South Carolina General Assembly
116th Session, 2005-2006

Download This Bill in Microsoft Word format

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

S. 681

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Senators Moore, Sheheen and Ford
Document Path: l:\s-jud\bills\moore\jud0076.tlm.doc

Introduced in the Senate on March 31, 2005
Introduced in the House on April 26, 2005
Last Amended on April 20, 2005
Currently residing in the House Committee on Judiciary

Summary: Campaign contributions

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   3/31/2005  Senate  Introduced and read first time SJ-8
   3/31/2005  Senate  Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ-8
   4/19/2005  Senate  Committee report: Favorable with amendment Judiciary 
                        SJ-13
   4/20/2005  Senate  Amended SJ-47
   4/20/2005  Senate  Read second time SJ-47
   4/21/2005  Senate  Read third time and sent to House SJ-14
   4/26/2005  House   Introduced and read first time HJ-15
   4/26/2005  House   Referred to Committee on Judiciary HJ-15

View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

3/31/2005
4/19/2005
4/20/2005

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

Indicates Matter Stricken

Indicates New Matter

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ADOPTED

April 20, 2005

S. 681

Introduced by Senators Moore, Sheheen and Ford

S. Printed 4/20/05--S.

Read the first time March 31, 2005.

            

A BILL

TO AMEND SECTION 8-13-1300, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE DEFINITION OF CAMPAIGN FINANCE CONTRIBUTION, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT CONTRIBUTIONS EXPENDED TO INFLUENCE THE OUTCOME OF AN ELECTIVE OFFICE MUST BE DISCLOSED IN THE SAME MANNER AS CONTRIBUTIONS DISCLOSED PURSUANT TO SECTION 8-13-1308(F), BUT ARE NOT SUBJECT TO THE CONTRIBUTION LIMITS OF SECTION 8-13-1322; AND TO FURTHER DEFINE "CONTRIBUTION".

Amend Title To Conform

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION    1.    Section 8-13-1300(7) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(7)(A)    'Contribution' means a gift, subscription, loan, guarantee upon which collection is made, forgiveness of a loan, an advance, in-kind contribution or expenditure, a deposit of money, or anything of value made to a candidate or committee to influence an election; or payment or compensation for the personal service of another person which is rendered for any purpose to a candidate or committee without charge, whether any of the above are made or offered directly or indirectly. Contributions expended by a noncandidate committee, as defined by Section 8-13-1300(23), to influence the outcome of an elective office, as defined by Section 8-13-1300(31)(c), which do not expressly advocate a vote for or against a candidate, but which, when taken in context, have no reasonable meaning other than to urge the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate, must be disclosed in the same manner as contributions disclosed pursuant to Section 8-13-1308(F), but are not subject to the contribution limits of Section 8-13-1322.

(B)    'Contribution' does not include (a) volunteer personal services on behalf of a candidate or committee for which the volunteer or any person acting on behalf of or instead of the volunteer receives no compensation either in cash or in-kind, directly or indirectly, from any source; or (b) a gift, subscription, loan, guarantee upon which collection is made, forgiveness of a loan, an advance, in-kind contribution or expenditure, a deposit of money, or anything of value made to a committee, other than a candidate committee, and is used to pay for communications made not more than forty-five days before the election to influence the outcome of an elective office as defined in Section 8-13-1300(31)(c).

These funds must be deposited in an account separate from a campaign account as required in Section 8-13-1312."

SECTION    2.    Section 8-13-1312 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 8-13-1312.    Except as is required for the separation of funds and expenditures under the provisions of Section 8-13-1300(7), a A candidate shall not establish more than one campaign checking account and one campaign savings account for each office sought, and a committee shall not establish more than one checking account and one savings account unless federal or state law requires additional accounts. For purposes of this article, certificates of deposit or other interest bearing instruments are not considered separate accounts. A candidate's accounts must be established in a financial institution that conducts business within the State and in an office located within the State that conducts business with the general public. The candidate or a duly authorized officer of a committee must maintain the accounts in the name of the candidate or committee. An acronym must not be used in the case of a candidate's accounts. An acronym or abbreviation may be used in the case of a committee's accounts if the acronym or abbreviation commonly is known or clearly recognized by the general public. Except as otherwise provided under Section 8-13-1348(C), expenses paid on behalf of a candidate or committee must be drawn from the campaign account and issued on a check signed by the candidate or a duly authorized officer of a committee. All contributions received by the candidate or committee, directly or indirectly, must be deposited in the campaign account by the candidate or committee within ten days after receipt. All contributions received by an agent of a candidate or committee must be forwarded to the candidate or committee not later than five days after receipt. A contribution must not be deposited until the candidate or committee receives information regarding the name and address of the contributor. If the name and address cannot be determined within seven days after receipt, the contribution must be remitted to the Children's Trust Fund."

SECTION    3.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

----XX----

This web page was last updated on Friday, December 4, 2009 at 3:31 P.M.