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OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 7222
AN ACT CONCERNING VARIOUS CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORMS.
SUMMARY
This bill makes several changes to the state’s campaign finance laws,
including (1) amending the list of activities that campaign-related
vendors may do without it being considered an independent
expenditure, (2) making it an illegal campaign finance practice for
certain campaign-related vendors to fail to give necessary information
to candidate committee treasurers, (3) changing when certain
inflationary adjustments must be made for the Citizens’ Election
Program (CEP), (4) modifying the procedures for gubernatorial
convention campaign grants, (5) changing when certain CEP grant
restrictions take effect, and (6) amending certain campaign finance
definitions.
The bill also makes technical and conforming changes.
EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage, except that provisions changing
the timeline for certain CEP adjustments are effective July 1, 2025, and
provisions on when a convention campaign grant may be applied for
and when CEP grant restrictions attach are effective January 1, 2028.
§§ 6 & 7 — CAMPAIGN-RELATED VENDORS
Independent Expenditures: Exclusions (§ 6)
By law, an “independent expenditure” (IE) is an expenditure made
without the consent, coordination, or consultation of a (1) candidate or
candidate’s agent; (2) candidate committee; (3) political committee
(PAC); or (4) party committee, and authorized persons (including
individuals, entities, and committees) may make unlimited IEs.
The law specifically excludes certain things from being IEs (although
there is a rebuttable presumption), and the bill changes one of these. 2025HB-07222-R000690-BA.DOCX
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Current law excludes payments to campaign-related vendors that
provide the following services: polling, mail design, mail strategy,
political strategy, general campaign advice, or telephone banking. The
bill instead excludes payments to vendors that provide the following
services: (1) campaign strategy; (2) design or management of campaign
communications, literature, or advertising; or (3) fundraising or
management services, or with duties that include identifying, hiring, or
paying subvendors for goods or services on the committee’s behalf.
Documentation (§ 7)
Under campaign finance law, committee treasurers must authorize
all committee expenditures, make payments accordingly, and preserve
all transaction records. The bill makes it an illegal campaign finance
practice for certain campaign-related vendors to not give a committee
treasurer the complete information about any financial obligation to be
made or made on behalf of the committee so the treasurer can meet his
or her responsibilities under the campaign finance laws. It subjects to
this penalty vendors who are paid by a qualified candidate committee
either $5,000 or more than 10% of the CEP grant.
By law, an illegal campaign finance practice is subject to a civil
penalty of up to $2,000 per offense or twice the amount of any improper
payment or contribution, whichever is greater (CGS § 9-7b(a)(2)(D)). If
the act is knowing and willful, it is a class D felony, punishable by up to
five years in prison, a fine of up to $5,000, or both (CGS § 9-623(a)).
§ 8 — CPI ADJUSTMENTS FOR CITIZENS’ ELECTION PROGRAM
The CEP is the state’s voluntary public campaign financing system,
available to candidates for legislative and statewide office. By law,
candidates qualify for the CEP by raising at least an aggregate amount
of funds through qualifying contributions (QCs) from individual
donors. The State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC) must
adjust the aggregate and QC amounts every two years for legislative
office candidates and every four years for statewide office candidates
based on the change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban
Consumers (CPI-U). 2025HB-07222-R000690-BA.DOCX
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Beginning with the 2028 election cycle, the bill shifts the timing of
these adjustments from January of an election year to January of the
prior year. For the 2026 election cycle, it also authorizes SEEC to make
an early inflationary adjustment to these amounts by July 3, 2025, based
on the CPI-U, as published by the U.S. Department of Labor, during the
period beginning on January 1, 2017, and ending on December 31, 2024.
By law, the statutory aggregate contribution amounts and QC
amounts are set based on the elected office. The statutory aggregate
amounts are $250,000 for the governor, $75,000 for the lieutenant
governor or other statewide office, $15,000 for a state senator, and $5,000
for a state representative. The maximum QC amount under state law is
$250.
