Maryland 2022 Regular Session

Maryland House Bill HB721 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2
3	3	EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTIN G LAW.
4	4	[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
5	5	hb0721
6	6
7	7	HOUSE BILL 721
8	8	G1 2lr1869
9	9	HB 576/21 – W&M
10	10	By: Delegate Hornberger
11	11	Introduced and read first time: February 3, 2022
12	12	Assigned to: Ways and Means
13	13
14	14	A BILL ENTITLED
15	15
16	16	AN ACT concerning 1
17	17
18	18	Election Law – Political Clubs 2
19	19
20	20	FOR the purpose of requiring a political club to be established as a political committee and 3
21	21	to file a statement of organization and, subject to a certain exception, campaign 4
22	22	finance reports; applying to political clubs the prohibition on paying a person other 5
23	23	than a campaign finance entity to defray the costs of a campaign finance entity; 6
24	24	providing that a political club in existence before a certain date is not required to file 7
25	25	any campaign finance reports under this Act for any period before a certain date and 8
26	26	shall file a campaign finance report covering a certain period; and generally relating 9
27	27	to political clubs. 10
28	28
29	29	BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 11
30	30	Article – Election Law 12
31	31	Section 1–101(a), (h), and (gg) 13
32	32	Annotated Code of Maryland 14
33	33	(2017 Replacement Volume and 2021 Supplement) 15
34	34
35	35	BY adding to 16
36	36	Article – Election Law 17
37	37	Section 1–101(ff–1) 18
38	38	Annotated Code of Maryland 19
39	39	(2017 Replacement Volume and 2021 Supplement) 20
40	40
41	41	BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 21
42	42	Article – Election Law 22
43	43	Section 1–101(ss), 13–207, 13–208, 13–304(a)(1), 13–305, and 13–602(a)(4) 23
44	44	Annotated Code of Maryland 24
45	45	(2017 Replacement Volume and 2021 Supplement) 25
46	46
47	47	SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 26
48	48	That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 27 2 HOUSE BILL 721
49	49
50	50
51	51
52	52	Article – Election Law 1
53	53
54	54	1–101. 2
55	55
56	56	(a) In this article the following words have the meanings indicated unless a 3
57	57	different meaning is clearly intended from the context. 4
58	58
59	59	(h) “Campaign finance entity” means a political committee established under 5
60	60	Title 13 of this article. 6
61	61
62	62	(FF–1) “POLITICAL CLUB ” MEANS A COMBINATION OF TWO OR MORE 7
63	63	INDIVIDUALS WHO PAY DUES OR MAKE CONTRIB UTIONS TO AN ENTITY FOR THE 8
64	64	PURPOSE OF PARTICIPA TING IN A POLITICAL MATTER. 9
65	65
66	66	(gg) “Political committee” means a combination of two or more individuals that has 10
67	67	as its major purpose promoting the success or defeat of a candidate, political party, 11
68	68	question, or prospective question submitted to a vote at any election. 12
69	69
70	70	(ss) “Transfer” means a monetary contribution that is made by one campaign 13
71	71	finance entity to another campaign finance entity, [other than] INCLUDING one made by 14
72	72	or to a political club. 15
73	73
74	74	13–207. 16
75	75
76	76	(a) This section applies to a political committee [other than], INCLUDING a 17
77	77	political club. 18
78	78
79	79	(b) A political committee may not receive or disburse money or any other thing of 19
80	80	value unless the political committee is established in accordance with the requirements of 20
81	81	this section. 21
82	82
83	83	(c) To establish a political committee: 22
84	84
85	85	(1) a chairman and a treasurer shall be appointed on a form that the State 23
86	86	Board prescribes and that is signed by the chairman and treasurer and includes: 24
87	87
88	88	(i) the residence addresses of the chairman and the treasurer; 25
89	89
90	90	(ii) if the chairman and treasurer affirmatively consent to receiving 26
91	91	notice under this title only by electronic mail, the electronic mail address of the chairman 27
92	92	and the treasurer; and 28
93	93
94	94	(iii) the information required by § 13–208 of this subtitle; and 29
95	95
96	96	(2) the form shall be filed with the State Board. 30
97	97	HOUSE BILL 721 3
98	98
99	99
100	100	(3) The chairman or treasurer of a political committee shall notify the State 1
101	101	Board of a change in the residence address of the chairman or treasurer no later than 21 2
102	102	days before the day on which the political committee’s next campaign finance report is due 3
103	103	under § 13–309 of this title. 4
104	104
105	105	(4) The chairman or treasurer of a political committee shall notify the State 5
106	106	Board of a change in the electronic mail address of the chairman or treasurer by the date 6
107	107	specified in paragraph (3) of this subsection if the chairman and treasurer of the political 7
108	108	committee have affirmatively consented to receiving notice under this title only by 8
109	109	electronic mail. 9
110	110
111	111	(d) (1) A chairman or treasurer of a political committee may resign by 10
112	112	completing a resignation form that the State Board prescribes and filing the form with the 11
