H.B. 60

1

CAMPAIGN FINANCE AMENDMENTS
2 1999 GENERAL SESSION
3 STATE OF UTAH
4 Sponsor: Patrice M. Arent
5 AN ACT RELATING TO ELECTIONS; CLARIFYING REQUIREMENTS GOVERNING
6 FILING OF INTERIM AND SUMMARY REPORTS; CLARIFYING DEFINITIONS
7 GOVERNING IDENTIFICATION OF CAMPAIGN DONORS; AND MAKING TECHNICAL
8 CORRECTIONS.
9 This act affects sections of Utah Code Annotated 1953 as follows:
10 AMENDS:
11 20A-11-101, as last amended by Chapter 355, Laws of Utah 1997
12 20A-11-206, as last amended by Chapter 355, Laws of Utah 1997
13 20A-11-305, as last amended by Chapter 355, Laws of Utah 1997
14 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
15 Section 1. Section 20A-11-101 is amended to read:
16 20A-11-101. Definitions.
17 As used in this chapter:
18 (1) "Address" means the number and street where an individual resides or where a
19 reporting entity has its principal office.
20 (2) "Ballot proposition" includes initiatives, referenda, proposed constitutional
21 amendments, and any other ballot propositions submitted to the voters that are authorized by the
22 Utah Code Annotated 1953.
23 (3) "Candidate" means any person who:
24 (a) files a declaration of candidacy for a public office; or
25 (b) receives contributions, makes expenditures, or gives consent for any other person to
26 receive contributions or make expenditures to bring about the person's nomination or election to
27 a public office.

28 (4) "Chief election officer" means:
29 (a) the lieutenant governor for state office candidates, legislative office candidates,
30 officeholders, political parties, political action committees, corporations, political issues
31 committees, and state school board candidates; and
32 (b) the county clerk for local school board candidates.
33 (5) "Continuing political party" means an organization of voters that participated in the last
34 regular general election and polled a total vote equal to 2% or more of the total votes cast for all
35 candidates for the United States House of Representatives.
36 (6) (a) "Contribution" means any of the following when done for political purposes:
37 (i) a gift, subscription, donation, loan, advance, or deposit of money or anything of value
38 given to the filing entity;
39 (ii) an express, legally enforceable contract, promise, or agreement to make a gift,
40 subscription, donation, unpaid or partially unpaid loan, advance, or deposit of money or anything
41 of value to the filing entity;
42 (iii) any transfer of funds from another reporting entity or a corporation to the filing entity;
43 (iv) compensation paid by any person or reporting entity other than the filing entity for
44 personal services provided without charge to the filing entity;
45 (v) remuneration from any organization or its directly affiliated organization that has a
46 registered lobbyist to compensate a legislator for a loss of salary or income while the Legislature
47 is in session;
48 (vi) salaries or other remuneration paid to a legislator by any agency or subdivision of the
49 state, including school districts, for the period the Legislature is in session; and
50 (vii) goods or services provided to or for the benefit of the filing entity at less than fair
51 market value.
52 (b) "Contribution" does not include:
53 (i) services provided without compensation by individuals volunteering a portion or all of
54 their time on behalf of the filing entity; or
55 (ii) money lent to the filing entity by a financial institution in the ordinary course of
56 business.
57 (7) (a) "Corporation" means a domestic or foreign, profit or nonprofit, business
58 organization that is registered as a corporation or is authorized to do business in a state and makes

