Bill Text: AZ HB2651 | 2014 | Fifty-first Legislature 2nd Regular | Engrossed
Bill Title: Clean elections funding
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-03-06 - House Committee of the Whole action: Do Pass Amended [HB2651 Detail]
Download: Arizona-2014-HB2651-Engrossed.html
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House Engrossed |
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State of Arizona House of Representatives Fifty-first Legislature Second Regular Session 2014
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HOUSE BILL 2651 |
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AN ACT
amending sections 16‑954, 16‑956, 41‑133 and 41‑2421, 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 16-954, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
16-954. Clean elections tax deduction; disposition of excess monies
A. A taxpayer who files on a state income tax return form may designate a five-dollar voluntary contribution per taxpayer to the fund by marking an optional check-off box on the form. Five dollars from the amount of taxes paid shall be transferred by the department of revenue to the fund. The department of revenue shall provide check-off boxes, identified as the clean elections fund tax deduction, on income tax return forms, for designations pursuant to this subsection.
B. Any taxpayer may make a voluntary donation to the fund by designating the fund on an income tax return form filed by the individual or business entity or by making a payment directly to the fund. Any taxpayer making a donation pursuant to this subsection shall receive a tax deduction not to exceed twenty per cent of the tax amount on the return or five hundred dollars per taxpayer, whichever is higher. Donations made pursuant to this section cannot be designated as for the benefit of a particular candidate, political party or election contest. The department of revenue shall transfer to the fund all donations made pursuant to this subsection. The department of revenue shall provide a space, identified as the clean elections fund voluntary donation, on income tax return forms, for donations pursuant to this subsection.
A. C. Beginning January 1, 1999, An additional surcharge of ten per cent shall be imposed on all civil and criminal fines and penalties collected pursuant to section 12‑116.01 and shall be deposited into the fund.
B. D. At least once per year, the commission shall project the amount of monies that the fund will collect over the next four years and the time such monies shall become available. Whenever the commission determines that the fund contains more monies than the commission determines that it requires to meet current debts plus expected expenses, under the assumption that expected expenses will be at the expenditure limit in section 16‑949, subsection A, and taking into account the projections of collections, the commission shall designate such monies as excess monies and so notify the state treasurer, who shall thereupon transfer the excess monies to the general fund. The commission shall separately account for monies received in donations pursuant to subsection B of this section and shall not include these monies in any calculation of or transfer of excess monies to the general fund. Disbursement of monies received in donations are exempt from the expenditure limitations prescribed in section 16‑949.
C. E. At least once per year, the commission shall project the amount of clean elections funding for which all candidates will have qualified pursuant to this article for the following calendar year. By the end of each year, the commission shall announce whether the amount that the commission plans to spend the following year pursuant to section 16‑949, subsection A exceeds the projected amount of clean elections funding. If the commission determines that the fund contains insufficient monies or the spending cap would be exceeded were all candidates' accounts to be fully funded, the commission may include in the announcement specifications for decreases in the following parameters, based on the commission's projections of collections and expenses for the fund, including that the fund will provide monies under section 16‑951 as a fraction of the amounts there specified.
D. F. If the commission cannot provide participating candidates with all monies specified under sections 16‑951 and 16‑952, as decreased by any announcement pursuant to subsection C E of this section, the commission shall allocate any reductions in payments proportionately among candidates entitled to monies and shall declare an emergency. Upon On declaration of an emergency, a participating candidate may accept private contributions to bring the total monies received by the candidate from the fund and from such private contributions up to the adjusted spending limits, as decreased by any announcement made pursuant to subsection C E of this section.
G. At the discretion of the commission, monies received pursuant to subsections A and B of this section may be transferred for deposit to an election equipment refreshment account in the clean elections fund. Monies in the election equipment refreshment account may be used for updating and replacing election equipment used for county elections in this state and may be disbursed for those purposes on evidence of county matching monies, with a county providing three dollars for every one dollar from the account. Monies disbursed pursuant to this subsection are exempt from the expenditure limitations prescribed in section 16‑949.
Sec. 2. Subject to the requirements of article IV, part 1, section 1, Constitution of Arizona, section 16-956, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
16-956. Voter education and enforcement duties
A. The commission shall:
1. Develop a procedure for publishing a document or section of a document having a space of predefined size for a message chosen by each candidate. For the document that is delivered before the primary election, the document shall contain the names of every candidate for every statewide and legislative district office in that primary election without regard to whether the candidate is a participating candidate or a nonparticipating candidate. For the document that is delivered before the general election, the document shall contain the names of every candidate for every statewide and legislative district office in that general election without regard to whether the candidate is a participating candidate or a nonparticipating candidate. The commission shall deliver one copy of each document to every household that contains a registered voter. For the document that is delivered before the primary election, the delivery may be made over a period of days but shall be sent in time to be delivered to households before the earliest date for receipt by registered voters of any requested early ballots for the primary election. The commission may deliver the second document over a period of days but shall send the second document in order to be delivered to households before the earliest date for receipt by registered voters of any requested early ballots for the general election. The primary election and general election documents published by the commission shall comply with all of the following:
(a) For any candidate who does not submit a message pursuant to this paragraph, the document shall include with the candidate's listing the words "no statement submitted".
