H. B. 2289
(By Delegate Louisos)
[Introduced January 30, 1995; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact sections five-a and five-d, article
eight, chapter three of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
limiting election contributions to twenty-five dollars.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections five-a and five-d, 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.
§3-8-5a. Information required in financial statement.
(a) Each financial statement required by the provisions of this article shall contain the following information:
(1) The first name, middle initial, if any, and last name,
residence and mailing address and telephone number of each
candidate, financial agent, treasurer or person, and the full
name, address and telephone number of each association,
organization or committee filing a financial statement.
(2) The balance of cash and any other sum of money on hand
at the beginning and the end of the period covered by the
financial statement.
(3) The first name, middle initial, if any, and the last
name in the case of an individual, and the full name of each
firm, association or committee, and the amount of such
contribution of such individual, firm, association or committee.
and, if the aggregate of the sum or sums contributed by any one
such individual, firm, association or committee exceeds two
hundred fifty dollars, there shall also be reported the residence
and mailing address and, in the case of an individual, the major
business affiliation and occupation A contribution totaling more
than
fifty twenty-five dollars by any one contributor is
prohibited
unless it is made by money order or by check, and a violation of this provision is subject to section five-d of this
article.
As used herein, the term "check" shall have the meaning
ascribed to that term in section one hundred four, article three,
chapter forty-six of this code.
(4) The total amount of contributions received during the
period covered by the financial statement.
(5) The first name, middle initial, if any, and the last
name, residence and mailing address of any individual or the full
name and mailing address of each firm, association or committee
making or cosigning a loan and the amount of any loan received,
the date and terms of the loan, including interest and repayment
schedule, along with a copy of the loan agreement.
(6) The first name, middle initial, if any, and the last
name, residence and mailing address of any individual or the full
name and mailing address of each firm, association or committee
having previously made or cosigned a loan for which payment is
made or a balance is outstanding at the end of the period,
together with the amount of repayment on the loan made during
the period and the balance at the end of the period.
(7) The total outstanding balance of all loans at the end of the period.
(8) The first name, middle initial, if any, and the last
name, residence and mailing address of any individual, or the
full name and mailing address of each firm, association or
committee to whom each expenditure was made or liability
incurred, together with the amount and purpose of each
expenditure or liability incurred and the date of each
transaction.
(9) The total expenditure for the nomination, election or
defeat of a candidate or any person or organization advocating or
opposing the nomination, election or defeat of any candidate, or
the passage or defeat of any issue, thing or item to be voted
upon, in whose behalf an expenditure was made or a contribution
was given for the primary or other election.
(10) The total amount of expenditures made during the period
covered by the financial statement.
(b) Any unexpended balance at the time of making the
financial statements herein provided for shall be properly
accounted for in that financial statement and shall appear as a
balance in the next following financial statement.
(c) Each financial statement required by this section shall
contain a separate section setting forth the following
information for each fund-raising event held during the period
covered by the financial statement:
(1) The type of event, date held, and address and name, if
any, of the place where the event was held.
(2) All of the information required by subdivision (3),
subsection (a) of this section.
(3) The total of all moneys received at the fund-raising
event.
(4) The expenditures incident to the fund-raising event.
(5) The net receipts of the fund-raising event.
(d) When any lump sum payment is made to any advertising
agency or other disbursing person who does not file a report of
detailed accounts and verified financial statements as required
in this section, such lump sum expenditures shall be accounted
for in the same manner as provided for herein.
(e) Any contribution or expenditure made by or on behalf of
a candidate for public office, to any other candidate, or
committee for a candidate for any public office in the same election shall be accounted for in accordance with the provisions
of this section.
(f) No person, firm, association or committee may make any
contribution except from their own funds, unless such person,
firm, association or committee discloses in writing to the person
required to report under this section the first name, middle
initial, if any, and the last name in the case of an individual,
or the full name in case of a firm, association or committee,
residence and mailing address and the major business affiliation
and occupation of the person, firm, association or committee
which furnished the funds to such contributor. All such
disclosures shall be included in the statement required by this
section.
(g) Any firm, association, committee or fund permitted by
section eight of this article to be a political committee shall
disclose on the financial statement its corporate or other
affiliation.
(h) No contribution may be made, directly or indirectly, in
a fictitious name, anonymously or by one person through an agent,
relative or other person so as to conceal the identity of the source of the contribution or in any other manner so as to effect
concealment of the contributor's identity.
(i) No person, firm, association or committee may accept any
contribution for the purpose of influencing the nomination,
election or defeat of a candidate or for the passage or defeat of
any issue or thing to be voted upon unless the identity of the
donor and the amount of the contribution is known and reported.
