House Bill No. 5396
House Bill No. 5396
PUBLIC ACT NO. 98-7
AN ACT PROHIBITING THE RECEIPT OF "SOFT MONEY"
FUNDS FROM NATIONAL POLITICAL PARTIES BY STATE
PARTIES AND POLITICAL COMMITTEES ORGANIZED FOR
ONGOING POLITICAL ACTIVITIES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 9-333a of the general
statutes, as amended by section 11 of public act
97-5 of the June 18 special session, is repealed
and the following is substituted in lieu thereof:
As used in this chapter:
(1) "Committee" means a party committee,
political committee or a candidate committee
organized, as the case may be, for a single
primary, election or referendum, or for ongoing
political activities, to aid or promote the
success or defeat of any political party, any one
or more candidates for public office or the
position of convention delegate or town committee
member or any referendum question.
(2) "Party committee" means a state central
committee or a town committee. "Party committee"
does not mean a party-affiliated or district, ward
or borough committee which receives all of its
funds from the state central committee of its
party or from a single town committee with the
same party affiliation. Any such committee so
funded shall be construed to be a part of its
state central or town committee for purposes of
this chapter.
(3) "Political committee" means (A) a
committee organized by a business entity or
organization, (B) persons other than individuals,
or two or more individuals organized or acting
jointly conducting their activities in or outside
the state, (C) a committee established by a
candidate to determine the particular public
office to which he shall seek nomination or
election, and referred to in this chapter as an
exploratory committee or (D) a committee
established by or on behalf of a slate of
candidates in a primary for the position of
convention delegate, but does not mean a candidate
committee or a party committee.
(4) "Candidate committee" means any committee
designated by a single candidate, or established
with the consent, authorization or cooperation of
a candidate, for the purpose of a single primary
or election and to aid or promote his candidacy
alone for a particular public office or the
position of town committee member, but does not
mean a political committee or a party committee.
(5) "National committee" means the
organization which according to the bylaws of a
political party is responsible for the day-to-day
operation of the party at the national level.
(6) "Organization" means all labor
organizations, (A) as defined in the
Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of
1959, as from time to time amended, or (B) as
defined in subdivision (9) of section 31-101,
employee organizations as defined in subsection
(d) of section 5-270 and subdivision (6) of
section 7-467, bargaining representative
organizations for teachers, any local, state or
national organization, to which a labor
organization pays membership or per capita fees,
based upon its affiliation or membership, and
trade or professional associations which receive
their funds exclusively from membership dues,
whether organized in or outside of this state, but
does not mean a candidate committee, party
committee or a political committee.
(7) "Business entity" means the following,
whether organized in or outside of this state:
Stock corporations, banks, insurance companies,
business associations, bankers associations,
insurance associations, trade or professional
associations which receive funds from membership
dues and other sources, partnerships, joint
ventures, private foundations, as defined in
Section 509 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986,
or any subsequent corresponding internal revenue
code of the United States, as from time to time
amended; trusts or estates; corporations organized
under sections 38a-175 to 38a-192, inclusive,
38a-199 to 38a-209, inclusive, and 38a-214 to
38a-225, inclusive, and chapters 594 to 597,
inclusive; cooperatives, and any other
association, organization or entity which is
engaged in the operation of a business or
profit-making activity; but does not include
professional service corporations organized under
chapter 594a and owned by a single individual,
nonstock corporations which are not engaged in
business or profit-making activity, organizations,
as defined in subdivision (6) of this section,
candidate committees, party committees and
political committees as defined in this section.
For purposes of this chapter, corporations which
are component members of a controlled group of
corporations, as those terms are defined in
Section 1563 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986,
or any subsequent corresponding internal revenue
code of the United States, as from time to time
amended, shall be deemed to be one corporation.
(8) "Individual" means a human being, a sole
proprietorship, or a professional service
corporation organized under chapter 594a and owned
by a single human being.
(9) "Person" means an individual, committee,
firm, partnership, organization, association,
syndicate, company trust, corporation, limited
liability company or any other legal entity of any
kind but does not mean the state or any political
or administrative subdivision of the state.
(10) "Candidate" means an individual who
seeks nomination for election or election to
public office whether or not such individual is
elected, and for the purposes of this chapter an
individual shall be deemed to seek nomination for
election or election if he has (A) been endorsed
by a party or become eligible for a position on
the ballot at an election or primary or (B)
solicited or received contributions or made
expenditures or given his consent to any other
person to solicit or receive contributions or make
expenditures with the intent to bring about his
nomination for election or election to any such
office. "Candidate" also means a slate of
candidates which is to appear on the ballot in a
primary for the position of convention delegate.
