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General Assembly Committee Bill No. 5823
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 6306
Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION
AND ELECTIONS
Introduced by:
(GAE)
AN ACT CONCERNING CA MPAIGN CONSULTANTS AND USE OF
FUNDS UNDER THE CITIZENS' ELECTION PROGR AM.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 9-703 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 2
(a) Each candidate for nomination or election to the office of state 3
senator or state representative in 2008, or thereafter, or the office of 4
Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, State Comptroller, 5
Secretary of the State or State Treasurer in 2010, or thereafter, shall file 6
an affidavit with the State Elections Enforcement Commission. The 7
affidavit shall include a written certification that the candidate either 8
intends to abide by the expenditure limits under the Citizens' Election 9
Program set forth in subsection (c) of section 9-702, or does not intend 10
to abide by said limits. If the candidate intends to abide by said limits, 11
the affidavit shall also include written certifications (1) that the 12
treasurer of the candidate committee for said candidate shall expend 13
any moneys received from the Citizens' Election Fund in accordance 14
with the provisions of subsection (g) of section 9-607 and regulations 15
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adopted by the State Elections Enforcement Commission under 16
subsection (e) of section 9-706, (2) that the candidate shall repay to the 17
fund any such moneys that are not expended in accordance with 18
subsection (g) of section 9-607 and said regulations, (3) that the 19
candidate and the treasurer shall comply with the provisions of 20
subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of section 9-711, and (4) stating the 21
candidate's status as a major party, minor party or petitioning party 22
candidate and, in the case of a major party or minor party candidate, 23
the name of such party. The written certification described in 24
subdivision (3) of this subsection shall be made by both the candidate 25
and the treasurer of the candidate committee for said candidate. A 26
candidate for nomination or election to any such office shall file such 27
affidavit not later than four o'clock p.m. on the twenty-fifth day before 28
the day of a primary, if applicable, or on the fortieth day before the day 29
of the election for such office, except that in the case of a special 30
election for the office of state senator or state representative, the 31
candidate shall file such affidavit not later than four o'clock p.m. on the 32
twenty-fifth day before the day of such special election. 33
Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection, a candidate who is 34
not required to form a candidate committee pursuant to subdivision 35
(3) or (4) of subsection (b) of section 9-604, files a certification with the 36
commission pursuant to subsection (c) of section 9-603 and does not 37
intend to participate in the Citizens' Election Program shall not be 38
required to file such affidavit of intent not to abide by the expenditure 39
limits of said program. Any such candidate shall be referred to as a 40
nonparticipating candidate, in accordance with subsection (b) of this 41
section. 42
(b) A candidate who so certifies the candidate's intent to abide by 43
the expenditure limits under the Citizens' Election Program set forth in 44
subsection (c) of section 9-702 shall be referred to in sections 9-700 to 9-45
716, inclusive, as a "participating candidate" and a candidate who so 46
certifies the candidate's intent to not abide by said limits shall be 47
referred to in sections 9-700 to 9-716, inclusive, as a "nonparticipating 48
candidate". The commission shall prepare a list of the participating 49
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candidates and a list of the nonparticipating candidates and shall make 50
such lists available for public inspection. 51
(c) A participating candidate may withdraw from participation in 52
the Citizens' Election Program before applying for an initial grant 53
under section 9-706, by filing an affidavit with the State Elections 54
Enforcement Commission, which includes a written certification of 55
such withdrawal. A candidate who files such an affidavit shall be 56
deemed to be a nonparticipating candidate for the purposes of sections 57
9-700 to 9-716, inclusive, and shall not be penalized for such 58
withdrawal. No participating candidate shall withdraw from 59
participation in the Citizens' Election Program after applying for an 60
initial grant under section 9-706. 61
(d) If the treasurer of the candidate committee of a participating 62
candidate spends fifteen per cent or more, in the aggregate, of the 63
moneys received from the Citizens' Election Fund on the campaign or 64
committee services of a consultant or other professional person, as 65
provided in subparagraph (P) of subdivision (2) of subsection (g) of 66
section 9-607, such consultant or person shall register with the State 67
Elections Enforcement Commission as a consultant for such candidate 68
committee and file an affidavit with the commission, which affidavit 69
shall include a written certification that such consultant also intends to 70
abide by the expenditure limits under the Citizens' Election Program 71
set forth in subsection (c) of section 9-702. The commission shall 72
prepare a list of each such consultant for the candidate committee of a 73
participating candidate and shall make such list available for public 74
inspection. 75
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2019 9-703
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Statement of Purpose:
To require consultants for candidates participating in the Citizens'
Election Program to register with the State Elections Enforcement
Commission and sign an affidavit agreeing to abide by said program's
expenditure limits if such candidate is paid more than fifteen per cent
of the amount of such candidate's grant under said program.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline,
except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is
not underlined.]
Co-Sponsors: REP. FRANCE, 42nd Dist.
H.B. 5823