(b) The document shall have printed on its cover the words "citizens clean elections commission voter education guide" and the words "primary election" or "general election" and the applicable year. The document shall also contain at or near the bottom of the document cover in type that is no larger than one‑half the size of the type used for "citizens clean elections commission voter education guide" the words "paid for by the citizens clean elections fund".
(c) In order to prevent voter confusion, the document shall be easily distinguishable from the publicity pamphlet that is required to be produced by the secretary of state pursuant to section 19‑123.
2. Sponsor debates among candidates, in such manner as determined by the commission. The commission shall require participating candidates to attend and participate in debates and may specify by rule penalties for nonparticipation. The commission shall invite and permit nonparticipating candidates to participate in debates.
3. Prescribe forms for reports, statements, notices and other documents required by this article. The commission shall not require a candidate to use a reporting system other than the reporting system jointly approved by the commission and the office of the secretary of state.
4. Prepare and publish instructions setting forth methods of bookkeeping and preservation of records to facilitate compliance with this article and explaining the duties of persons and committees under this article.
5. Produce a yearly report describing the commission's activities and any recommendations for changes of law, administration or funding amounts and accounting for monies in the fund.
6. Adopt rules to implement the reporting requirements of section 16‑958, subsections D and E.
7. Enforce this article, ensure that money from the fund is placed in candidate campaign accounts or otherwise spent as specified in this article and not otherwise, monitor reports filed pursuant to this chapter and financial records of candidates as needed and ensure that money required by this article to be paid to the fund is deposited in the fund. The commission shall not take action on any external complaint that is filed more than ninety days after the postelection report is filed or ninety days after the completion of the canvass of the election to which the complaint relates, whichever is later.
B. The commission may subpoena witnesses, compel their attendance and testimony, administer oaths and affirmations, take evidence and require by subpoena the production of any books, papers, records or other items material to the performance of the commission's duties or the exercise of its powers.
C. The commission may adopt rules to carry out the purposes of this article and to govern procedures of the commission. Commission rule making is exempt from title 41, chapter 6, article 3. The commission shall propose and adopt rules in public meetings, with at least sixty days allowed for interested parties to comment after the rules are proposed. The commission shall also file a notice of exempt rule making and the proposed rule in the format prescribed in section 41‑1022 with the secretary of state's office for publication in the Arizona administrative register. After consideration of the comments received in the sixty day comment period, the commission may adopt the rule in an open meeting. Any rules given final approval in an open meeting shall be filed in the format prescribed in section 41‑1022 with the secretary of state's office for publication in the Arizona administrative register. Any rules adopted by the commission shall only be applied prospectively from the date the rule was adopted.
D. Rules adopted by the commission are not effective until January 1 in the year following the adoption of the rule, except that rules adopted by unanimous vote of the commission may be made immediately effective and enforceable.
E. If, in the view of the commission, the action of a particular candidate or committee requires immediate change to a commission rule, a unanimous vote of the commission is required. Any rule change made pursuant to this subsection that is enacted with less than a unanimous vote takes effect for the next election cycle.
F. As a part of the commission's voter education functions, the commission may expend voter education monies to:
1. Provide for posting on the commission's website candidate statements for federal, state and county candidates. Candidate statements must be limited to two hundred fifty words and may include a photograph of the candidate.
2. Engage in voter education regarding judicial retention elections.
3. Engage in voter education regarding statewide ballot measures, including developing pilot programs for that voter education.
4. Beginning January 1, 2015, annually Fund officeholder expense accounts established pursuant to section 41-133. For payments beginning in January 2016 and later, if the commission determines by December that monies available for officeholder expense account purposes in the following year are less than five million dollars, the commission shall reduce the officeholder account payments on a pro rata basis, based on the percentage reduction in the amount of monies available. The officeholder expense account annual amounts are as follows, and shall be adjusted by the secretary of state biennially as prescribed in section 16-905:
(a) For governor, forty-nine thousand one hundred eighty dollars.
(b) For secretary of state and attorney general, twenty-five thousand eight hundred forty dollars.
(c) For all other statewide officeholders, twelve thousand nine hundred twenty dollars.
(d) For legislators, four thousand nine hundred dollars.
