Bill Text: AZ HB2248 | 2014 | Fifty-first Legislature 2nd Regular | Introduced
Bill Title: Independent expenditures; contributions; corporations; unions
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-01-29 - Referred to House JUD Committee [HB2248 Detail]
Download: Arizona-2014-HB2248-Introduced.html
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REFERENCE TITLE: independent expenditures; contributions; corporations; unions |
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State of Arizona House of Representatives Fifty-first Legislature Second Regular Session 2014
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HB 2248 |
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Introduced by Representative Campbell
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AN ACT
amending section 16-914.02, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to campaign contributions and expenses.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 16-914.02, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
16-914.02. Reporting independent expenditures and contributions; corporations, limited liability companies and labor organizations; statement; disclaimer and disclosure; civil action; civil penalty; violation; classification; definitions
A. Any corporation, limited liability company or labor organization that makes cumulative independent expenditures in an attempt to influence the outcome of a candidate election and in at least the following amounts in an election cycle shall register and notify the appropriate filing officer not later than one day after making that expenditure, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and other legal holidays:
1. An aggregate of five thousand dollars or more in one or more statewide races.
2. An aggregate of two thousand five hundred dollars or more in one or more legislative races.
3. One thousand dollars or more in one or more county, city, town or other local races if the one thousand dollars is aggregated in races in a single county, city, town or other local jurisdiction.
B. Any corporation, limited liability company or labor organization that receives a contribution as defined in section 16-901 shall disclose that contribution in the format prescribed by the filing officer as set forth in section 16-913.
B. C. The secretary
of state is the filing officer for registrations and notifications for
independent expenditures in statewide and legislative elections. City, town or
county filing officers are the filing officers for notifications in a city,
town, county or other local election as provided in section 16‑916. The
corporation, limited liability company or labor organization also shall notify
the filing officer within the same time limit prescribed in subsection A of
this section of each additional accumulation of expenditures that exceeds the
threshold amount prescribed in subsection A of this section but is not required
to register again during that election cycle after the initial registration. A
corporation, limited liability company or labor organization may register with
the filing officer and provide a notarized, sworn statement of authority in
advance of the expenditure in anticipation of making an independent
expenditure. The secretary of state shall provide for electronic filing for
registrations and notifications and shall provide for website access to the
information for the public. Filings at the secretary of state's
office shall be in the form prescribed by the secretary of state. Other filing
officers shall prescribe the format for filing registrations and notifications
and shall provide for public access to that information. On or after November 27, 2012 and At the request
of the local election filing officer, the secretary of state may provide for
electronic filing pursuant to this section for local elections.
C. D. The
registration shall include all of the following:
1. The name and address of the corporation, limited liability company or labor organization.
2. The name, title, electronic mail address and telephone number of the person authorizing the independent expenditure.
D. E. Each
notification shall include all of the following:
1. The name and address of the corporation, limited liability company or labor organization making the independent expenditure.
2. The amount of the expenditure and the name of the vendor or other payee receiving the expenditure.
3. The name of the candidate and race in which the expenditure was made and whether the expenditure was in support of or opposition to the candidate.
4. The communication medium and description of what was purchased with the expenditure.
5. The date of the expenditure.
E. F. If the
corporation, limited liability company or labor organization did not register
and provide a notarized sworn statement in advance of the expenditure as
prescribed by this section, the corporation, limited liability company or labor
organization shall file with the secretary of state or other appropriate filing
officer within five days after an initial threshold expenditure as prescribed
in subsection A of this section a notarized sworn statement that the person,
agent or officer filing the registration and notice had authority to make that
expenditure on behalf of the corporation, limited liability company or labor
organization. Until the secretary of state or other filing officer receives
the notarized sworn statement, the filing officer shall categorize the
notification as unverified. If the secretary of state or other
filing officer does not receive the notarized sworn statement within the
required five day time frame, the notification shall be categorized as both
unverified and delinquent. The filing officer shall make reasonable
efforts to contact the entity that made the expenditure and remove the
notification from public view within a reasonable time if unable to verify that
the entity made the expenditure and all penalties prescribed in this section
apply.
F. G. Any literature
or advertisement that is purchased with monies from a corporation, limited
liability company or labor organization making an independent expenditure in an
attempt to influence the outcome of a candidate
an election shall
disclose the name of the corporation, limited liability company or labor
organization making the expenditure. Any disclosure statement
required by this section shall be printed clearly and legibly in a conspicuous
manner. If the communication is broadcast on radio, the information
shall be spoken at the end of the communication. If the communication
is broadcast on a telecommunications system, the information shall be both
written and spoken at the end of the communication, except that if the
disclosure statement is written for at least five seconds of a thirty second
advertisement broadcast or ten seconds of a sixty second advertisement
broadcast, a spoken disclosure statement is not required. If the
communication is broadcast on a telecommunications system, the written
disclosure statement shall be printed in letters equal to or larger than four
per cent of the vertical picture height. The literature or advertisement shall
include the words "paid for by" in the disclosure followed by the
name of the entity making the expenditure and shall also state that it is not
authorized by any candidate or candidate's campaign committee.
G. H. Subsection F G of this section does not apply to bumper stickers, pins,
buttons, pens and similar small items on which the statements required in
subsection F G of this section cannot be
conveniently printed or to a communication by an organization solely to its
members.
H. I. Any
corporation, limited liability company or labor organization that fails to
register, notify or disclose as required by this section is liable in a civil
action pursuant to section 16‑924 brought by the attorney general, county
attorney or city or town attorney, as appropriate, for a civil penalty of up to
three times the total amount of the expenditure.
I. J. Any person who
makes a knowingly false filing relating to an independent expenditure or who knowingly fails to file a
required report pursuant to this section is guilty of a class 1
misdemeanor.
J. For
violations that occur before November 27, 2012, a reasonable cause
determination for a violation of this section may only be made by the secretary
of state's office and not by any other filing officer. On or after November
27, 2012, the local election jurisdiction and filing officers may make their
own reasonable cause determinations for violations of this section or may elect
to continue to have the office of the secretary of state make those reasonable
cause determinations on their behalf. A civil or criminal enforcement action
may not be filed until after the issuance of a reasonable cause determination.
K. Any entity that makes
an independent expenditure and that is organized primarily for the purpose of
influencing an election and that is a combination of
corporations, limited liability companies or labor organizations or that is a
corporation, limited liability company or labor organization that accepts donations or contributions shall file with the
filing officer as a political committee as otherwise provided by law.
L. For the purposes of this section, an expenditure occurs on the date on which literature or advertisements are deposited at the post office for mailing, submitted to a communications system for broadcast or submitted to a newspaper or similar print medium for printing and, with respect to an expenditure for signs, the date on which a sign is first posted.
M. For the purposes of this section:
1. "Independent expenditure" has the same meaning prescribed in section 16‑901, except that it is made by a corporation, a limited liability company or a labor organization and except as prescribed in subsection L of this section.
2. "Local election" means an election in a county, city, town, school district or special district.