113	113	State Board. 12
114	114
115	115	(2) If a vacancy occurs in the office of chairman or the office of treasurer, 13
116	116	the political committee promptly shall appoint a new chairman or treasurer in accordance 14
117	117	with this section. 15
118	118
119	119	(3) A political committee may not receive or disburse money or any other 16
120	120	thing of value if there is a vacancy in the office of chairman or the office of treasurer. 17
121	121
122	122	13–208. 18
123	123
124	124	(a) This section applies to a political committee [other than], INCLUDING a 19
125	125	political club. 20
126	126
127	127	(b) A political committee shall provide, with the filing required by § 13–207(c) of 21
128	128	this subtitle, a statement of organization that includes its name and a statement of purpose. 22
129	129
130	130	(c) The statement of purpose shall specify: 23
131	131
132	132	(1) each candidate or ballot question, if any, that the political committee 24
133	133	was formed to promote or defeat; 25
134	134
135	135	(2) the identity of each special interest, including any business or 26
136	136	occupation, that the organizers of or contributors to the political committee have in 27
137	137	common; and 28
138	138
139	139	(3) whether the political committee will participate in presidential, 29
140	140	gubernatorial, Baltimore City, or multiple elections. 30
141	141
142	142	(d) (1) A political committee may not use a name that is intended or operates 31
143	143	to deceive people as to the political committee’s true nature or character. 32
144	144
145	145	(2) A political committee established by and for a single candidate shall 33
146	146	disclose within the political committee’s name the name of the candidate. 34 4 HOUSE BILL 721
147	147
148	148
149	149
150	150	(3) A political committee sponsored by or affiliated with another entity or 1
151	151	group shall identify within the political committee’s name the other entity or group. 2
152	152
153	153	(e) A change in the information reported under this section shall be disclosed in 3
154	154	the campaign finance report next filed by the political committee. 4
155	155
156	156	13–304. 5
157	157
158	158	(a) (1) From the date of its organization until its termination under the 6
159	159	provisions of this title, a campaign finance entity, [except] INCLUDING a political club, 7
160	160	shall file a campaign finance report at the State Board at the times and for the periods 8
161	161	required by §§ 13–309, 13–312, and 13–316 of this subtitle. 9
162	162
163	163	13–305. 10
164	164
165	165	(a) Instead of filing a report required under § 13–309 of this subtitle, a treasurer 11
166	166	may file an affidavit stating that the campaign finance entity, INCLUDING A P OLITICAL 12
167	167	CLUB, has not raised or spent a cumulative amount of $1,000 or more, exclusive of the filing 13
168	168	fee, and regardless of the balance of the campaign account, since: 14
169	169
170	170	(1) establishing the campaign finance entity; or 15
171	171
172	172	(2) filing the campaign finance entity’s last campaign finance report. 16
173	173
174	174	(b) The affidavit shall be filed on or before the date a campaign finance report is 17
175	175	due to be filed under § 13–309 of this subtitle. 18
176	176
177	177	13–602. 19
178	178
179	179	(a) (4) (i) A person, to defray the costs of a campaign finance entity, may 20
180	180	not directly or indirectly pay, give, or promise money or any other valuable thing to any 21
181	181	person other than a campaign finance entity. 22
182	182
183	183	(ii) Subparagraph (i) of this paragraph does not apply to: 23
184	184
185	185	1. [dues regularly paid for membership in a political club if 24
186	186	all of the money that is spent by that political club in connection with any campaign finance 25
187	187	activity is paid through a treasurer as provided in this title; 26
188	188
189	189	2.] an individual volunteering the individual’s time or 27
190	190	personal vehicle in accordance with § 13–232 of this title; 28
191	191
192	192	[3.] 2. an employer’s accumulation of employee contributions in 29
193	193	accordance with § 13–242 of this title; or 30
194	194	HOUSE BILL 721 5
195	195
196	196
197	197	[4.] 3. advertising costs or other expenses incident to the 1
198	198	expression of personal views in accordance with § 13–102 of this title. 2
199	199
200	200	SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That, notwithstanding § 3
201	201	13–304(a)(1), as enacted by Section 1 of this Act, and § 13–312(a)(1) of the Election Law 4
202	202	Article, a political club in existence before June 1, 2022: 5
203	203
204	204	(1) is not required to file any campaign finance reports under this Act for 6
205	205	any period before June 1, 2022; and 7
206	206
207	207	(2) shall file a campaign finance report covering the period beginning on 8
208	208	June 1, 2022, through the day specified in § 13–312(a)(3) of the Election Law Article. 9
209	209
210	210	SECTION 3. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect June 10
211	211	1, 2022. 11
212	212