COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2616
(By Delegates Smirl and Frederick)
(Originating in the House Committee on the Judiciary)
[January 26, 1996]
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 prohibiting
political contributions by corporations; exceptions;
corporation political committees and their solicitation of
political contributions; unlawful acts of corporations and
corporation political committees; removal of prohibition
against organization and operation of corporation political
committees on behalf of public utility companies and
railroad companies; definition; legislative rules;
additional powers and duties of state election commission;
duty of attorney general; investigations; and criminal
penalties.
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;
investigations of violations of article; duties of
attorney general; criminal penalties.
(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
election 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 is 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
legislative 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 § 441b which are similar or identical
to those provisions contained in this section in order that the
provisions of this section and the
regulations rules
promulgated thereunder and the similar provisions of 2 USC §
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 in accordance
with the provisions of
article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of
this code.
(e)
(1) 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. (A) To investigate, upon complaint or on its own
initiative, any alleged violations
or irregularities of this
article.
2. (B) 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. (C) To involve the aid of any circuit court in the execution of its subpoena power.
4. (D) 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.
(2) 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.
(3) 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.
(4) Any person who shall disclose the fact of any
complaint, investigation or report or any part thereof, or any
proceedings thereon,
shall be is 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.