For the purposes of sections 9-333 to 9-333l,
inclusive, and section 9-333w, "candidate" also
means an individual who is a candidate in a
primary for town committee members.
(11) "Campaign treasurer" means the
individual appointed by a candidate or by the
chairman of a party committee or a political
committee to receive and disburse funds on behalf
of the candidate or committee.
(12) "Deputy campaign treasurer" means the
individual appointed by the candidate or by the
chairman of a committee to serve in the capacity
of the campaign treasurer if the campaign
treasurer is unable to perform his duties.
(13) "Solicitor" means an individual
appointed by a campaign treasurer of a committee
to receive, but not to disburse, funds on behalf
of the committee.
(14) "Referendum question" means a question
to be voted upon at any election or referendum,
including a proposed constitutional amendment.
(15) "Lobbyist" means a lobbyist as defined
in subsection (l) of section 1-91.
(16) "Business with which he is associated"
means any business in which the contributor is a
director, officer, owner, limited or general
partner or holder of stock constituting five per
cent or more of the total outstanding stock of any
class. Officer refers only to the president,
executive or senior vice-president or treasurer of
such business.
(17) "Independent expenditure" means an
expenditure that is made without the consent,
knowing participation, or consultation of, a
candidate or agent of the candidate committee.
"Independent expenditure" does not include an
expenditure (A) if there is any coordination or
direction with respect to the expenditure between
the candidate or the treasurer, deputy treasurer
or chairman of his candidate committee and the
person making the expenditure or (B) if, during
the same election cycle, the individual making the
expenditure serves or has served as the treasurer,
deputy treasurer or chairman of the candidate
committee.
(18) "FEDERAL ACCOUNT" MEANS A DEPOSITORY
ACCOUNT THAT IS SUBJECT TO THE DISCLOSURE AND
CONTRIBUTION LIMITS PROVIDED UNDER THE FEDERAL
ELECTION CAMPAIGN ACT OF 1971, AS AMENDED FROM
TIME TO TIME.
Sec. 2. Section 9-333s of the general
statutes is repealed and the following is
substituted in lieu thereof:
(a) A party committee may make unlimited
contributions to, or for the benefit of, any of
the following: (1) Another party committee; (2) a
candidate committee; (3) a national committee of a
political party; (4) a committee of a candidate
for federal or out-of-state office or (5) a
political committee. A party committee may also
make contributions to a charitable organization
which is a tax-exempt organization under Section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, as from
time to time amended, or make memorial
contributions.
(b) A party committee may receive
contributions from A FEDERAL ACCOUNT OF a national
committee of a political party, but may not
receive contributions from ANY OTHER ACCOUNT OF A
NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF A POLITICAL PARTY OR FROM a
committee of a candidate for federal or
out-of-state office, for use in the election of
candidates subject to the provisions of this
chapter.
Sec. 3. Section 9-333t of the general
statutes is repealed and the following is
substituted in lieu thereof:
(a) A political committee organized for
ongoing political activities may make unlimited
contributions to, or for the benefit of, a party
committee; any national committee of a political
party; a candidate committee; or a committee of a
candidate for federal or out-of-state office. No
such political committee shall make a contribution
or contributions in excess of two thousand dollars
to another political committee in any calendar
year except that a political committee organized
by a business entity may make unlimited
contributions to, or for the benefit of, another
political committee organized by a business
entity. No political committee organized for
ongoing political activities shall make a
contribution in excess of two hundred fifty
dollars to an exploratory committee. If such an
ongoing committee is established by an
organization or a business entity, its
contributions shall be subject to the limits
imposed by sections 9-333o to 9-333q, inclusive. A
political committee organized for ongoing
political activities may make contributions to a
charitable organization which is a tax-exempt
organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code, as from time to time
amended, or make memorial contributions.
(b) A political committee organized for
ongoing political activities may receive
contributions from THE FEDERAL ACCOUNT OF a
national committee of a political party, but may
not receive contributions from ANY OTHER ACCOUNT
OF A NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF A POLITICAL PARTY OR
FROM a committee of a candidate for federal or
out-of-state office.
Sec. 4. This act shall take effect January 1,
1999, and shall apply to elections and primaries
held on or after January 1, 1999.
Approved April 24, 1998