CSHB 333(STA): "An Act relating to the disposition of certain unused campaign contributions; and relating to public office expense term accounts and public office expense term account reserves."
00 CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 333(STA) 01 "An Act relating to the disposition of certain unused campaign contributions; and 02 relating to public office expense term accounts and public office expense term account 03 reserves." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. AS 15.13.116(a) is amended to read: 06 (a) A candidate who, after the date of the general, special, municipal, or 07 municipal runoff election or after the date the candidate withdraws as a candidate, 08 whichever comes first, holds unused campaign contributions shall distribute the 09 amount held on February 1 for a general election or within 90 days after a special 10 election. The distribution may only be made to 11 (1) pay bills incurred for expenditures reasonably related to the 12 campaign and the winding up of the affairs of the campaign, including a victory or 13 thank you party, thank you advertisements, and thank you gifts to campaign 14 employees and volunteers, and to pay expenditures associated with post-election fund
01 raising that may be needed to raise funds to pay off campaign debts; 02 (2) make donations, without condition, to 03 (A) a political party; 04 (B) the state's general fund; 05 (C) a municipality of the state; or 06 (D) the federal government; 07 (3) make donations, without condition, to organizations qualified as 08 charitable organizations under 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3) if the organization is not controlled 09 by the candidate or a member of the candidate's immediate family; 10 (4) repay loans from the candidate to the candidate's own campaign 11 under AS 15.13.078(b); 12 (5) repay contributions to contributors, but only if repayment of the 13 contribution is made pro rata in approximate proportion to the contributions made 14 using one of the following, as the candidate determines: 15 (A) to all contributors; 16 (B) to contributors who have contributed most recently; or 17 (C) to contributors who have made larger contributions; 18 (6) establish a fund for, and from that fund to pay, attorney fees or 19 costs incurred in the prosecution or defense of an administrative or civil judicial action 20 that directly concerns a challenge to the victory or defeat of the candidate in the 21 election; 22 (7) transfer all or a portion of the unused campaign contributions to an 23 account for a future election campaign; a transfer under this paragraph is limited to 24 (A) $50,000, if the transfer is made by a candidate for governor 25 or lieutenant governor; 26 (B) $10,000, if the transfer is made by a candidate for the state 27 senate; 28 (C) $5,000, if the transfer is made by a candidate for the state 29 house of representatives; and 30 (D) $5,000, if the transfer is made by a candidate for an office 31 not described in (A) - (C) of this paragraph;
01 (8) transfer all or a portion of the unused campaign contributions to a 02 public office expense term account [OR TO A PUBLIC OFFICE EXPENSE TERM 03 ACCOUNT RESERVE IN ACCORDANCE WITH (d) OF THIS SECTION]; a 04 transfer under this paragraph is subject to the following: 05 (A) the authority to transfer is limited to candidates who are 06 elected to the state legislature; 07 (B) the public office expense term account established under 08 this paragraph may be used only for expenses associated with the candidate's 09 serving as a member of the legislature; 10 (C) all amounts expended from the public office expense term 11 account shall be annually accounted for under AS 15.13.110(a)(4); [AND] 12 (D) a transfer under this paragraph is limited to $5,000 13 multiplied by the number of years in the term to which the candidate is elected 14 plus any accumulated interest; and 15 (E) unused campaign contributions transferred under this 16 paragraph must be disposed of as provided in (2), (3), or (5) of this 17 subsection at the end of the term of office immediately following the 18 campaign for which the contributions were received; and 19 (9) transfer all or a portion of the unused campaign contributions to a 20 municipal office account; a transfer under this paragraph is subject to the following: 21 (A) the authority to transfer is limited to candidates who are 22 elected to municipal office, including a municipal school board; 23 (B) the municipal office account established under this 24 paragraph may be used only for expenses associated with the candidate's 25 serving as mayor or as a member of the assembly, city council, or school 26 board; 27 (C) all amounts expended from the municipal office account 28 shall be annually accounted for under AS 15.13.110(a)(4); [AND] 29 (D) a transfer under this paragraph is limited to $5,000; and 30 (E) unused campaign contributions transferred under this 31 paragraph must be disposed of as provided in (2), (3), or (5) of this
01 subsection at the end of the term of office immediately following the 02 campaign for which the contributions were received. 03 * Sec. 2. AS 15.13.116(d) is repealed. 04 * Sec. 3. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 05 read: 06 TRANSITIONAL PROVISION. A candidate for the state legislature who was elected 07 to the state legislature before the effective date of this Act and who holds funds in a public 08 office expense term account reserve shall transfer those funds to a public office expense term 09 account before January 1, 2013.