House Bill No. 5612

Public Act No. 16-181

AN ACT CONCERNING THE PROHIBITION ON THE USE OF PUBLIC FUNDS FOR ELECTION CAMPAIGN ACTIVITY.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Subsection (d) of section 9-610 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):

(d) (1) No incumbent holding office shall, during the three months preceding an election in which he is a candidate for reelection or election to another office, use public funds to mail or print flyers or other promotional materials intended to bring about his election or reelection.

(2) No official or employee of the state or a political subdivision of the state shall authorize the use of public funds for a television, radio, movie theater, billboard, bus poster, newspaper or magazine promotional campaign or advertisement, which (A) features the name, face or voice of a candidate for public office, or (B) promotes the nomination or election of a candidate for public office, during the twelve-month period preceding the election being held for the office which the candidate described in this subdivision is seeking.

(3) As used in subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection, "public funds" does not include any grant or moneys paid to a qualified candidate committee from the Citizens' Election Fund under this chapter.

(4) No candidate's participation in connection with any activity of the Council of State Governments shall constitute a violation of this subsection.