REFERENCE TITLE: clean elections; contributions prohibited

 

 

 

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-third Legislature

First Regular Session

2017

 

 

HB 2403

 

Introduced by

Representatives Coleman: Allen J, Mesnard, Shope

 

 

AN ACT

 

amending sections 16-948 and 16-959, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to the citizens clean elections act.

 

 

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

 


Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1.  Subject to the requirements of article IV, part 1, section 1, Constitution of Arizona, section 16-948, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE16-948.  Controls on participating candidates' campaign accounts

A.  A participating candidate shall conduct all financial activity through a single campaign account of the candidate's campaign committee.  A participating candidate shall not make any deposits into the campaign account other than those permitted under section 16‑945 or 16‑946.

B.  A candidate may designate other persons with authority to withdraw funds from the candidate's campaign account.  The candidate and any person so designated shall sign a joint statement under oath promising to comply with the requirements of this title.

C.  The candidate or a person authorized under subsection B of this section shall pay monies from a participating candidate's campaign account directly to the person providing goods or services to the campaign and shall identify, on a report filed pursuant to article 1.4 of this chapter, the full name and street address of the person and the nature of the goods and services and compensation for which payment has been made.  A payment made directly or indirectly to a political party is presumed to be an unlawful contribution.

D.  Notwithstanding the previous sentence subsection C of this section, a campaign committee may establish one or more petty cash accounts, which in aggregate shall not exceed one thousand dollars at any time.  No single expenditure shall be made from a petty cash account exceeding one hundred dollars.

D.  E.  Monies in a participating candidate's campaign account shall not be used to pay fines or civil penalties, for costs or legal fees related to representation before the commission, or for defense of any enforcement action under this chapter.  Nothing in this subsection shall prevent a participating candidate from having a legal defense fund.

E.  F.  A participating candidate shall not use clean elections monies to purchase goods or services that bear a distinctive trade name, trademark or trade dress item, including a logo, that is owned by a business or other entity that is owned by that participating candidate or in which the candidate has a controlling interest.  The use of goods or services that are prohibited by this subsection is deemed to be an unlawful in-kind contribution to the participating candidate. END_STATUTE

Sec. 2.  Subject to the requirements of article IV, part 1, section 1, Constitution of Arizona, section 16-959, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE16-959.  Inflationary and other adjustments of dollar values

A.  Every two years, the secretary of state shall modify the dollar values specified in the following parts of this article, in the manner specified by section 16‑905, subsection H 16‑931, to account for inflation: section 16‑941, subsection A, paragraph 2 or subsection D; section 16‑942, subsection B; section 16‑945, subsection A, paragraphs 1 and 2; section 16‑948, subsection D; section 16‑955, subsection G; and section 16‑961, subsections G and H.  In addition, the secretary of state shall make a similar inflation adjustment by modifying the dollar values in section 16‑949, subsection A to reflect cumulative inflation since the enactment of this article.  In addition, every two years, the secretary of state shall change the dollar values in section 16‑961, subsections G and H in proportion to the change in the number of Arizona resident personal income tax returns filed during the previous calendar year.

B.  Based on the results of the elections in any quadrennial election after 2002, and within six months after such election, the commission may adopt rules in a public meeting reallocating funds available to all candidates between the primary and general elections by selecting a fraction for primary election spending limits that is between one-third and one-half of the spending limits for the election as a whole.  For each office, the primary election spending limit shall be modified to be the sum of the primary and general spending limits times the selected fraction, and the general election spending limit shall be modified to be the same sum times one less the selected fraction. END_STATUTE

Sec. 3.  Requirements for enactment; three-fourths vote

Pursuant to article IV, part 1, section 1, Constitution of Arizona, sections 16-948 and 16-959, Arizona Revised Statutes, as amended by this act, are effective only on the affirmative vote of at least three-fourths of the members of each house of the legislature.