OFFERED FOR CONSIDERATION 1/28/2025
SENATE BILL NO. 1185
AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE
(Proposed by the Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections
on January 28, 2025)
(Patron Prior to SubstituteSenator Carroll Foy)
Directing that a work group be established to make policy recommendations to the Senate and House Committees on Privileges and Elections regarding certain campaign contribution limits.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. 1. That a work group be established to make policy recommendations to the Senate and House Committees on Privileges and Elections regarding campaign contribution limits that are effective and not easily evaded and meaningful publicly accessible disclosure of large election-related expenditures.
The work group shall have a total membership of 12 members, consisting of six legislative members and six nonlegislative citizen members. The legislative members shall consist of three members of the Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections, to be appointed by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections, and three members of the House Committee on Privileges and Elections to be appointed by the Chairman of the Committee on Privileges and Elections. The nonlegislative citizen members shall be agreed upon by the Chairmen of the Senate and House Committees on Privileges and Elections and shall consist of an attorney with legal expertise in campaign finance laws across multiple states and a clear understanding of the Code of Virginia,, with preference given to an employee of an organization specializing in campaign finance; one member who is a labor union representative who works for an organization organized under 501(c)(5) of the Internal Revenue Code; one member who is a trade organization representative who works for an organization organized under 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code; one member with experience working in philanthropic organizations with portfolios in multiple states and an organizational budget of more than $5 million; one member who is a representative from a purpose-driven non-profit organized under 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code with a well-documented established presence across multiple regions of the Commonwealth and an annual organizational budget of between $250,000 and $10 million; and one member who works for the Virginia Public Access Project.
The work group shall elect a chairman and vice-chairman from among its nonlegislative citizen membership.
In conducting its work, the work group shall consider campaign contribution limits and methods of accessible disclosure of large election-related expenditures used in other states as well as other approaches as may be appropriate and how those various approaches would fit within the current structure of Virginia's campaign finance laws.
Research, policy analysis, and other services as requested by the work group shall be provided by the Department of Elections.
The work group shall conduct its first meeting by August 31, 2025, and conclude its work by August 31, 2026. The work group shall hold at least two public meetings, with options for virtual participation by members of the public. One of the work group's public meetings shall be to discuss a draft of the work group's final report to the Chairmen of the Senate and House Committees on Privileges and Elections. The work group must electronically publish agendas for their meetings at least one week in advance, with a process to receive written public comment on agenda topics. The chairman shall submit to the Chairmen of the Senate and House Committees on Privileges and Elections an executive summary of its findings and recommendations no later than the first day of the next Regular Session of the General Assembly for each year. The executive summaries and reports shall be submitted as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website.