent expenditure
pertain, the names, if known, of the candidates referred to or to
be referred to therein, whether the expenditure is intended to
support or oppose the identified candidates and the amount of the
total expenditure reported pursuant to paragraph (C) of this
subdivision spent to support or oppose each of the identified
candidates;
(E) The name and address of any person who contributed a total
of more than $250 between the first day of the preceding calendar
year, and the disclosure date, and whose contributions were made
for the purpose of furthering the expenditure.
(F) With regard to the contributors required to be listed
pursuant to paragraph (E) of this subdivision, the statement shall
also include:
(i) The month, day and year that the contributions of any
single contributor exceeded $250;
(ii) If the contributor is a political action committee, the
name and address the political action committee registered with the
Secretary of State, county clerk or municipal clerk;
(iii) If the contributor is an individual, the name and
address of the individual, his or her occupation, the name and
address of the individual's current employer, if any, or, if the
individual is self-employed, the name and address of the
individual's business, if any;
(iv) A description of the contribution, if other than money;
and
(v) The value in dollars and cents of the contribution.
(G) (1) A certification that such independent expenditure was
not made in cooperation, consultation, or concert with, or at the
request or suggestion of, any candidate or any authorized committee
or agent of such candidate.
(2) Any person who makes a contribution for the purpose of
funding an independent expenditure under this subsection shall, at
the time the contribution is made, provide his or her name,
address, occupation, his or her current employer, if any, or, if
the individual is self-employed, the name of his or her business,
if any, to the recipient of the contribution.
(3) The Secretary of State shall expeditiously prepare indices
setting forth, on a candidate-by-candidate basis, all independent expenditures separately, made by, or on behalf of, or for, or
against each candidate, as reported under this subsection, and for
periodically publishing such indices on a timely preelection basis.
(c) (1) A person, including a political committee, who makes
or contracts to make independent expenditures aggregating $1,000 or
more for any statewide, legislative or multicounty judicial
candidate or $500 or more for any county office, single-county
judicial candidate, committee supporting or opposing a candidate on
the ballot in more than one county, or any municipal candidate on
a municipal election ballot, after the fifteenth day, but more than
twelve hours, before the date of an election, shall file a report
on a form prescribed by the Secretary of State, describing the
expenditures within twenty-four hours: Provided, That a person
making expenditures in the amount of $1,000 or more for any
statewide or legislative candidate on or after the fifteenth day
but more than twelve hours before the day of any election shall
report such expenditures in accordance with section two-b of this
article and shall not file an additional report as provided herein.
(2) Any person who files a report under subdivision (1) of
this subsection, shall file an additional report within twenty-four
hours after each time the person makes or contracts to make
independent expenditures aggregating an additional $500 with
respect to the same election, for any county office, single-county judicial candidate, committee supporting or opposing a candidate on
the ballot in more than one county, or any municipal candidate on
a municipal election ballot, as that to which the initial report
relates.
(d) (1) A person, including a political committee, who makes
or contracts to make independent expenditures aggregating $10,000
or more at any time up to and including the fifteenth day before
the date of an election shall file a report on a form prescribed by
the Secretary of State, describing the expenditures within forty-
eight hours.
(2) A person who files a report under subdivision (1) of this
subsection, the person shall file an additional report within
forty-eight hours after each time the person makes or contracts to
make independent expenditures aggregating an additional $10,000
with respect to the same election as that to which the initial
report relates.
(e) Any communication paid for by an independent expenditure
must include a clear and conspicuous public notice that:
(1) Clearly states that the communication is not authorized by
the candidate or the candidate's committee; and
(2) Clearly identifies the person making the expenditure:
Provided, That if the communication appears on or is disseminated
by broadcast, cable or satellite transmission, the statement required by this subsection must be both spoken clearly and appear
in clearly readable writing at the end of the communication.
(f) Any person who has spent a total of $5,000 or more for the
direct costs of purchasing, producing or disseminating
electioneering communications during any calendar year shall
maintain all financial records and receipts related to such
expenditure for a period of six months following the filing of a
disclosure pursuant to subsection (a) of this section and, upon
request, shall make such records and receipts available to the
Secretary of State or county clerk for the purpose of an audit as
provided in section seven of this article.
(g) Any person who willfully fails to comply with this section
is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined not less than $500, or confined in jail for not more than one
year, or both fined and confined.
(h) (1) Any person who is required to file a statement under
this section may file the statement by facsimile device or
electronic mail, in accordance with such rules as the Secretary of
State may promulgate.
(2) The Secretary of State shall make any document filed
electronically pursuant to this subsection accessible to the public
on the Internet not later than twenty-four hours after the document
is received by the secretary.
(3) In promulgating a rule under this subsection, the
secretary shall provide methods, other than requiring a signature
on the document being filed, for verifying the documents covered by
the rule. Any document verified under any of the methods shall be
treated for all purposes, including penalties for perjury, in the
same manner as a document verified by signature.
(i) This section does not apply to candidates for federal
office.
(j) Notwithstanding any provision of this article or any other
provision of law to the contrary, members of the Legislature may
not participate in any fund raising effort during the sixty days of
the regular session of the Legislature.
_____(j) (k) The Secretary of State may promulgate emergency and
legislative rules, in accordance with the provisions of chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code, to establish guidelines for the
administration of this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prohibit fund raising by
members of the Legislature during the sixty-day period of the
regular session of the Legislature.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.