HOUSE BILL No. 6301 December 1, 1998, Introduced by Reps. Middleton, Dobb, Bobier, Crissman, London, Bodem, Dalman, Oxender, Brackenridge, Nye, Profit and McNutt and referred to the Committee on House Oversight and Ethics. A bill to amend 1976 PA 388, entitled "Michigan campaign finance act," by amending sections 8, 52, and 69 (MCL 169.208, 169.252, and 169.269), as amended by 1996 PA 590. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT: 1 Sec. 8. (1) "House political party caucus committee" means 2 an independent committee established by a political party caucus 3 of the state house of representatives under section 24a. 4 (2) "Immediate family" means any child residing in a 5 candidate's household, the candidate's spouse, or any individual 6 claimed by that candidate or that candidate's spouse as a depen- 7 dent for federal income tax purposes. 8 (3) "Independent committee" means a committee, other than a 9 political party committee, that before contributing to a 10 candidate committee of a candidate for elective office under 06833'98 * KKR 2 1 section52(2)52 or69(2)69 files a statement of 2 organization as an independent committee at least 6 months before 3 an election for which it expects to accept contributions or make 4 expenditures in support of or in opposition to a candidate for 5 nomination to or election to an elective office; and receives 6 contributions from at least 25 persons and makes expenditures not 7 to exceed the limitations of section52(1)52 in support of or 8 in opposition to 3 or more candidates for nomination to or elec- 9 tion to an elective office in the same calendar year. 10 Sec. 52. (1) Except as provided in subsection (5) and 11 subject to subsection (8), a person other than an independent 12 committee or a political party committee shall not make contribu- 13 tions to a candidate committee of a candidate for elective office 14 that, with respect to an election cycle, are more than the 15 following: 16 (a) $3,400.00 for a candidate for state elective office 17 other than the office of state legislator, or for a candidate for 18 local elective office if the district from which he or she is 19 seeking office has a population of more than 250,000. 20 (b) $1,000.00 for a candidate for state senator, or for a 21 candidate for local elective office if the district from which he 22 or she is seeking office has a population of more than 85,000 but 23 250,000 or less. 24 (c) $500.00 for a candidate for state representative, or for 25 a candidate for local elective office if the district from which 26 he or she is seeking office has a population of 85,000 or less. 06833'98 * 3 1 (2) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, an 2 independent committee shall not make contributions to a candidate 3 committee of a candidate for elective office that, in the aggre- 4 gate for that election cycle, are more than10 timesthe amount 5 permitted a person other than an independent committee or politi- 6 cal party committee in subsection (1). A house political party 7 caucus committee or a senate political party caucus committee is 8 not limited under this subsection in the amount of contributions 9 made to the candidate committee of a candidate for the office of 10 state legislator, except as follows: 11 (a) A house political party caucus committee or a senate 12 political party caucus committee shall not pay a debt incurred by 13 a candidate if that debt was incurred while the candidate was 14 seeking nomination at a primary election and the candidate was 15 opposed at that primary. 16 (b) A house political party caucus committee or a senate 17 political party caucus committee shall not make a contribution to 18 or make an expenditure on behalf of a candidate if that candidate 19 is seeking nomination at a primary election and the candidate is 20 opposed at that primary. 21 (3) A political party committee other than a state central 22 committee shall not make contributions to the candidate committee 23 of a candidate for elective office that are more than 10 times 24 the amount permitted a person other than an independent committee 25 or political party committee in subsection (1). 26 (4) A state central committee of a political party shall not 27 make contributions to the candidate committee of a candidate for 06833'98 * 4 1 state elective office other than a candidate for the legislature 2 that are more than 20 times the amount permitted a person other 3 than an independent committee or political party committee in 4 subsection (1). A state central committee of a political party 5 shall not make contributions to the candidate committee of a can- 6 didate for state senator, state representative, or local elective 7 office that are more than 10 times the amount permitted a person 8 other than an independent committee or political party committee 9 in subsection (1). 10 (5) A contribution from a member of a candidate's immediate 11 family to the candidate committee of that candidate is exempt 12 from the limitations of subsection (1). 13 (6) Consistent with the provisions of this section, a con- 14 tribution designated in writing for a particular election cycle 15 is considered made for that election cycle. A contribution made 16 after the close of a particular election cycle and designated in 17 writing for that election cycle shall be made only to the extent 18 that the contribution does not exceed the candidate committee's 19 net outstanding debts and obligations from the election cycle so 20 designated. If a contribution is not designated in writing for a 21 particular election cycle, the contribution is considered made 22 for the election cycle that corresponds to the date of the writ- 23 ten instrument. 24 (7) A candidate committee, a candidate, or a treasurer or 25 agent of a candidate committee shall not accept a contribution 26 with respect to an election cycle that exceeds the limitations in 27 subsection (1), (2), (3), or (4). 06833'98 * 5 1 (8) The contribution limits in subsection (1) for a 2 candidate for local elective office are effective onthe effec-3tive date of the amendatory act that provides for those contribu-4tion limitsMARCH 31, 1997, however, only contributions received 5 by that candidate on and afterthat dateMARCH 31, 1997 shall 6 be used to determine if the contribution limit has been reached. 