STATE OF OKLAHOMA

1st Session of the 53rd Legislature (2011)

HOUSE BILL 1700	By:	Dank

AS INTRODUCED

An Act relating to campaigns; creating the Oklahoma Clean Campaigns Act of 2011; providing short title; stating legislative intent; amending 21 O.S. 2001, Section 187, which relates to the definitions of crimes relating to elections; adding definition; amending 21 O.S. 2001, Section 187.1, as amended by Section 2, Chapter 282, O.S.L. 2008 (21 O.S. Supp. 2010, Section 187.1), which relates to limits on contributions to candidates; modifying contribution limits; prohibiting certain acts; restricting use of contributions; providing reporting requirements; providing criminal penalties; providing for noncodification; and providing an effective date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1.     NEW LAW     A new section of law not to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes, reads as follows:
A.  This act shall be known and may be cited as the “Oklahoma Clean Campaigns Act of 2011”.
B.  This act is intended to provide ethics laws in addition to the rules promulgated by the Ethics Commission.
SECTION 2.     AMENDATORY     21 O.S. 2001, Section 187, is amended to read as follows:
Section 187.  As used in Sections 1 187 through 3 187.2 of this act title:
1.  "Accept", with reference to a contribution, means failure by a candidate, treasurer, deputy treasurer or agent of a committee to expressly and unconditionally reject and return a tendered contribution to the contributor within six (6) business days from receipt of the tender;
2.  "Ballot measure" means an initiative, referendum, legislative referendum, legislative initiative, state question, or any proposition or measure submitted to voters for their approval or rejection at a statewide election;
3.  "Campaign" means and includes all activities for or against the election of a candidate to a specific state or local office for a specific term or the passage or defeat of a ballot measure from the date of acceptance of the first contribution, the making of the first expenditure, or the filing of a declaration of candidacy, whichever is first, until a final campaign contributions and expenditures report is filed;
4.  "Candidate" means a person who seeks nomination or election to state or local office.  An individual is a candidate when the individual:
a.	has filed a declaration of candidacy for any state office with the Secretary of the State Election Board,
b.	has filed a declaration of candidacy for any local office with the secretary of any county election board,
c.	has filed a declaration of candidacy with the Secretary of State and has drawn active opposition,
d.	is nominated as a "substitute candidate" pursuant to Section 1-105 of Title 26 of the Oklahoma Statutes, or
e.	solicits or accepts contributions, makes expenditures or gives consent to an individual, organization, party committee, or other committee to solicit or accept contributions or make expenditures to secure election to any state or local office at any time, whether or not the office for which the individual will seek nomination or election is known when the:
(1)	solicitation is made,
(2)	contribution is accepted, or
(3)	expenditure is made.
The term "candidate" shall include a person whose candidacy is unopposed;
5.  "Candidate committee" means the committee, consisting of one or more persons who may be the candidate only, designated by a candidate to promote the candidate's candidacy and serve as the recipient of all contributions and the disburser of all expenditures for the candidate;
6.  "Committee" means a candidate committee, political action committee, or party committee;
7.	a.	"Contribution" means and includes:
(1)	a gift, subscription, loan, guarantee or forgiveness of a loan, conveyance, advance, payment, distribution, or deposit of money or anything of value made to and with the knowledge and for the benefit of a committee for use in a campaign, or for reducing the debt of a committee,
(2)	an expenditure made by a person or committee, other than a candidate committee, with the cooperation of, or in consultation with, a committee, a candidate, candidate committee, or candidate's agent or that is made in concert with, or at the request or suggestion of, a candidate, candidate committee, or candidate's agent,
(3)	the difference between the payment to a person, other than a candidate or committee, of compensation for personal services or products to the candidate or committee, and the reasonable and customary rate charged by the person for like services or products in like quantities when the candidate or committee has knowledge of the discounted services or products,
(4)	anything of value received by a committee that is transferred from another committee or other source,
(5)	sums paid for tickets for a political event such as a reception, rally, or a similar fundraising event; however, the amount of any such contribution may be reduced for the purpose of complying with the reporting and contribution limitations requirements of Section 2 187.1 of this act title, by the actual cost of consumables furnished by the committee in connection with the purchase of the tickets, and only the excess over the actual cost of the consumables shall be deemed a contribution,
(6)	the candidate's own money used on behalf of that candidate's candidacy, and
(7)	the difference between the open market value and a discount or rebate:
(a)	not extended to the public generally, or
(b)	by a television or radio station not extended equally to all candidates for the same office.
b.	The term "contribution" shall not include:
(1)	the value of services provided without compensation by any individual who volunteers on behalf of a candidate or committee,
(2)	for purposes of the contribution limits set forth in Section 2 187.1 of this act title, the transfer of any funds by a political action committee to another political action committee, provided the committees have been established as provided by law and the transferring committee and the receiving committee have been established, directly or indirectly, and are administered or financially supported, directly or indirectly, by a common entity,
(3)	any payment or obligation incurred by a corporation, labor organization, membership organization, cooperative or corporation without capital stock for the establishment, administration, and solicitation of contributions to a separate segregated fund or political action committee to be utilized for political purposes,
(4)	a nonreimbursed payment made by an individual for the individual's own travel expenses on behalf of a committee,
(5)	a payment made by an occupant of a residence or office for costs related to a meeting or fundraising event held in the occupant's residence or office if the costs for the meeting or fundraising event do not exceed Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00).  However, if the occupant hosts more than one event in an election cycle for the same beneficiary, all subsequent payments that exceed Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) in the aggregate are contributions,
(6)	a loan of money made in the ordinary course of business by a financial institution authorized to transact business in this state at terms and interest rates generally available to a member of the public without regard to that person's status as a state or local officer or state or local employee or a candidate for state or local office by the institution,
(7)	a communication by a corporation, labor organization, or association aimed at its members, owners, stockholders, directors, executive administrative personnel, or their families, or
(8)	a tender of a contribution if the tender is not accepted, including use as collateral, or is transferred to the state as provided in Rule 257-10-1-2 of the Rules of the Ethics Commission, 74 O.S. Supp. 1994 2008, Chapter 62, App.;
8.  “Election cycle” means the period beginning the day after the General Election, up to and including the following General Election, including a Primary, Special Primary and the following Special General Election;
9.  "Expenditure" means a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, compensation, reimbursement, fee deposit, transfer of funds between committees, or a gift made by a committee.  An expenditure does not include the following:
a.	a loan of money, made in the ordinary course of business, by a financial institution authorized to transact business in this state,
b.	a communication by a corporation, labor organization, or association aimed at its members, owners, stockholders, executive administrative personnel, or their families, except a communication by the corporation's political action committee promoting or opposing a candidate or candidates,
c.	uncompensated services provided by an individual volunteering the individual's time, or
d.	a transfer of funds to another committee if such transfer is not accepted;
9. 10.  "Family" means an individual, his or her spouse, if any, and all children under the age of eighteen (18) years residing in the same household;
10. 11.  "Local office" means all elective offices for which a declaration of candidacy is filed with the secretary of any county election board;
11. 12.  "Party committee" means a political party or any affiliated or connected entity;
12. 13.  "Person" means an individual, corporation, association, proprietorship, firm, partnership, limited partnership, joint venture, joint stock company, syndicate, business trust, estate, trust, company, organization, committee, or club, or a group of persons who are voluntarily acting in concert;
13. 14.  "Political action committee":
a.	means a combination of at least two individuals, or a person other than an individual:
(1)	with the primary purpose of:
(a)	supporting or opposing a candidate or candidates, or a party committee, except those required to file with the Federal Election Commission, or
(b)	supporting or opposing a ballot measure, and
(2)	which accepts or gives contributions or makes expenditures from a joint account aggregating at least Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) during a calendar year, and
b.	does not include:
(1)	a party committee or a candidate committee,
(2)	a person other than an individual, when that person makes an expenditure or expenditures from an account to which contributions have not been solicited or accepted from any other persons or individuals; and the expenditure or expenditures are required by law or by Chapter 10 of the Rules of the Ethics Commission to be reported by the recipient committee or committees as a contribution or contributions, and
(3)	a combination of individuals, or a person other than an individual, if the combination of individuals, or a person other than an individual, solicits contributions on behalf of a committee, and any contributions received as a result of the solicitation are forwarded to the committee without being deposited in any account; and the contributions are required by law or by Chapter 10 of the Rules of the Ethics Commission to be reported by the committee that receives the contributions;
14. 15.  "Political party" means any political party so recognized for the purpose of having candidates appear on the ballot; and
