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General Assembly Committee Bill No. 294
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 4987
Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION
AND ELECTIONS
Introduced by:
(GAE)
AN ACT CONCERNING QU ALIFYING CONTRIBUTIONS UNDER THE
CITIZENS' ELECTION PROGRAM.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (e) of section 9-704 of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 2
1, 2021): 3
(e) (1) The following shall not be deemed to be qualifying 4
contributions under subsection (a) of this section and shall, in 5
accordance with the provisions of subdivision (2) of this subsection, be 6
returned by the treasurer of the candidate committee to the contributor: 7
[or transmitted to the State Elections Enforcement Commission for 8
deposit in the Citizens' Election Fund:] 9
[(1)] (A) A contribution from a principal of a state contractor or 10
prospective state contractor; 11
[(2)] (B) A contribution of less than five dollars, and a contribution of 12
five dollars or more from an individual who does not provide the full 13
name and complete address of the individual; 14
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[(3)] (C) A contribution under subdivision (1) or (2) of subsection (a) 15
of this section from an individual who does not reside in the state, in 16
excess of the applicable limit on contributions from out-of-state 17
individuals in subsection (a) of this section; and 18
[(4)] (D) A contribution made by a youth who is less than twelve years 19
of age. 20
(2) In the case of a contribution described in subdivision (1) of this 21
subsection submitted by the treasurer of the candidate committee to the 22
State Elections Enforcement Commission as part of an application for a 23
grant under the Citizens' Election Program, which contribution the 24
commission accordingly deems not to be a qualifying contribution, 25
pursuant to subsection (d) of section 9-706, as amended by this act, the 26
treasurer shall refund such contribution to the contributor upon its 27
return to the committee in accordance with said subsection. 28
Sec. 2. Subsection (d) of section 9-706 of the general statutes is 29
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 30
1, 2021): 31
(d) In accordance with the provisions of subsection (g) of this section, 32
the commission shall review the application [,] and determine whether 33
(1) the candidate committee for the applicant has received the required 34
qualifying contributions, (2) in the case of an application for a grant from 35
the fund for a primary campaign, the applicant has met the applicable 36
condition under subsection (a) of this section for applying for such grant 37
and complied with the provisions of subsections (b) and (c) of this 38
section, (3) in the case of an application for a grant from the fund for a 39
general election campaign, the applicant has met the applicable 40
condition under subsection (a) of this section for applying for such 41
moneys and complied with the provisions of subsections (b) and (c) of 42
this section, and (4) in the case of an application by a minor party or 43
petitioning party candidate for a grant from the fund for a general 44
election campaign, the applicant qualifies as an eligible minor party 45
candidate or an eligible petitioning party candidate, whichever is 46
applicable. For each contribution received by the candidate committee 47
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of an applicant that the commission deems not to be a qualifying 48
contribution, the commission shall (A) advise such applicant of such 49
determination and cite the applicable reason under subsection (e) of 50
section 9-704, as amended by this act, for such determination, and (B) 51
return such contribution to the committee. If the commission approves 52
an application, the commission shall determine the amount of the grant 53
payable to the candidate committee for the applicant pursuant to section 54
9-705 from the fund, and notify the State Comptroller and the candidate 55
of such candidate committee, of such amount. If the timing of the 56
commission's approval of the grant in relation to the Secretary of the 57
State's determination of ballot status is such that the commission cannot 58
determine whether the qualified candidate committee is entitled to the 59
applicable full initial grant for the primary or election or the applicable 60
partial grant for the primary or election, as the case may be, the 61
commission shall approve the lesser applicable partial initial grant. The 62
commission shall then authorize the payment of the remaining portion 63
of the applicable grant after the commission has knowledge of the 64
circumstances regarding the ballot status of the opposing candidates in 65
such primary or election. Not later than two business days following 66
notification by the commission, the State Comptroller shall draw an 67
order on the State Treasurer for payment of any such approved amount 68
to the qualified candidate committee from the fund. 69
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2021 9-704(e)
Sec. 2 October 1, 2021 9-706(d)
Statement of Purpose:
To require that the State Elections Enforcement Commission return to a
campaign treasurer any contribution that does not qualify toward
receiving a grant under the Citizens' Election Program so that such
treasurer may return such contribution to the contributor.
[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.]
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Co-Sponsors: SEN. FORMICA, 20th Dist.; REP. FISHBEIN, 90th Dist.
REP. MASTROFRANCESCO, 80th Dist.; SEN. SAMPSON, 16th
Dist.
S.B. 294