59 any expenditure from corporate funds for:
60 (i) political purposes; or
61 (ii) the purpose of influencing the approval or the defeat of any ballot proposition.
62 (b) "Corporation" does not mean:
63 (i) a business organization's political action committee or political issues committee; or
64 (ii) a business entity organized as a partnership or a sole proprietorship.
65 (8) "Detailed listing" means:
66 (a) for each contribution or public service assistance:
67 (i) the name and address of the individual or source making the contribution or public
68 service assistance;
69 (ii) the amount or value of the contribution or public service assistance; and
70 (iii) the date the contribution or public service assistance was made; and
71 (b) for each expenditure:
72 (i) the amount of the expenditure;
73 (ii) the person or entity to whom it was disbursed;
74 (iii) the specific purpose, item, or service acquired by the expenditure; and
75 (iv) the date the expenditure was made.
76 (9) "Election" means each:
77 (a) regular general election;
78 (b) regular primary election; and
79 (c) special election at which candidates are eliminated and selected.
80 (10) (a) "Expenditure" means:
81 (i) any disbursement from contributions, receipts, or from the separate bank account
82 required by this chapter;
83 (ii) a purchase, payment, donation, distribution, loan, advance, deposit, gift of money, or
84 anything of value made for political purposes;
85 (iii) an express, legally enforceable contract, promise, or agreement to make any purchase,
86 payment, donation, distribution, loan, advance, deposit, gift of money, or anything of value for
87 political purposes;
88 (iv) compensation paid by a corporation or filing entity for personal services rendered by
89 a person without charge to a reporting entity;

90 (v) a transfer of funds between the filing entity and a candidate's personal campaign
91 committee; or
92 (vi) goods or services provided by the filing entity to or for the benefit of another reporting
93 entity for political purposes at less than fair market value.
94 (b) "Expenditure" does not include:
95 (i) services provided without compensation by individuals volunteering a portion or all of
96 their time on behalf of a reporting entity;
97 (ii) money lent to a reporting entity by a financial institution in the ordinary course of
98 business; or
99 (iii) anything listed in Subsection (5)(a) that is given by a corporation or reporting entity
100 to candidates for office or officeholders in states other than Utah.
101 (11) "Filing entity" means the reporting entity that is filing a report required by this
102 chapter.
103 (12) "Financial statement" includes any summary report, interim report, or other statement
104 disclosing contributions, expenditures, receipts, donations, or disbursements that is required by this
105 chapter.
106 (13) "Governing board" means the individual or group of individuals that determine the
107 candidates and committees that will receive expenditures from a political action committee.
108 (14) "Individual" means a natural person.
109 (15) "Interim report" means a report identifying the contributions received and
110 expenditures made since the last report.
111 (16) "Legislative office" means the office of state senator, state representative, speaker of
112 the House of Representatives, president of the Senate, and the leader, whip, and assistant whip of
113 any party caucus in either house of the Legislature.
114 (17) "Legislative office candidate" means a person who:
115 (a) files a declaration of candidacy for the office of state senator or state representative;
116 (b) declares himself to be a candidate for, or actively campaigns for, the position of
117 speaker of the House of Representatives, president of the Senate, or the leader, whip, and assistant
118 whip of any party caucus in either house of the Legislature; and
119 (c) receives contributions, makes expenditures, or gives consent for any other person to
120 receive contributions or make expenditures to bring about the person's nomination or election to

121 a legislative office.
122 (18) "Newly registered political party" means an organization of voters that has complied
123 with the petition and organizing procedures of this chapter to become a registered political party.
124 (19) "Officeholder" means a person who holds a public office.
125 (20) "Party committee" means any committee organized by or authorized by the governing
126 board of a registered political party.
127 (21) "Person" means both natural and legal persons, including individuals, business
128 organizations, personal campaign committees, party committees, political action committees,
129 political issues committees, labor unions, and labor organizations.
130 (22) "Personal campaign committee" means the committee appointed by a candidate to act
131 for the candidate as provided in this chapter.
132 (23) (a) "Political action committee" means an entity, or any group of individuals or
133 entities within or outside this state, that solicits or receives contributions from any other person,
134 group, or entity or makes expenditures for political purposes. A group or entity may not divide or
135 separate into units, sections, or smaller groups for the purpose of avoiding the financial reporting
136 requirements of this chapter, and substance shall prevail over form in determining the scope or size
137 of a political action committee.
138 (b) "Political action committee" includes groups affiliated with a registered political party
139 but not authorized or organized by the governing board of the registered political party that receive
140 contributions or makes expenditures for political purposes.
141 (c) "Political action committee" does not mean:
142 (i) a party committee;
143 (ii) any entity that provides goods or services to a candidate or committee in the regular
144 course of its business at the same price that would be provided to the general public;
145 (iii) an individual;
146 (iv) individuals who are related and who make contributions from a joint checking
147 account;
148 (v) a corporation; or
149 (vi) a personal campaign committee.
150 (24) "Political convention" means a county or state political convention held by a
151 registered political party to select candidates.