F. G. 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 changing the number of qualifying contributions required for any office from those listed in section 16‑950, subsection D, by no more than twenty per cent of the number applicable for the preceding election.
Sec. 3. Section 41-133, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
41-133. Officeholder expenses; account; reporting; limitations; civil penalty; definition
A. Any person who holds elected statewide public office or a legislative office in this state, whether by election or appointment, may receive or spend monies to defray the costs of performing officeholder duties. The officeholder may choose to receive officeholder expense monies from the citizens clean elections commission pursuant to subsection b of this section or may choose to receive officeholder expense monies from individual contributors as prescribed by this subsection, but not both. For an officeholder who chooses to receive individual contributions, monies may be received as follows:
1. An officeholder may receive contributions pursuant to this section only from individuals, and the maximum amount that may be received from an individual during an election cycle is one hundred fifty dollars.
2. The total amount that an officeholder may receive or spend pursuant to this section during an election cycle is ninety-eight thousand three hundred sixty dollars for the governor, fifty-one thousand six hundred eighty dollars for the secretary of state and the attorney general, twenty‑five thousand eight hundred forty dollars for all other statewide officeholders and nine thousand eight hundred dollars for a legislator, which may include personal monies as prescribed by paragraph 3 of this subsection. The secretary of state shall adjust this amount biennially as prescribed in section 16‑905, subsection H.
3. An officeholder may contribute up to thirty per cent of the limits as prescribed by paragraph 2 of this subsection of the officeholder's personal monies to the officeholder's expense account.
B. For officeholders who choose to receive citizens clean elections fund monies for officeholder expense accounts, the citizens clean elections commission shall pay these monies in amounts as prescribed in section 16-956. The citizens clean elections commission shall prescribe forms and procedures to be used to administer monies received for these purposes.
B. C. For an officeholder's future campaign, monies received do not constitute a contribution as defined in section 16‑901 if the monies are received, expended and reported as prescribed in this section.
C. D. An officeholder shall establish a separate account for officeholder expenses, which shall be separate from any candidate campaign account. The officeholder shall file a statement of organization for the account designated as an officeholder expense account. Monies raised or spent for officeholder expenses shall be reported under campaign finance reporting requirements pursuant to title 16, chapter 6, article 1.
D. E. An officeholder shall not use monies in the officeholder account for campaign purposes. Permissible uses of monies in an officeholder account include the following:
1. Office equipment and supplies.
2. Travel related to the officeholder's duties.
3. Meeting or communicating with constituents.
4. Expenses for informational and educational purposes, including subscriptions to newspapers, magazines or other periodicals or websites or other informational services, membership or participation in community, professional or fraternal organizations and participation in conferences and seminars.
E. F. An officeholder shall not receive or spend monies from the officeholder account during the period beginning April 30 in an election year ninety days before the primary election, shall complete the purchase or otherwise use the item before April 30 in an election year ninety days before the primary election and shall not spend those monies until after the day of the general election.
G. For officeholders who received individual contributions for officeholder expenses, any monies remaining in the officeholder expense account beginning April 30 in an election year ninety days before the primary election may not be used except as follows:
1. Paid to the state general fund.
2. For a person who continues to hold office as prescribed in this section, carried forward to an officeholder expense account for another office or term of office, subject to the limitations prescribed by this section.
H. For officeholders who received monies from the citizens clean elections fund for officeholder expenses, any monies remaining in the officeholder expense account beginning ninety days before the primary election may not be used and shall be returned to the citizens clean elections fund not later than sixty days before the primary election day. For good cause shown, the commission may grant an extension of the deadline to return those monies to the fund.
F. I. An officeholder shall not transfer officeholder account monies to any other account or committee except for another officeholder account for that same officeholder.
G. J. Section 41‑1234.01 applies to individual contributions to an officeholder account for legislators.
H. K. A person who violates this section is subject to a civil penalty of three times any amount improperly received, spent or reported, which, for officeholders whose officeholder expense accounts are funded by the citizens clean elections commission, shall be assessed pursuant to section 16-956, subsection a, paragraph 7 and section 16-957.
I. L. Section 16‑924 applies for the implementation and enforcement of this section for officeholders who choose to receive individual contributions for an officeholder expense account.
J. Any monies held by an officeholder pursuant to the officeholder expense account rules established by the citizens clean elections commission are subject to this section, and the citizens clean elections commission has no further authority with respect to those monies.
K. M. For the purposes of this section, "officeholder" means a person who holds an elected statewide public office or a legislative office in this state, whether by election or appointment.