7 THE CONTRIBUTION LIMITS IN SUBSECTION (2) FOR AN INDEPENDENT COM- 8 MITTEE ARE EFFECTIVE ON THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE AMENDATORY ACT 9 THAT ADDED THIS SENTENCE; HOWEVER, ONLY CONTRIBUTIONS MADE BY THE 10 INDEPENDENT COMMITTEE ON AND AFTER THAT DATE SHALL BE USED TO 11 DETERMINE IF THE CONTRIBUTION LIMIT HAS BEEN REACHED. 12 (9) A person who knowingly violates this section is guilty 13 of a misdemeanor punishable, if the person is an individual, by a 14 fine of not more than $1,000.00 or imprisonment for not more than 15 90 days, or both, or, if the person is not an individual, by a 16 fine of not more than $10,000.00. 17 (10) For purposes of the limitations provided in subsections 18 (1) and (2), all contributions made by political committees or 19 independent committees established by any corporation, joint 20 stock company, domestic dependent sovereign, or labor organiza- 21 tion, including any parent, subsidiary, branch, division, depart- 22 ment, or local unit thereof, shall be considered to have been 23 made by a single independent committee. By way of illustration 24 and not limitation, all of the following apply as a result of the 25 application of this requirement: 26 (a) All of the political committees and independent 27 committees established by a for profit corporation or joint stock 06833'98 * 6 1 company, by a subsidiary of the for profit corporation or joint 2 stock company, or by any combination thereof, are treated as a 3 single independent committee. 4 (b) All of the political committees and independent commit- 5 tees established by a single national or international labor 6 organization, by a labor organization of that national or inter- 7 national labor organization, by a local labor organization of 8 that national or international labor organization, or by any 9 other subordinate organization of that national or international 10 labor organization, or by any combination thereof, are treated as 11 a single independent committee. 12 (c) All of the political committees and independent commit- 13 tees established by an organization of national or international 14 unions, by a state central body of that organization, by a local 15 central body of that organization, or by any combination thereof, 16 are treated as a single independent committee. 17 (d) All of the political committees and independent commit- 18 tees established by a nonprofit corporation, by a related state 19 entity of that nonprofit corporation, by a related local entity 20 of that nonprofit corporation, or by any combination thereof, are 21 treated as a single independent committee. 22 Sec. 69. (1) Except as provided in subsection(6)(5), a 23 person other thanan independent committee ora political party 24 committee shall not make contributions to a candidate committee 25 of a candidate that are more than $3,400.00 in value for an elec- 26 tion cycle. 06833'98 * 7 1(2) An independent committee shall not make contributions2to a candidate committee that for an election cycle are more than310 times the amount permitted a person other than an independent4committee or political party committee in subsection (1).5 (2)(3)A political party committee that is a state cen- 6 tral committee shall not make contributions to a candidate com- 7 mittee that for an election cycle are more than $750,000.00. 8 (3)(4)A political party committee that is a congressio- 9 nal district or county committee shall not make contributions to 10 a candidate committee that for an election cycle are more than 11 $30,000.00. 12 (4)(5)A candidate committee, a candidate, or a treasurer 13 or agent shall not accept a contribution with respect to an elec- 14 tion cycle that exceeds a limitation in subsections (1) to(4)15 (3). 16 (5)(6)As used in this subsection, "immediate family" 17 means a spouse, parent, brother, sister, son, or daughter. A 18 candidate and members of that candidate's immediate family may 19 not contribute in total to that person's candidate committee an 20 amount that is more than $50,000.00 in value for an election 21 cycle. THE CONTRIBUTION LIMITS IN SUBSECTION (1) FOR AN INDEPEN- 22 DENT COMMITTEE ARE EFFECTIVE ON THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE AMENDA- 23 TORY ACT THAT ADDED THIS SENTENCE; HOWEVER, ONLY CONTRIBUTIONS 24 MADE BY THE INDEPENDENT COMMITTEE ON AND AFTER THAT DATE SHALL BE 25 USED TO DETERMINE IF THE CONTRIBUTION LIMIT HAS BEEN REACHED. 06833'98 * 8 1 (6)(7)Sections 5(3) and52(6)52 apply to determining 2 when an election cycle begins and ends and to which election 3 cycle a particular contribution is attributed. 4 (7)(8)The candidate committee of a candidate for gover- 5 nor that does not apply for funds from the state campaign fund 6 and that accepts from the candidate and the candidate's immediate 7 family contributions that total for an election cycle more than 8 $340,000.00 shall notify the secretary of state in writing within 9 48 hours after receipt of this amount. Within 2 business days 10 after receipt of this notice, the secretary of state shall send 11 notice to all candidates who are either seeking the same nomina- 12 tion, in the case of a primary election, or election to that same 13 office, in the case of a general election, informing those candi- 14 date committees of all of the following: 15 (a) That the expenditure limits provided in section 67 are 16 waived for the remainder of that election for those notified can- 17 didate committees that receive funds from the state campaign fund 18 under this act. 19 (b) That the expenditure limits of section 67 are not waived 20 for the purpose of determining the amount of public funds avail- 21 able to a candidate under section 64 or 65. 22 (8)(9)A person who knowingly violates this section is 23 guilty of a misdemeanor punishable, if the person is an individu- 24 al, by a fine of not more than $1,000.00 or imprisonment for not 25 more than 90 days, or both, or, if the person is not an individu- 26 al, by a fine of not more than $10,000.00. 06833'98 * Final page. 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