§ 9 — INELIGIBILITY FOR CEP GRANTS
Once a candidate files an affidavit to abide by the CEP’s
requirements, current law makes the candidate ineligible for a CEP
grant if he or she changes status as a major party, minor party, or
petitioning party candidate or becomes a candidate of a different party.
The bill shifts when this prohibition begins from the affidavit’s filing to
the CEP grant application’s filing (which is generally after the candidate
has met his or her fundraising requirement and qualified for ballot
access, unlike when the affidavit has been filed).
§§ 9 & 10 — GUBERNATORIAL CONVE NTION CAMPAIGN GRANT
Under existing law, a major party gubernatorial candidate who
participates in the CEP may apply for and receive a “convention
campaign grant” before the party’s nominating convention. The law
allows candidates to apply for this grant at any time after filing the
affidavit of intent to participate in, and abide by, the CEP’s spending
limits and requires SEEC to approve or disapprove the application
within 10 business days after receiving it. The bill specifies that a major
party candidate for nomination to the office of governor in 2030 or after
may apply for this grant beginning in the January preceding the election
after filing the affidavit.
Additionally, under the bill, if a gubernatorial candidate is approved 2025HB-07222-R000690-BA.DOCX
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for a convention campaign grant, but the upcoming grant amount has
not yet been determined through the CPI adjustment process described
above, similar to existing law for other CEP grants, SEEC must approve
the initial grant amount the candidate is eligible for. Once the CPI
adjustment has been made, SEEC must approve and pay the remaining
portion of the candidate’s grant.
Relatedly, any candidate committee that applies for a grant before
July 3, 2025 (see above), may only be approved for the unadjusted
amount.
§§ 1-5 — CHANGES TO CAMPAIGN FINANCE D EFINITIONS
Solicitor (§§ 1-4)
The state’s campaign finance laws define the terms “solicit” and
“solicitor.” Solicit means, among other things, requesting that a
contribution be made. However, a “solicitor” is not a person who
requests or solicits contributions, but is instead a specially designated
agent of a committee who can physically collect contributions on the
committee’s behalf. The bill renames a “solicitor” as a “collector,”
unlinking these terms, and makes several conforming changes.
Organization Expenditures (§ 5)
By law, organization expenditures are made by legislative caucus,
legislative leadership, or party committees to benefit candidates or their
committees. They are not considered campaign contributions, but the
law places restrictions and limits on those made to benefit legislative
candidates participating in the CEP.
The bill modifies the definition of organizational expenditure to
include a campaign event at which a candidate or candidates are
present. (Prior law included this language until 2023.) Current law only
defines this as an event with campaign materials but at which no
contribution may be received, solicited, or bundled.
BACKGROUND
Related Bills
SB 515 (File 478), favorably reported by the Government Oversight 2025HB-07222-R000690-BA.DOCX
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Committee, makes changes to the inflationary adjustment procedures
for QCs.
SB 1405 (File 489), favorably reported by the Government Oversight
Committee, makes changes to the inflationary adjustment procedures
for QCs and amends the definitions of “organization expenditure” and
“solicit.”
sSB 1517, favorably reported by the Government Administration and
Elections (GAE) Committee, makes various changes regarding
independent expenditures.
sSB 1533, favorably reported by the GAE Committee, makes identical
changes to this bill regarding the definition of “organization
expenditure,” CPI adjustments, and gubernatorial convention
campaign grants.
HB 7089 (File 512), favorably reported by the Government Oversight
Committee, makes identical changes as this bill.
HB 7093 (File 516), favorably reported by the Government Oversight
Committee, makes various changes regarding independent
expenditures.
sHB 7246, favorably reported by the GAE Committee, makes changes
to the inflationary adjustment procedures for QCs and amends the
definitions of “organization expenditure” and “solicit.”
COMMITTEE ACTION
Government Administration and Elections Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 18 Nay 1 (03/26/2025)