Oklahoma 2024 Regular Session

Oklahoma House Bill HB3294 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

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3		-	ENGR. H. B. NO. 3294 Page 1 1
	3	+	HB3294 HFLR Page 1
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28		-	ENGROSSED HOUSE
29		-	BILL NO. 3294 By: Lepak and McDugle of the
30		-	House
	29	+	HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES - FLOOR VERSION
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32		-	~~and~~
	31	+	STATE OF OKLAHOMA
33	32
34		-	Jett of the Senate
	33	+	2nd Session of the 59th Legislature (2024)
	34	+
	35	+	COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
	36	+	FOR
	37	+	HOUSE BILL NO. 3294 By: Lepak
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	44	+
	45	+	COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
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42	47		An Act relating to elections; amending Section 1,
43	48		Chapter 194, O.S.L. 2022, as amen ded by Section 1,
44	49		Chapter 80, O.S.L. 2023 (26 O.S. Supp. 2023, Section
45	50		7-139), which relates to the Prohibit the Private
46	51		Funding of Elections Act; adding prohibitions;
47	52		requiring disclosure of certain memberships;
48	53		prohibiting election officials from certain
49	54		memberships; and providing an effective date.
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54	61		BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLA HOMA:
55	62		SECTION 1. AMENDATORY Section 1, Chapter 194, O.S.L.
56	63		2022, as amended by Sect ion 1, Chapter 80, O.S.L. 2023 (26 O.S.
57	64		Supp. 2023, Section 7-139), is amended to read as follows:
58	65		Section 7-139. A. This act shall be known and may be cited as
59	66		the "Prohibit the Private Funding of Elections Act".
60	67		B. As used in this section:
61		-	1. "Person" means any individual, proprietorship, firm,
62		-	partnership, joint venture, syndicate, labor union, business trust,
63		-	company, association, committee, corporation, whether or not
64		-	operated for profit, or any other organization or group of persons
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66		-	ENGR. H. B. NO. 3294 Page 2 1
	69	+	HB3294 HFLR Page 2
	70	+	BOLD FACE denotes Committee Amendments. 1
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	95	+	1. "Person" means any individual, proprietorship, firm,
	96	+	partnership, joint venture, syndicate, labor union, business trust,
	97	+	company, association, committee, corporation, whether or not
	98	+	operated for profit, or any other organization or group of persons
91	99		acting in concert, or any other nongovernmental third-party entity;
92	100		and
93	101		2. "Public funds" means funds derived from taxes, fees,
94	102		including candidate filing fees, and other sources of public revenue
95	103		lawfully appropriated o r expended by Congress, the Legislature, or
96	104		any other governmental entity, or funds from an entity that is
97	105		authorized to pay for an election pursuant to state law.
98	106		C. 1. All costs and expenses of conducting and administrating
99	107		elections shall be paid for with public funds ; provided nothing in
100	108		this section shall apply to franchise elections described in
101	109		Sections 5(a) and 5(b) of Article XVIII of the Oklahoma
102	110		Constitution.
103	111		2. No government official or election official shall solicit,
104	112		take, or otherwise accept from any pe rson, any contribution,
105	113		donation, or anything else of value for purposes of conducting or
106	114		administrating any election pursuant to the provisions of this
107	115		title, including services or funds, which may or may not be cred its,
108	116		offsets, or other inducements, directly offered from a membership
109	117		organization of which the government officia l or election official
110		-	is a member, for the purposes of conducting and administrating
111		-	elections.
112		-	3. No person shall offer or provide any contribution, donation,
113		-	or anything else of value for purposes of conducting or
114		-	administrating any election pursuant to the provisions of this
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116		-	ENGR. H. B. NO. 3294 Page 3 1
	119	+	HB3294 HFLR Page 3
	120	+	BOLD FACE denotes Committee Amendments. 1
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	145	+	is a member, for the purposes of conducting and administrating
	146	+	elections.