Sec. 4. Section 41-2421, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
41-2421. Enhanced collections; allocation of monies; criminal justice entities
A. Notwithstanding any other law and except as provided in subsection J of this section, five per cent of any monies collected by the supreme court and the court of appeals for the payment of filing fees, including clerk fees, diversion fees, fines, penalties, surcharges, sanctions and forfeitures, shall be deposited, pursuant to sections 35‑146 and 35‑147, and allocated pursuant to the formula in subsection B of this section. This subsection does not apply to monies collected by the courts pursuant to section 16‑954, subsection A, or for child support, restitution or exonerated bonds.
B. The monies deposited pursuant to subsection A of this section shall be allocated according to the following formula:
1. 21.61 per cent to the state aid to county attorneys fund established by section 11‑539.
2. 20.53 per cent to the state aid to indigent defense fund established by section 11‑588.
3. 57.37 per cent to the state aid to the courts fund established by section 12‑102.02.
4. 0.49 per cent to the department of law for the processing of criminal cases.
C. Notwithstanding any other law and except as provided in subsection J of this section, five per cent of any monies collected by the superior court, including the clerk of the court and the justice courts in each county for the payment of filing fees, including clerk fees, diversion fees, adult and juvenile probation fees, juvenile monetary assessments, fines, penalties, surcharges, sanctions and forfeitures, shall be transmitted to the county treasurer for allocation pursuant to subsections E, F, G and H of this section. This subsection does not apply to monies collected by the courts pursuant to section 16‑954, subsection A or for child support, restitution or exonerated bonds.
D. The supreme court shall adopt guidelines regarding the collection of revenues pursuant to subsections A and C of this section.
E. The county treasurer shall allocate the monies deposited pursuant to subsection C of this section according to the following formula:
1. 21.61 per cent for the purposes specified in section 11‑539.
2. 20.53 per cent for the purposes specified in section 11‑588.
3. 57.37 per cent to the local courts assistance fund established by section 12‑102.03.
4. 0.49 per cent to the state treasurer for transmittal to the department of law for the processing of criminal cases.
F. The board of supervisors in each county shall separately account for all monies received pursuant to subsections C and E of this section and expenditures of these monies may be made only after the requirements of subsections G and H of this section have been met.
G. By December 1 of each year each county board of supervisors shall certify if the total revenues received by the justice courts and the superior court, including the clerk of the superior court, exceed the amount received in fiscal year 1997‑1998. If the board so certifies, then the board shall distribute the lesser of either:
1. The total amount deposited pursuant to subsection C of this section.
2. The amount collected and deposited pursuant to subsection C of this section that exceeds the base year collections of fiscal year 1997‑1998. These monies shall be distributed according to the formula specified in subsection E of this section. Any monies remaining after this allocation shall be transmitted as otherwise provided by law.
H. If a county board of supervisors determines that the total revenues transmitted by the superior court, including the clerk of the superior court and the justice courts in the county, do not equal the base year collections transmitted in fiscal year 1997‑1998 the monies specified in subsection C of this section shall be transmitted by the county treasurer as otherwise provided by law.
I. For the purposes of this section, base year collections shall be those collections specified in subsection C of this section.
J. Monies collected pursuant to section 12‑116.01, subsection B shall be allocated as follows:
1. 15.44 per cent to the state aid to county attorneys fund established by section 11‑539.
2. 14.66 per cent to the state aid to indigent defense fund established by section 11‑588.
3. 40.97 per cent to the state aid to the courts fund established by section 12‑102.02.
4. 0.35 per cent to the department of law for the processing of criminal cases.
5. 14.29 per cent to the Arizona criminal justice commission for distribution to state, county and municipal law enforcement full service forensic crime laboratories pursuant to rules adopted by the Arizona criminal justice commission.
6. 14.29 per cent to the supreme court for allocation to the municipal courts pursuant to subsection K of this section.
K. The supreme court shall administer and allocate the monies received pursuant to subsection J, paragraph 6 of this section to the municipal courts based on the total amount of surcharges transmitted pursuant to section 12‑116.01 by that jurisdiction's city treasurer to the state treasurer for the prior fiscal year divided by the total amount of surcharges transmitted to the state treasurer pursuant to section 12‑116.01 by all city treasurers statewide for the prior fiscal year. The municipal court shall use the monies received to improve, maintain and enhance the ability to collect and manage monies assessed or received by the courts, to improve court automation and to improve case processing or the administration of justice. The municipal court shall submit a plan to the supreme court and the supreme court shall approve the plan before the municipal court begins to spend these allocated monies.
Sec. 5. Nonseverability
If any portion of this act is finally adjudicated invalid, the entire act is void.
Sec. 6. Requirements for enactment; three-fourths vote
Pursuant to article IV, part 1, section 1, Constitution of Arizona, sections 16-954 and 16-956, 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.
Sec. 7. Emergency
This act is an emergency measure that is necessary to preserve the public peace, health or safety and is operative immediately as provided by law.
