HOUSE BILL No. 2106
AN ACT concerning campaign finance; relating to support for or opposition to proposed
amendments to the Kansas constitution; banning contributions from foreign
nationals; amending K.S.A. 25-4180 and repealing the existing section.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
Section 1. K.S.A. 25-4180 is hereby amended to read as follows:
25-4180. (a) Every person who engages in any activity promoting or
opposing the adoption or repeal of any provision of the constitution of
the state of Kansas constitution and who accepts moneys or property
for the purpose of engaging in such activity shall make an annual report
to the secretary of state of individual contributions or contributions in
kind in an aggregate amount or value in excess of $50 received during
the preceding calendar year for such purposes. The report shall show
the name and address of each contributor for the activity and the
amount or value of the individual contribution made, together with a
total value of all contributions received, and also shall account for
expenditures in an aggregate amount or value in excess of $50 from
such contributions, by showing the amount or value expended to each
payee and the purpose of each such expenditure, together with a total
value of all expenditures made. Each person who submits a report shall
certify that:
(1) Such person has not knowingly accepted contributions or
expenditures either directly or indirectly from a foreign national; and
(2) each donor named in such report is not a foreign national and
has not knowingly accepted contributions or expenditures either
directly or indirectly from any foreign national that in the aggregate
exceed $100,000 within the four-year period immediately preceding the
date of such donor's contribution or expenditure. The annual report
shall be filed on or before February 15 of each year for the preceding
calendar year.
(b) Each person who accepts contributions or expenditures as
described in subsection (a) shall require each donor to certify that such
donor is not a foreign national and has not knowingly accepted
contributions or expenditures either directly or indirectly from any
foreign national that in the aggregate exceed $100,000 within the four-
year period immediately preceding the date of such donor's
contribution or expenditure.
(c) Each person making an independent expenditure for any
activity promoting or opposing the adoption or repeal of any provision
of the constitution of the state of Kansas shall, within 48 hours of
making such expenditure, certify to the commission that such person
has not knowingly accepted any moneys either directly or indirectly
from any foreign national that in the aggregate exceed $100,000 within
the four-year period immediately preceding the date of such person's
expenditure and shall not accept any such moneys during the
remainder of the calendar year in which the question of amending the
constitution of the state of Kansas is on the ballot.
(d) (1) No person shall accept, directly or indirectly, any
contribution or expenditure from a foreign national made for any
activity promoting or opposing the adoption or repeal of any provision
of the constitution of the state of Kansas.
(2) The attorney general may prosecute any person who violates
this subsection. Any person who believes the provisions of this
subsection have been violated may file a complaint with the attorney
general.
(3) In any civil action brought by the commission or the attorney
general against a person who violates this subsection, the court may
award injunctive relief sufficient to prevent any subsequent violations
of this subsection by such person and statutory damages of not to
exceed an amount that is twice the amount of the prohibited
contribution or expenditure.
(e) As used in this section, "foreign national" means:
(1) An individual who is not a citizen or lawful permanent resident
of the United States; HOUSE BILL No. 2106—page 2
(2) a government or subdivision of a foreign country or
municipality thereof;
(3) a foreign political party;
(4) any entity, such as a partnership, association, corporation,
organization or other combination of persons, that is organized under
the laws of, or has its principal place of business in, a foreign country;
or
(5) any United States entity, such as a partnership, association,
corporation or organization, that is wholly or majority-owned by any
foreign national, unless: (1) Any contribution or expenditure that such
entity makes is derived entirely from funds generated by such United
States entity's United States operations; and (2) all decisions
concerning the contribution or expenditure are made by individuals
who are United States citizens or permanent residents, except for
setting overall budget amounts.
(f) In addition to the annual report, a person engaging in an
activity promoting the adoption or repeal of a provision of the Kansas
constitution who accepts any contributed moneys for such activity shall
make a preliminary report to the secretary of state 15 days prior to each
election at which a proposed constitutional amendment is submitted.
Such report shall show the name and address of each individual
contributor, together with the amount contributed or contributed in kind
in an aggregate amount or value in excess of $50, and the expenditures
in an aggregate amount or value in excess of $50 from such
contributions, by showing the amount paid to each payee, and the
purpose of the expenditure. A supplemental report in the same format
as the preliminary report shall be filed with the secretary of state within
15 days after any election on a constitutional proposition where
contributed funds are received and expended in opposing or promoting
such proposition.
(g) Any person who engages in any activity promoting or
opposing the adoption or repeal of any provision of the Kansas
constitution shall be considered engaged in such activity upon the date
that the concurrent resolution passes the Kansas house of
representatives and the senate in its final form. Upon such date, if the
person has funds in the constitutional amendment campaign treasury,
such person shall be required to report such funds as provided by this
section.
(b)(h) (1) The commission shall send a notice by registered or
certified mail to any person failing to file any report required by
subsection (a) within the time period prescribed therefor. The notice
shall state that the required report has not been filed with the office of
the secretary of state. The notice also shall state that such person shall
have 15 days from the date that such notice is deposited in the mail to
comply with the reporting requirements before a civil penalty shall be
imposed for each day that the required documents remain unfiled. If
such person fails to comply within the prescribed period, such person
shall pay to the state a civil penalty of $10 per day for each day that
such report remains unfiled, except that no such civil penalty shall
exceed $300. The commission may waive, for good cause, payment of
any civil penalty imposed by this section.
(2) Civil penalties provided for by this section shall be remitted to
the state treasurer in accordance with the provisions of K.S.A. 75-4215,
and amendments thereto. Upon receipt of each such remittance, the
state treasurer shall deposit the entire amount in the state treasury to the
credit of the governmental ethics commission fee fund.
(3) If a person fails to pay a civil penalty provided for by this
section, it shall be the duty of the commission to bring an action to
recover such civil penalty in the district court of the county in which
such person resides.
(c)(i) The intentional failure to file any report required by
subsection (a) is a class A misdemeanor.
(d)(j) This section shall be a part of and supplemental to the
campaign finance act. HOUSE BILL No. 2106—page 3
Sec. 2. K.S.A. 25-4180 is hereby repealed.
Sec. 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
publication in the statute book.
I hereby certify that the above BILL originated in the HOUSE, and passed
that body
Speaker of the House.
Chief Clerk of the House.
Passed the SENATE ______________________________________________________________________________
President of the Senate.
Secretary of the Senate.
APPROVED __________________________________________________________________________________________________
Governor.