	147	+	3. No person shall offer or provide any contribution, donation,
	148	+	or anything else of value for purposes of conducting or
	149	+	administrating any election pursuant to the provisions of this
141	150		title, including services or funds, which may or may not be cred its,
142	151		offsets, or other inducements, directly offered to a membership
143	152		organization of which the government official or election official
144	153		is a member, for the purposes of conducting and administrating
145	154		elections.
146	155		D. 1. For the purposes of this section, the following shall
147	156		not be considered a contr ibution, donation, or thing of value:
148	157		a. providing space or property for use as a polling place
149	158		or in-person absentee voting site at no charge or at a
150	159		below-market cost,
151	160		b. persons who volunteer their labor as precinct
152	161		officials, absentee voting board memb ers, or as
153	162		election workers,
154	163		c. persons who volunteer their labor to assist the county
155	164		election board or the State Election Board during
156	165		candidate filing, on Election Day, during in-person
157	166		absentee voting, or at other times ,
158		-	d. food or beverage items of nominal value provided to
159		-	precinct officials, abse ntee voting board members, or
160		-	election officials,
161		-	e. items of nominal value including, but not limited to,
162		-	pens, sanitizer and clean ing supplies, or
163	167
164		-	ENGR. H. B. NO. 3294 Page 4 1
	168	+	HB3294 HFLR Page 4
	169	+	BOLD FACE denotes Committee Amendments. 1
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	194	+	d. food or beverage items of nominal value provided to
	195	+	precinct officials, abse ntee voting board members, or
	196	+	election officials,
	197	+	e. items of nominal value including, but not limited to,
	198	+	pens, sanitizer and clean ing supplies, or
189	199		f. airing or publication of public service announcements
190	200		or press releases issued by the State Election Boa rd
191	201		or a county election board.
192	202		2. Donations not directly related to the administration of
193	203		elections, may be accepted by the Secretary of the State Election
194	204		Board or secretary of the county election board only upon written
195	205		approval by the Governor and written notification sent to the
196	206		Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives and President Pro
197	207		Tempore of the Oklahoma State Senate.
198	208		E. Any election official who, in his or her official capacity,
199	209		joins any membership organization, or who utilizes public funds to
200	210		pay membership dues to any membership orga nization, shall disclose
201	211		such membership on the website for the elec tion official’s agency.
202	212		In the event the election official’s agency does not have a websi te,
203	213		a notice of such membership shall be displayed conspicuously in a
204	214		public area of the agency’s o ffice.
205	215		F. No election official in his or her official capacity shall
206	216		join any membership organization that uses private funds for the
207	217		purposes of conducting and administrating elections.
208		-	G. A willful and intentional violation o f this act shall be
209		-	punishable as follows:
210		-	1. A first violation shall constitute a misdemeanor and, upon
211		-	conviction, be punishable by a fine not to exceed Five Thousand
212		-	Dollars ($5,000.00).
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214		-	ENGR. H. B. NO. 3294 Page 5 1
	219	+	HB3294 HFLR Page 5
	220	+	BOLD FACE denotes Committee Amendments. 1
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	245	+	G. A willful and intentional violation o f this act shall be
	246	+	punishable as follows:
	247	+	1. A first violation shall constitute a misdemeanor and, upon
	248	+	conviction, be punishable by a fine not to exceed Five Thousand
	249	+	Dollars ($5,000.00).
239	250		2. A second violation shall constitute a mis demeanor and, upon
240	251		conviction, be punishable by a fine not to exceed Ten Thousand
241	252		Dollars ($10,000.00).
242	253		3. A third or any subsequent violation shall constitute a
243	254		felony and, upon conviction, be punishable by a fine not to exceed
244	255		Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00), or by imprisonment in the
245	256		custody of the Department of Corrections for a term of not less than
246	257		two (2) years nor more than five (5) years, or by both such fine and
247	258		imprisonment.
248	259		SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2024.
249		-	Passed the House of Representatives the 12th day of March, 2024.
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253		-
254		-	Presiding Officer of the House
255		-	of Representatives
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257		-	Passed the Senate the ___ day of _________, 2024.
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262		-	Presiding Officer of the Senate
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	261	+	COMMITTEE REPORT BY: COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND ETH ICS, dated
	262	+	02/28/2024 - DO PASS, As Amended.