(j) When any candidate, organization, committee or person
receives any anonymous contribution which cannot be returned
because the donor cannot be identified, that contribution shall
be donated to the general revenue fund of the state. Any
anonymous contribution shall be recorded as such on the
candidate's financial statement, but may not be expended for
election expenses. At the time of filing, the financial
statement shall include a statement of distribution of anonymous
contributions, which total amount shall equal the total of all
anonymous contributions received during the period.
(k) Any membership organization which raises funds for
political purposes by payroll deduction assessing them as part of
its membership dues or as a separate assessment may report the amount raised as follows:
(1) If the portion of dues or assessments designated for
political purposes equals twenty-five dollars or less per member
over the course of a calendar year, the total amount raised for
political purposes through membership dues or assessments during
the period is reported by showing the amount required to be paid
by each member and the number of members.
(2) If the total payroll deduction for political purposes of
each participating member equals twenty-five dollars or less over
the course of a calendar or fiscal year, as specified by the
organization, the organization shall report the total amount
received for political purposes through such payroll deductions
during the reporting period, and to the maximum extent possible,
the amount of each yearly payroll deduction contribution level
and the number of members contributing at each such specified
level. The membership organization shall maintain records of the
name and yearly payroll deduction amounts of each participating
member.
(3) If any member contributes to the membership organization
through individual voluntary contributions by means other than payroll deduction, membership dues, or assessments as provided in
this subsection, the reporting requirements of subdivision (3),
subsection (a) of this section shall apply. Funds raised for
political purposes must be segregated from the funds for other
purposes and listed in its report.
(l) For purposes of this section:
(1) "Political purposes" means advocating or opposing the
nomination, election or defeat of one or more candidates,
supporting the retirement of the debt of a candidate or
activities of an established political party or an organization
which has declared itself a political party, supporting the
administration or activities of a political committee or
advocating or opposing the passage of a ballot issue.
(2) "Membership organization" means a group that grants bona
fide rights and privileges, such as the right to vote, to elect
officers or directors, and the ability to hold office, to its
members, and which uses a majority of its membership dues for
purposes other than political purposes. This term shall not
include organizations that grant membership upon receiving a
contribution.
(3) "Fund-raising event" means an event such as a dinner,
reception, testimonial, cocktail party, auction or similar affair
through which contributions are solicited or received by such
means as the purchase of a ticket, payment of an attendance fee
or by the purchase of goods or services.
(m) Notwithstanding the provisions of section five of this
article or of the provisions of this section to the contrary, an
alternative reporting procedure may be followed by a political
party executive committee or a political action committee
representing a political party in filing financial reports for
fund-raising events if the total profit does not exceed five
thousand dollars per year. A political party executive committee
or a political action committee representing a political party
may report gross receipts for the sale of food, beverages,
services, novelty items, raffle tickets or memorabilia, except
that any receipt of more than
fifty twenty-five dollars from an
individual or organization
shall be reported as a contribution is
prohibited and, therefor, may not be accepted by the committee.
A political party executive committee or a political action
committee representing a political party using this alternative method of reporting shall report: (i) The name of the committee;
(ii) the type of fund-raising activity undertaken; (iii) the
location where the activity occurred; (iv) the date of the fund
raiser;
(v) the name of any individual who contributed more than
fifty dollars worth of items to be sold; (vi) the name and amount
received from any person or organization purchasing more than
fifty dollars worth of food, beverages, services, novelty items,
raffle tickets or memorabilia; (vii) and (v) the gross receipts
of the fund raiser.
and (viii) the date, amount, purpose and
name and address of each person or organization from whom items
with a fair market value of more than fifty dollars were
purchased for resale
§3-8-5d. Offenses and penalties.
Any person who makes or receives a monetary contribution of
fifty dollars or more
than twenty-five dollars in value
other
than by check or money order, shall be is guilty of a
misdemeanor, and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be fined a sum
equal to three times the amount or value of the contribution.
Notwithstanding the provision of section twenty-four,
article nine of this chapter, a criminal prosecution or civil action for violation of this article shall be commenced within
five years after the violation occurred.
No person required to report under this article shall be
found in violation of this article if any person, firm,
association or committee making a contribution has provided false
information to such person:
Provided, That any person, firm,
association or committee who provides false information to a
person required to report under this article
shall be is guilty
of a misdemeanor, as provided for in section twenty-three,
article nine of this chapter.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to limit election
contributions to candidates to $25.00 from each contributor.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.