Bill Text: NJ A185 | 2014-2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Increases civil penalty for first offense violation of campaign finance requirements; makes first offense punishable with forfeiture of candidacy or office.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-01-16 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Judiciary Committee [A185 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2014-A185-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
216th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2014 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman AMY H. HANDLIN
District 13 (Monmouth)
SYNOPSIS
Increases civil penalty for first offense violation of campaign finance requirements; makes first offense punishable with forfeiture of candidacy or office.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act concerning the civil penalties for violations of campaign finance requirements and amending P.L.1973, c.83.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 22 of P.L.1973, c.83 (C.19:44A-22) is amended to read as follows:
22. a. (1) Except as provided in subsection e. or f., any person, including any candidate, treasurer, candidate committee or joint candidates committee, political committee, continuing political committee, political party committee or legislative leadership committee, charged with the responsibility under the terms of this act for the preparation, certification, filing or retention of any reports, records, notices or other documents, who fails, neglects or omits to prepare, certify, file or retain any such report, record, notice or document at the time or during the time period, as the case may be, and in the manner prescribed by law, or who omits or incorrectly states or certifies any of the information required by law to be included in such report, record, notice or document, any person who proposes to undertake or undertakes a public solicitation, testimonial affair or other activity relating to contributions or expenditures in any way regulated by the provisions of this act who fails to comply with those regulatory provisions, and any other person who in any way violates any of the provisions of this act shall, in addition to any other penalty provided by law, be liable to a penalty of not more than [$6,000] $6,800 for the first offense and not more than $12,000 for the second and each subsequent offense; except that, in addition to the penalty imposed for the first offense violation under this paragraph, the candidate's nomination for or election to any office shall be void upon the finding of the first offense violation, and the office shall be filled as required by law in the case of a vacancy, provided that nothing herein contained shall be construed in derogation of the constitutional authority of either House of the Legislature to be the judge of the election and qualification of its own members.
(2) No person shall willfully and intentionally agree with another person to make a contribution to a candidate, candidate committee, joint candidates committee, political committee, continuing political committee, political party committee, or legislative leadership committee with the intent, or upon the condition, understanding or belief, that the recipient candidate or committee shall make or have made a contribution to another such candidate or committee, but this paragraph shall not be construed to prohibit a county or municipal committee of a political party from making a contribution or contributions to any candidate, candidate committee, joint candidates committee, political committee, continuing political committee, political party committee, or legislative leadership committee. A finding of a violation of this paragraph shall be made only upon clear and convincing evidence. A person who violates the provisions of this paragraph shall be liable to a penalty equal to four times the amount of the contribution which that person agreed to make to the recipient candidate or committee.
b. Upon receiving evidence of any violation of this section, the Election Law Enforcement Commission shall have power to hold, or to cause to be held under the provisions of subsection d. of this section, hearings upon such violation and, upon finding any person to have committed such a violation, to assess such penalty, within the limits prescribed in subsection a. of this section, as it deems proper under the circumstances, which penalty shall be paid forthwith into the State Treasury for the general purposes of the State.
c. In assessing any penalty under this section, the Election Law Enforcement Commission may provide for the remission of all or any part of such penalty conditioned upon the prompt correction of any failure, neglect, error or omission constituting the violation for which said penalty was assessed.
d. The commission may designate a hearing officer to hear complaints of violations of this act. Such hearing officer shall take testimony, compile a record and make factual findings, and shall submit the same to the commission, which shall have power to assess penalties within the limits and under the conditions prescribed in subsections b. and c. of this section. The commission shall review the record and findings of the hearing officer, but it may also seek such additional testimony as it deems necessary. The commission's determination shall be by majority vote of the entire authorized membership thereof.
e. Any person who willfully and intentionally makes or accepts any contribution in violation of section 4 of P.L.1974, c.26 (C.19:44A-29) or section 18, 19 or 20 of P.L.1993, c.65 (C.19:44A-11.3, C.19:44A-11.4 or C.19:44A-11.5), shall be liable to a penalty of:
(1) Not more than $10,000 if the cumulative total amount of those contributions is less than or equal to $5,000.00;
(2) Not more than $150,000 if the cumulative total amount of those contributions was more than $5,000.00 but less than $75,000; and
(3) Not more than $200,000 if the cumulative total amount of those contributions is equal to or more than $75,000.00.
f. In addition to any penalty imposed pursuant to subsection e. of this section, a person holding any elective public office shall forfeit that public office if the Election Law Enforcement Commission determines that the cumulative total amount of the illegal contributions was more than $50,000.00 and that the violation had a significant impact on the outcome of the election.
g. Any penalty prescribed in this section shall be enforced in a summary proceeding under the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999," P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.).
(cf: P.L.2004, c.32, s.1)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill amends "The New Jersey Campaign Contributions and Expenditures Reporting Act," P.L.1973, c.83 (C.19:44A-1 et seq.), to increase the civil penalty for the first offense violation of campaign finance requirements, and to make that first offense punishable with the candidate's forfeiture of the candidacy or office.
Under current law, any candidate, treasurer, candidate committee or joint candidates committee, political committee, continuing political committee, political party committee or legislative leadership committee is charged with the responsibility to prepare, certify, file or retain certain campaign finance reports, records, notices and other documents. The law makes it a civil violation for any such entity to fail, neglect or omit to file the required reports or documents at the time and in the manner prescribed by law, or for any such entity to omit or incorrectly state or certify any of the information required by law to be reported. The law also makes it a civil violation for any person to propose to undertake or to undertake a public solicitation, testimonial affair, or other activity relating to campaign contributions or expenditures regulated by law, when the person fails to comply with the regulatory provisions. Persons who commit these violations or who in any way violate any of the multiple provisions of the act, are liable to a penalty of not more than $6,000 for the first offense and not more than $12,000 for the second and each subsequent offense, in addition to any other penalty provided by law.
Under this bill, the civil penalty for the first offense will increase from $6,000 to $6,800 and, in addition to this penalty, the candidate's nomination for or election to any office will be void upon the finding of the first offense violation. In those cases, the office will be filled as required by law in the case of a vacancy, but nothing in the bill will be construed in derogation of the constitutional authority of either House of the Legislature to be the judge of the election and qualification of its own members.
This bill does not affect the penalties and forfeiture of office provisions imposed for criminal violations of the act.