15. 16.  "State office" means all elective offices for which declarations of candidacy are filed with the Secretary of the State Election Board.
SECTION 3.     AMENDATORY     21 O.S. 2001, Section 187.1, as amended by Section 2, Chapter 282, O.S.L. 2008 (21 O.S. Supp. 2010, Section 187.1), is amended to read as follows:
Section 187.1  A.  No person individual or family may contribute more than:
1.  Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) in any calendar year election cycle to a political action committee or party committee other than a candidate committee;
2.  Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) to a candidate for state office, to a candidate for municipal office in a municipality with a population of over two hundred fifty thousand (250,000) persons, according to the most recent Federal Decennial Census, to a candidate for county office in a county with a population of over two hundred fifty thousand (250,000) persons, according to the most recent Federal Decennial Census, or to a candidate committee authorized by such a candidate to receive contributions or make expenditures on his or her behalf, for any campaign; or
3.  One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) to a candidate for other local office, or to a candidate committee authorized by such a candidate to receive contributions or make expenditures on his or her behalf, for any campaign.
B.  No individual or family may make contributions aggregating more than the overall federal biennial contribution limit set by the Federal Election Commission to candidates for state legislative office or their authorized committees during an election cycle.
C.  No candidate, candidate committee, or other committee shall knowingly accept contributions in excess of the amounts provided herein.
C. D.  These restrictions shall not apply to a committee supporting or opposing a ballot measure or local question or to a candidate making a contribution of his or her own funds to his or her own campaign.
D. E.  It shall be prohibited for a campaign contribution to be made to a particular candidate or committee through an intermediary or conduit for the purpose of:
1.  Evading requirements of effective Rules of the Ethics Commission promulgated pursuant to Article XXIX of the Oklahoma Constitution or laws relating to the reporting of contributions and expenditures; or
2.  Exceeding the contribution limitations imposed by subsection subsections A and B of this section.
Any person making a contribution in violation of this subsection or serving as an intermediary or conduit for such a contribution, upon conviction, shall be subject to the penalties prescribed in subsections E and F and G of this section.
E. F.  Any person who knowingly and willfully violates any provision of this section where the aggregate amount contributed exceeds the contribution limitation specified in subsection subsections A and B of this section by Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) or more, upon conviction, shall be guilty of a felony punishable by a fine of up to four times the amount exceeding the contribution limitation or by imprisonment in the State Penitentiary custody of the Department of Corrections for up to one (1) year, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
F. G.  Any person who knowingly and willfully violates any provision of this section where the aggregate amount contributed is less than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) in excess of the contribution limitation specified in subsection subsections A and B of this section, upon conviction, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than three times the amount exceeding the contribution limitation or One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), whichever is greater, or by imprisonment in the county jail for up to one (1) year, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
G. H.  Contributions made to a candidate for a state or local office shall not be used by such candidate in a campaign for another office.
I.  Contributions made to a political action committee shall not be contributed or transferred to another political action committee.
J.  No lobbyist or lobbyist principal as defined in Section 4249 of Title 74 of the Oklahoma Statutes shall make or promise to make a contribution to, or solicit or promise to solicit a contribution for a member of the Oklahoma Legislature or a candidate for a state legislative office during any regular legislative session, beginning the first Monday in February, through its adjournment, and for five (5) calendar days following sine die adjournment.  A member of the Oklahoma Legislature or a candidate for a state legislative office shall not intentionally solicit or accept a contribution from a lobbyist or lobbyist principal as defined in Section 4249 of Title 74 of the Oklahoma Statutes during any regular legislative session and for five (5) calendar days after sine die adjournment.  For the purposes of this subsection, a candidate shall mean any person who has filed a statement of organization for a state legislative office pursuant to Oklahoma Statutes, Title 74, Chapter 62 Appendix, Rule 257:10-1-8.
H. K.  Any person who knowingly and willfully violates any provision of subsection G J of this section, upon conviction, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or by imprisonment in the county jail for up to one (1) year, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
SECTION 4.  This act shall become effective November 1, 2011.

53-1-5188	LRB	11/29/10