H. B. 2616
(By Delegates Smirl and Frederick)
[Introduced January 10, 1996; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section eight, article eight, chapter
three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to public utilities
and railroads permitted to form political action committees.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section eight, article eight, chapter three of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 8. REGULATION AND CONTROL OF ELECTIONS.
§3-8-8. Corporation contributions forbidden; exceptions;
penalties; promulgation of rules and regulations;
additional powers of state election commission.
(a) No officer of any corporation, or agent or person on
behalf of such corporation, whether incorporated under the laws
of this or any other state, or foreign country, shall pay, give
or lend, or authorize to be paid, given or lent, any money or other thing of value belonging to such corporation, to any
candidate, financial agent or political committee or other
person, for the payment of any primary or other election expenses
whatever. No person shall solicit or receive such payment,
contribution or other thing from any corporation, officer or
agent thereof, or other person acting on behalf of such
corporation.
(b) (1) The provisions of this section shall not be deemed
to prohibit:
(A) Direct communications, other than by newspapers of
general circulation, radio, television or billboard advertising
likely to reach the general public, by a corporation to its
stockholders and executive or administrative personnel and their
families on any subject;
(B) Nonpartisan registration and get-out-the-vote campaigns
by a corporation aimed at its stockholders and executives or
administrative personnel and their families; and
(C) The solicitation of contributions to a separate
segregated fund to be utilized for political purposes by any
corporate officer, agent or any person on behalf of a
corporation. Any such fund shall be deemed to be a political
committee for the purpose of this article and subject to all
reporting requirements thereof.
(2) It shall be unlawful:
(A) For such a fund to make a contribution or expenditure by utilizing money or anything of value secured by physical force,
job discrimination, financial reprisal or the threat of force,
job discrimination or financial reprisal, or as a condition of
employment, or by moneys obtained in any commercial transaction;
(B) For any person soliciting a stockholder, executive or
administrative personnel and members of their family for a
contribution to such fund to fail to inform such person of the
political purposes of such fund at the time of such solicitation;
(C) For any person soliciting any other person for a
contribution to such a fund to fail to inform such other person
at the time of such solicitation of his right to refuse to so
contribute without any reprisal;
(D) For a corporation, or a separate segregated fund
established by a corporation to solicit contributions to such a
fund from any person other than its stockholders and their
families and its executive or administrative personnel and their
families or to contribute any corporate funds;
(E) For a corporation, or a separate segregated fund
established by a corporation to receive contributions to such a
fund from any person other than its stockholders and their
immediate families and its executive or administrative personnel
and their immediate families;
(F) For a corporation to engage in job discrimination or to
discriminate in job promotion or transfer because of an
employee's failure to make a contribution to such fund;
(G) For such a fund directly or indirectly to make any
contribution in excess of the value of one thousand dollars in
connection with any campaign for nomination or election to or on
behalf of any elective office in the state or any of its
subdivisions, or in connection with or on behalf of any committee
or other organization or person engaged in furthering, advancing
or advocating the nomination or election of any candidate for any
such office; and
(H) For a corporation to pay, give or lend, or authorize to
be paid, given or lent, any moneys or other things of value
belonging to such corporation to such fund for any purpose. This
provision shall not be deemed to prohibit such a fund from using
the property, real or personal, facilities and equipment of a
corporation solely to establish, administer and solicit
contributions to the fund, subject to the rules and regulations
of the state election commission as provided in subsection (d) of
this section:
Provided, That such corporation shall also permit
any group of employees thereof represented by a bona fide
political action committee to use the real property of such
corporation solely to establish, administer and solicit
contributions to the fund of such political action committee,
subject to the rules and regulations of the state elections
commission as provided in subsection (d) of this section. No
such property, real or personal, facilities, equipment, materials
or services of a corporation shall be utilized for the purpose of influencing any voter or voters to vote for a particular
candidate, or in any particular manner, or upon any particular
side of any question to be decided at any election, or to
influence the result of any such election.
(I) Public utility companies and railroad companies may not
form funds or political action committees in support of political
candidates or parties, and may not use corporate property, real
or personal, facilities, equipment, materials or services of said
utility to establish, administer or solicit contributions to such
fund or political action committee.
(3) For the purposes of this section, the term "executive or
administrative personnel" means individuals employed by a
corporation who are paid on a salary rather than hourly basis and
who have policy making, managerial, professional or supervisory
responsibilities.
(c) Any person or corporation violating any provision of
this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and,
on upon
conviction
thereof, shall be fined not more than five thousand
dollars. No corporation shall reimburse any person the amount of
any such fine imposed pursuant to this section.
(d) The state election commission shall promulgate rules and
regulations to implement the provisions of this section, which
rules and regulations, insofar as practicable, shall be the same
as the rules and regulations promulgated by the federal election
commission to carry out those provisions of 2 USC Sec. 441b which are similar or identical to those provisions contained in this
section in order that the provisions of this section and the
regulations promulgated thereunder and the similar provisions of
2 USC Sec. 441b and the regulations promulgated thereunder may be
uniformly administered and applied to corporations subject to the
cited section of the Federal Election Campaign Act Amendments of
1976 and to this section. The state election commission shall
promulgate such rules and regulations not later than sixty days
after the effective date of this subsection and in doing so shall
be governed by the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-
nine-a of this code.
(e) In addition to its powers and duties as set forth in
article one-a of this chapter, the state election commission
shall have the following powers and duties:
1. To investigate, upon complaint or on its own
initiative, any alleged violations or irregularities of this
article.
2. To administer oaths and affirmations, issue subpoenas
for the attendance of witnesses, issue subpoenas duces tecum to
compel the production of books, papers, records and all other
evidence necessary to any investigation.
3. To involve the aid of any circuit court in the execution
of its subpoena power.
4. To report any alleged violations of this article to the
appropriate prosecuting attorney having jurisdiction, which prosecuting attorney shall present to the grand jury such alleged
violations, together with all evidence relating thereto, no later
than the next term of court after receiving the report.
It shall be the duty of the attorney general to provide such
legal and investigative assistance to the state election
commission as it may request and require.
Any investigation either upon complaint or initiative, shall
be conducted in an executive session of the state election
commission and shall remain undisclosed except upon an indictment
by a grand jury.
Any person who shall disclose the fact of any complaint,
investigation or report or any part thereof, or any proceedings
thereon, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be fined not less than one thousand dollars, nor
more than five thousand dollars, and shall be imprisoned in the
county jail not less than six months nor more than one year.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to permit public
utilities and railroads to form PACs.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.