152 (25) (a) "Political issues committee" means an entity, or any group of individuals or
153 entities within or outside this state, that solicits or receives donations from any other person, group,
154 or entity or makes disbursements to influence, or to intend to influence, directly or indirectly, any
155 person to assist in placing a ballot proposition on the ballot, to assist in keeping a ballot
156 proposition off the ballot, or to refrain from voting or to vote for or to vote against any ballot
157 proposition.
158 (b) "Political issues committee" does not mean:
159 (i) a registered political party or a party committee;
160 (ii) any entity that provides goods or services to an individual or committee in the regular
161 course of its business at the same price that would be provided to the general public;
162 (iii) an individual;
163 (iv) individuals who are related and who make contributions from a joint checking
164 account; or
165 (v) a corporation, except a corporation whose apparent purpose is to act as a political
166 issues committee.
167 (26) (a) "Political issues contribution" means any of the following:
168 (i) a gift, subscription, unpaid or partially unpaid loan, advance, or deposit of money or
169 anything of value given to a political issues committee;
170 (ii) an express, legally enforceable contract, promise, or agreement to make a political
171 issues donation to influence the approval or defeat of any ballot proposition;
172 (iii) any transfer of funds received by a political issues committee from a reporting entity;
173 (iv) compensation paid by another reporting entity for personal services rendered without
174 charge to a political issues committee; and
175 (v) goods or services provided to or for the benefit of a political issues committee at less
176 than fair market value.
177 (b) "Political issues contribution" does not include:
178 (i) services provided without compensation by individuals volunteering a portion or all of
179 their time on behalf of a political issues committee; or
180 (ii) money lent to a political issues committee by a financial institution in the ordinary
181 course of business.
182 (27) (a) "Political issues expenditure" means any of the following:

183 (i) any payment from political issues contributions made for the purpose of influencing the
184 approval or the defeat of a statewide ballot proposition;
185 (ii) a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit, or gift of money made for
186 the purpose of influencing the approval or the defeat of a statewide ballot proposition;
187 (iii) an express, legally enforceable contract, promise, or agreement to make any political
188 issues expenditure;
189 (iv) compensation paid by a reporting entity for personal services rendered by a person
190 without charge to a political issues committee; or
191 (v) goods or services provided to or for the benefit of another reporting entity at less than
192 fair market value.
193 (b) "Political issues expenditure" does not include:
194 (i) services provided without compensation by individuals volunteering a portion or all of
195 their time on behalf of a political issues committee; or
196 (ii) money lent to a political issues committee by a financial institution in the ordinary
197 course of business.
198 (28) "Political purposes" means an act done with the intent or in a way to influence or tend
199 to influence, directly or indirectly, any person to refrain from voting or to vote for or against any
200 candidate for public office at any caucus, political convention, primary, or election.
201 (29) "Primary election" means any regular primary election held under the election laws.
202 (30) "Public office" means the office of governor, lieutenant governor, state auditor, state
203 treasurer, attorney general, state or local school board member, state senator, state representative,
204 speaker of the House of Representatives, president of the Senate, and the leader, whip, and
205 assistant whip of any party caucus in either house of the Legislature.
206 (31) (a) "Public service assistance" means the following when given or provided to an
207 officeholder to defray the costs of functioning in a public office or aid the officeholder to
208 communicate with the officeholder's constituents:
209 (i) a gift, subscription, donation, unpaid or partially unpaid loan, advance, or deposit of
210 money or anything of value to an officeholder; or
211 (ii) goods or services provided at less than fair market value to or for the benefit of the
212 officeholder.
213 (b) "Public service assistance" does not include:

214 (i) anything provided by the state;
215 (ii) services provided without compensation by individuals volunteering a portion or all
216 of their time on behalf of an officeholder;
217 (iii) money lent to an officeholder by a financial institution in the ordinary course of
218 business;
219 (iv) news coverage or any publication by the news media; or
220 (v) any article, story, or other coverage as part of any regular publication of any
221 organization unless substantially all the publication is devoted to information about the
222 officeholder.
223 (32) "Publicly identified class of individuals" means a group of 50 or more individuals
224 sharing a common occupation, interest, or association that contribute to a political action
225 committee or political issues committee and whose names can be obtained by contacting the
226 political action committee or political issues committee upon whose financial report they are listed.
227 (33) "Receipts" means contributions and public service assistance.
228 (34) "Registered lobbyist" means a person registered under Title 36, Chapter 11, Lobbyist
229 Disclosure and Regulation Act.
230 (35) "Registered political action committee" means any political action committee that is
231 required by this chapter to file a statement of organization with the lieutenant governor's office.
232 (36) "Registered political issues committee" means any political issues committee that is
233 required by this chapter to file a statement of organization with the lieutenant governor's office.
234 (37) "Registered political party" means an organization of voters that:
235 (a) participated in the last regular general election and polled a total vote equal to 2% or
236 more of the total votes cast for all candidates for the United States House of Representatives for
237 any of its candidates for any office; or
238 (b) has complied with the petition and organizing procedures of this chapter.
239 (38) "Report" means a verified financial statement.
240 (39) "Reporting entity" means a candidate, a candidate's personal campaign committee,
241 an officeholder, and a party committee, a political action committee, and a political issues
242 committee.
243 (40) "School board office" means the office of state school board or local school board.
244 (41) (a) "Source" means the person or entity that is the legal owner of the tangible or

245 intangible asset that comprises the contribution.
246 (b) "Source" means, for political action committees and corporations, the political action
247 committee and the corporation as entities, not the contributors to the political action committee or
248 the owners or shareholders of the corporation.
249 [(41)] (42) "State office" means the offices of governor, lieutenant governor, attorney
250 general, state auditor, and state treasurer.
251 [(42)] (43) "State office candidate" means a person who:
252 (a) files a declaration of candidacy for a state office; or
253 (b) receives contributions, makes expenditures, or gives consent for any other person to
254 receive contributions or make expenditures to bring about the person's nomination or election to
255 a state office.
256 [(43)] (44) "Summary report" means the year end report containing the summary of a
257 reporting entity's contributions and expenditures.
258 [(44)] (45) "Supervisory board" means the individual or group of individuals that allocate
259 expenditures from a political issues committee.
260 Section 2. Section 20A-11-206 is amended to read:
261 20A-11-206. State office candidate -- Failure to file reports -- Penalties.
262 (1) (a) If a state office candidate fails to file an interim report due before the regular
263 primary election, September 15, or before the regular general election, the lieutenant governor
264 shall, after making a reasonable attempt to discover if the report was timely mailed, inform the
265 county clerk and other appropriate election officials who:
266 (i) shall, if practicable, remove the name of the candidate by blacking out the candidate's
267 name before the ballots are delivered to voters; or
268 (ii) shall, if removing the candidate's name from the ballot is not practicable, inform the
269 voters by any practicable method that the candidate has been disqualified and that votes cast for
270 the candidate will not be counted; and
271 (iii) may not count any votes for that candidate.
272 (b) Any state office candidate who fails to file timely a financial statement required by this
273 part is disqualified and the vacancy on the ballot may be filled as provided in Section 20A-1-501 .
274 (c) Notwithstanding Subsections (1)(a) and (1)(b), a state office candidate is not
275 disqualified if:

276 (i) the candidate[, in good faith: (i) files the reports required by this section on time even
277 if an error or inaccuracy in the report requires the state office candidate to file an amended report
278 after the deadline; and (ii) the error is] files the reports required by this section;
279 (ii) those reports are completed, detailing accurately and completely the information
280 required by this part except for minor errors or inaccuracies not apparent from the face of the
281 report; and
282 (iii) those errors or inaccuracies are corrected in an amended report or in the next
283 scheduled report.
284 (2) (a) Within 30 days after a deadline for the filing of a summary report, the lieutenant
285 governor shall review each filed summary report to ensure that:
286 (i) each state office candidate that is required to file a summary report has filed one; and
287 (ii) each summary report contains the information required by this part.
288 (b) If it appears that any state office candidate has failed to file the summary report
289 required by law, if it appears that a filed summary report does not conform to the law, or if the
290 lieutenant governor has received a written complaint alleging a violation of the law or the falsity
291 of any summary report, the lieutenant governor shall, within five days of discovery of a violation
292 or receipt of a written complaint, notify the state office candidate of the violation or written
293 complaint and direct the state office candidate to file a summary report correcting the problem.
294 (c) (i) It is unlawful for any state office candidate to fail to file or amend a summary report
295 within 14 days after receiving notice from the lieutenant governor under this section.
296 (ii) Each state office candidate who violates Subsection (2)(c)(i) is guilty of a class B
297 misdemeanor.
298 (iii) The lieutenant governor shall report all violations of Subsection (2)(c)(i) to the
299 attorney general.
300 Section 3. Section 20A-11-305 is amended to read:
301 20A-11-305. Legislative office candidate -- Failure to file report -- Name not printed
302 on ballot -- Filling vacancy.
303 (1) (a) If a legislative office candidate fails to file an interim report due before the regular
304 primary election, September 15, or before the regular general election, the lieutenant governor
305 shall, after making a reasonable attempt to discover if the report was timely mailed, inform the
306 county clerk and other appropriate election officials who:

307 (i) shall, if practicable, remove the name of the candidate by blacking out the candidate's
308 name before the ballots are delivered to voters; or
309 (ii) shall, if removing the candidate's name from the ballot is not practicable, inform the
310 voters by any practicable method that the candidate has been disqualified and that votes cast for
311 the candidate will not be counted; and
312 (iii) may not count any votes for that candidate.
313 (b) Any legislative office candidate who fails to file timely a financial statement required
314 by this part is disqualified and the vacancy on the ballot may be filled as provided in Section
315 20A-1-501 .
316 (c) Notwithstanding Subsections (1)(a) and (1)(b), a legislative office candidate is not
317 disqualified if:
318 (i) the candidate[, in good faith: (i) files the reports required by this section on time even
319 if an error or inaccuracy in the report requires the legislative office candidate to file an amended
320 report after the deadline; and (ii) the error is] files the reports required by this section;
321 (ii) those reports are completed, detailing accurately and completely the information
322 required by this part except for minor errors or inaccuracies not apparent from the face of the
323 report; and
324 (iii) those errors or inaccuracies are corrected in an amended report or in the next
325 scheduled report.
326 (2) (a) Within 30 days after a deadline for the filing of a summary report, the lieutenant
327 governor shall review each filed summary report to ensure that:
328 (i) each legislative office candidate that is required to file a summary report has filed one;
329 and
330 (ii) each summary report contains the information required by this part.
331 (b) If it appears that any legislative office candidate has failed to file the summary report
332 required by law, if it appears that a filed summary report does not conform to the law, or if the
333 lieutenant governor has received a written complaint alleging a violation of the law or the falsity
334 of any summary report, the lieutenant governor shall, within five days of discovery of a violation
335 or receipt of a written complaint, notify the legislative office candidate of the violation or written
336 complaint and direct the legislative office candidate to file a summary report correcting the
337 problem.

338 (c) (i) It is unlawful for any legislative office candidate to fail to file or amend a summary
339 report within 14 days after receiving notice from the lieutenant governor under this section.
340 (ii) Each legislative office candidate who violates Subsection (2)(c)(i) is guilty of a class
341 B misdemeanor.
342 (iii) The lieutenant governor shall report all violations of Subsection (2)(c)(i) to the
343 attorney general.




Legislative Review Note
as of 1-11-99 12:08 PM

A limited legal review of this legislation raises no obvious constitutional or statutory concerns.

Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel