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Senate Amendment 3453

Amendment Text

PAG LIN
  1  1    Amend Senate File 470 as follows:
  1  2    #1.  By striking everything after the enacting
  1  3 clause and inserting the following:
  1  4    "Section 1.  Section 56.2, Code 1999, is amended by
  1  5 adding the following new subsections:
  1  6    NEW SUBSECTION.  5A.  "Clearly identified" means
  1  7 that a communication contains an unambiguous reference
  1  8 to a particular candidate or ballot issue, including
  1  9 but not limited to one or more of the following:
  1 10    a.  Use of the name of the candidate or ballot
  1 11 issue.
  1 12    b.  Use of a photograph or drawing of the
  1 13 candidate, or the use of a particular symbol
  1 14 associated with a specific ballot issue.
  1 15    c.  Use of a candidate's initials, nickname,
  1 16 office, or status as a candidate, or use of acronym,
  1 17 popular name, or characterization of a ballot issue.
  1 18    NEW SUBSECTION.  12A.  "Express advocacy" or to
  1 19 "expressly advocate" means communication that can be
  1 20 characterized according to at least one of the
  1 21 following descriptions:
  1 22    a.  The communication is political speech made in
  1 23 the form of a contribution.
  1 24    b.  In advocating the election or defeat of one or
  1 25 more clearly identified candidates or the passage or
  1 26 defeat of one or more clearly identified ballot
  1 27 issues, the communication includes explicit words that
  1 28 unambiguously indicate that the communication is
  1 29 recommending or supporting a particular outcome in the
  1 30 election with regard to any clearly identified
  1 31 candidate or ballot issue.
  1 32    c.  When taken as a whole and with limited
  1 33 reference to external events such as the proximity to
  1 34 the election, the communication could only be
  1 35 interpreted by a reasonable person as supporting or
  1 36 recommending the election, passage, or defeat of one
  1 37 or more clearly identified candidates or ballot issues
  1 38 because both of the following conditions are met:
  1 39    (1)  The communication, as it relates to the
  1 40 election or defeat of the candidate or ballot issue,
  1 41 is unmistakable, unambiguous, and suggestive of only
  1 42 one meaning.
  1 43    (2)  Reasonable minds could not differ as to
  1 44 whether the communication encourages action to
  1 45 nominate, elect, approve, or defeat one or more
  1 46 clearly identified candidates or a ballot issue or
  1 47 whether the communication encourages some other kind
  1 48 of action.
  1 49    Sec. 2.  Section 56.2, subsections 16 and 17, Code
  1 50 1999, are amended to read as follows:
  2  1    16.  "Political committee" means a either of the
  2  2 following:
  2  3    a.  A committee, but not a candidate's committee,
  2  4 which that accepts contributions in excess of five
  2  5 hundred dollars in the aggregate, makes expenditures
  2  6 in excess of five hundred dollars in the aggregate, or
  2  7 incurs indebtedness in excess of five hundred dollars
  2  8 in the aggregate in any one calendar year for the
  2  9 purpose of supporting or opposing to expressly
  2 10 advocate the nomination, election, or defeat of a
  2 11 candidate for public office, or for the purpose of
  2 12 supporting or opposing to expressly advocate the
  2 13 passage or defeat of a ballot issue; "political
  2 14 committee" also means an.
  2 15    b.  An association, lodge, society, cooperative,
  2 16 union, fraternity, sorority, educational institution,
  2 17 civic organization, labor organization, religious
  2 18 organization, or professional organization which that
  2 19 accepts contributions in excess of five hundred
  2 20 dollars in the aggregate, makes expenditures in excess
  2 21 of five hundred dollars in the aggregate, or incurs
  2 22 indebtedness in excess of five hundred dollars in the
  2 23 aggregate in any one calendar year for the purpose of
  2 24 supporting or opposing to expressly advocate the
  2 25 nomination, election, or defeat of a candidate for
  2 26 public office, or for the purpose of supporting or
  2 27 opposing to expressly advocate the passage or defeat
  2 28 of a ballot issue.  "Political committee" also
  2 29 includes a committee which accepts contributions in
  2 30 excess of five hundred dollars in the aggregate, makes
  2 31 expenditures in excess of five hundred dollars in the
  2 32 aggregate, or incurs indebtedness in excess of five
  2 33 hundred dollars in the aggregate in a calendar year to
  2 34 cause the publication or broadcasting of material in
  2 35 which the public policy positions or voting record of
  2 36 an identifiable candidate is discussed and in which a
  2 37 reasonable person could find commentary favorable or
  2 38 unfavorable to those public policy positions or voting
  2 39 record.
  2 40    17.  "Political purpose" or "political purposes"
  2 41 means the support or opposition express advocacy of a
  2 42 candidate or ballot issue.
  2 43    Sec. 3.  Section 56.4, unnumbered paragraphs 2 and
  2 44 3, Code 1999, are amended to read as follows:
  2 45    Political committees supporting or opposing
  2 46 expressly advocating the nomination, election, or
  2 47 defeat of candidates for both federal office and any
  2 48 elected office created by law or the Constitution of
  2 49 the state of Iowa shall file statements and reports
  2 50 with the board in addition to any federal reports
  3  1 required to be filed with the board.  However, a
  3  2 political committee which is registered and filing
  3  3 full disclosure reports of all financial activities
  3  4 with the federal election commission may file verified
  3  5 statements as provided in section 56.5.
  3  6    Political committees supporting or opposing
  3  7 expressly advocating the nomination, election, or
  3  8 defeat of candidates or the passage or defeat of
  3  9 ballot issues for statewide elections and for county,
  3 10 municipal or school elections may file all activity on
  3 11 one report with the board and shall send a copy to the
  3 12 commissioner responsible under section 47.2 for
  3 13 conducting the election.
  3 14    Sec. 4.  Section 56.5, subsection 2, paragraph f,
  3 15 Code 1999, is amended to read as follows:
  3 16    f.  A signed statement by the treasurer of the
  3 17 committee and the candidate, in the case of a
  3 18 candidate's committee, which shall verify that they
  3 19 are aware of the requirement to file disclosure
  3 20 reports if the committee, the committee officers, the
  3 21 candidate, or both the committee officers and the
  3 22 candidate receive contributions in excess of five
  3 23 hundred dollars in the aggregate, make expenditures in
  3 24 excess of five hundred dollars in the aggregate, or
  3 25 incur indebtedness in excess of five hundred dollars
  3 26 in the aggregate in a calendar year for the purpose of
  3 27 supporting or opposing to expressly advocate the
  3 28 nomination, election, or defeat of any candidate for
  3 29 public office.  In the case of political committees,
  3 30 statements shall be made by the treasurer of the
  3 31 committee and the chairperson.
  3 32    Sec. 5.  Section 56.5A, Code 1999, is amended to
  3 33 read as follows:
  3 34    56.5A  CANDIDATE'S COMMITTEE.
  3 35    1.  Each candidate for state, county, city, or
  3 36 school office shall organize one, and only one,
  3 37 candidate's committee for a specific office sought
  3 38 when the candidate receives contributions in excess of
  3 39 five hundred dollars in the aggregate, makes
  3 40 expenditures in excess of five hundred dollars in the
  3 41 aggregate, or incurs indebtedness in excess of five
  3 42 hundred dollars in the aggregate in a calendar year.
  3 43    2.  A political committee shall not be established
  3 44 to support or oppose expressly advocate the
  3 45 nomination, election, or defeat of only one candidate
  3 46 for office, except that a political committee may be
  3 47 established to support or oppose expressly advocate
  3 48 the passage or defeat of approval of a single judge
  3 49 standing for retention.
  3 50    Sec. 6.  Section 56.6, subsection 1, paragraph d,
  4  1 Code 1999, is amended to read as follows:
  4  2    d.  Committees for municipal and school elective
  4  3 offices and local ballot issues shall file their first
  4  4 reports five days prior to any election in which the
  4  5 name of the candidate or the local ballot issue which
  4  6 they support or oppose expressly advocate appears on
  4  7 the printed ballot and shall file their next report on
  4  8 the first day of the month following the final
  4  9 election in a calendar year in which the candidate's
  4 10 name or the ballot issue appears on the ballot.  A
  4 11 committee supporting or opposing expressly advocating
  4 12 the nomination, election, or defeat of a candidate for
  4 13 a municipal or school elective office or the passage
  4 14 or defeat of a local ballot issue shall also file
  4 15 disclosure reports on the nineteenth day of January
  4 16 and October of each year in which the candidate or
  4 17 ballot issue does not appear on the ballot and on the
  4 18 nineteenth day of January, May, and July of each year
  4 19 in which the candidate or ballot issue appears on the
  4 20 ballot, until the committee dissolves.  These reports
  4 21 shall be current to five days prior to the filing
  4 22 deadline and are considered timely filed if mailed
  4 23 bearing a United States postal service postmark on or
  4 24 before the due date.
  4 25    Sec. 7.  Section 56.12A, unnumbered paragraph 1,
  4 26 Code 1999, is amended to read as follows:
  4 27    The state and the governing body of a county, city,
  4 28 or other political subdivision of the state shall not
  4 29 expend or permit the expenditure of public moneys for
  4 30 political purposes, including supporting or opposing
  4 31 expressly advocating the passage or defeat of a ballot
  4 32 issue.
  4 33    Sec. 8.  Section 56.13, subsections 1, 2, and 3,
  4 34 Code 1999, are amended to read as follows:
  4 35    1.  Action involving a contribution or expenditure
  4 36 which must be reported under this chapter and which is
  4 37 taken by any person, candidate's committee or
  4 38 political committee on behalf of a candidate, if known
  4 39 and approved by the candidate, shall be deemed action
  4 40 by the candidate and reported by the candidate's
  4 41 committee.  It shall be presumed that a candidate
  4 42 approves the action if the candidate had knowledge of
  4 43 it and failed to file a statement of disavowal with
  4 44 the commissioner or board and take corrective action
  4 45 within seventy-two hours of the action.  A person,
  4 46 candidate's committee or political committee taking
  4 47 such action independently of that candidate's
  4 48 committee shall notify that candidate's committee in
  4 49 writing within twenty-four hours of taking the action.
  4 50 The notification shall provide that candidate's
  5  1 committee with the cost of the promotion at fair
  5  2 market value.  A copy of the notification shall be
  5  3 sent to the board.
  5  4    Any person who makes expenditures or incurs
  5  5 indebtedness, other than incidental expenses incurred
  5  6 in performing volunteer work, in support or opposition
  5  7 to expressly advocate the nomination, election, or
  5  8 defeat of a candidate for public office shall notify
  5  9 the appropriate committee and provide necessary
  5 10 information for disclosure reports.
  5 11    2.  If a person, other than a political committee,
  5 12 makes one or more expenditures in excess of five
  5 13 hundred dollars in the aggregate, or incurs
  5 14 indebtedness in excess of five hundred dollars in the
  5 15 aggregate, in any one calendar year for purposes of
  5 16 supporting or opposing to expressly advocate the
  5 17 passage or defeat of a ballot issue, the person shall
  5 18 file a statement of activity within ten days of taking
  5 19 the action exceeding the threshold.  The statement
  5 20 shall contain information identifying the person
  5 21 filing the statement, identifying the ballot issue,
  5 22 and indicating the position urged by the person with
  5 23 regard to the ballot issue.  The person shall file
  5 24 reports indicating the dates on which the expenditures
  5 25 or incurrence of indebtedness took place; a
  5 26 description of the nature of the action taken which
  5 27 resulted in the expenditures or debt; and the cost of
  5 28 the promotion at fair market value.  For a local
  5 29 ballot issue, the reports shall be filed five days
  5 30 prior to any election in which the ballot issue
  5 31 appears and on the first day of the month following
  5 32 the election, as well as on the nineteenth day of
  5 33 January, May, and July of each year in which the
  5 34 ballot issue appears on the ballot and on the
  5 35 nineteenth day of January and October of each year in
  5 36 which the ballot issue does not appear on the ballot.
  5 37 For a statewide ballot issue, reports shall be filed
  5 38 on the nineteenth day of January, May, and July of
  5 39 each year.  The reports shall be current to five days
  5 40 prior to the filing deadline, and are considered
  5 41 timely filed if mailed bearing a United States postal
  5 42 service postmark on or before the due date.  Filing
  5 43 obligations shall cease when the person files a
  5 44 statement of discontinuation indicating that the
  5 45 person's financial activity in support of or in
  5 46 opposition to expressly advocate the passage or defeat
  5 47 of the ballot issue has ceased.  Statements and
  5 48 reports shall be filed with the commissioner
  5 49 responsible under section 47.2 for conducting the
  5 50 election at which the issue is voted upon, except that
  6  1 reports on a statewide ballot issue shall be filed
  6  2 with the board.
  6  3    3.  A person taking action involving the making of
  6  4 an expenditure or incurrence of indebtedness in
  6  5 support or opposition to expressly advocate the
  6  6 passage or defeat of a ballot issue independently of a
  6  7 political committee shall, within seventy-two hours of
  6  8 taking the action, notify in writing any political
  6  9 committee which advocates the same position with
  6 10 regard to the ballot issue as the person taking the
  6 11 action.  The notification shall provide the political
  6 12 committee with the cost of the promotion at fair
  6 13 market value.  A copy of the notification shall be
  6 14 sent to the board.  It shall be presumed that a
  6 15 benefited committee approves the action if the
  6 16 committee fails to file a statement of disavowal with
  6 17 the commissioner or board and takes corrective action
  6 18 within ten days of the action.  Action approved by a
  6 19 committee shall be reported as a contribution by the
  6 20 committee.
  6 21    Sec. 9.  Section 56.14, subsection 1, paragraph a,
  6 22 Code 1999, is amended to read as follows:
  6 23    1.  a.  A person who causes the publication or
  6 24 distribution of published material designed to promote
  6 25 or defeat expressly advocate the nomination, or
  6 26 election, or defeat of a candidate for public office
  6 27 or the passage or defeat of a constitutional amendment
  6 28 or public measure shall include conspicuously on the
  6 29 published material the identity and address of the
  6 30 person responsible for the material.  If the person
  6 31 responsible is an organization, the name of one
  6 32 officer of the organization shall appear on the
  6 33 material.  However, if the organization is a committee
  6 34 which has filed a statement of organization under this
  6 35 chapter, only the name of the committee is required to
  6 36 be included on the published material.  Published
  6 37 material designed to promote or defeat expressly
  6 38 advocate the nomination, or election, or defeat of a
  6 39 candidate for public office or the passage or defeat
  6 40 of a constitutional amendment or public measure which
  6 41 contains language or depictions which a reasonable
  6 42 person would understand as asserting that an entity
  6 43 which is incorporated or is a registered committee had
  6 44 authored the material shall, if the entity is not
  6 45 incorporated or a registered committee, include
  6 46 conspicuously on the published material a statement
  6 47 that the apparent organization or committee is not
  6 48 incorporated or a registered committee in addition to
  6 49 the attribution statement required by this section.
  6 50 For purposes of this section, "registered committee"
  7  1 means a committee which has an active statement of
  7  2 organization filed under section 56.5.
  7  3    Sec. 10.  Section 56.15, subsections 1, 2, and 4,
  7  4 Code 1999, are amended to read as follows:
  7  5    1.  Except as provided in subsections 3 and 4, it
  7  6 is unlawful for an insurance company, savings and loan
  7  7 association, bank, credit union, or corporation
  7  8 organized pursuant to the laws of this state, the
  7  9 United States, or any other state, territory, or
  7 10 foreign country, whether for profit or not, or an
  7 11 officer, agent, or representative acting for such
  7 12 insurance company, savings and loan association, bank,
  7 13 credit union, or corporation, to contribute any money,
  7 14 property, labor, or thing of value, directly or
  7 15 indirectly, to a committee, or for the purpose of
  7 16 influencing to expressly advocate that the vote of an
  7 17 elector be used to nominate, elect, or defeat a
  7 18 candidate for public office, except that such
  7 19 resources may be so expended in connection with a
  7 20 utility franchise election held pursuant to section
  7 21 364.2, subsection 4, or a ballot issue.  All such
  7 22 expenditures are subject to the disclosure
  7 23 requirements of this chapter.
  7 24    2.  Except as provided in subsection 3, it is
  7 25 unlawful for a member of a committee, or its employee
  7 26 or representative, except a ballot issue committee, or
  7 27 for a candidate for office or the representative of
  7 28 the candidate, to solicit, request, or knowingly
  7 29 receive from an insurance company, savings and loan
  7 30 association, bank, credit union, or corporation
  7 31 organized pursuant to the laws of this state, the
  7 32 United States, or any other state, territory, or
  7 33 foreign country, whether for profit or not, or its
  7 34 officer, agent, or representative, any money,
  7 35 property, or thing of value belonging to the insurance
  7 36 company, savings and loan association, bank, or
  7 37 corporation for campaign expenses, or for the purpose
  7 38 of influencing to expressly advocate that the vote of
  7 39 an elector be used to nominate, elect, or defeat a
  7 40 candidate for public office.  This section does not
  7 41 restrain or abridge the freedom of the press or
  7 42 prohibit the consideration and discussion in the press
  7 43 of candidacies, nominations, public officers, or
  7 44 public questions.
  7 45    4.  The restrictions imposed by this section
  7 46 relative to making, soliciting or receiving
  7 47 contributions shall not apply to a nonprofit
  7 48 corporation or organization which uses those
  7 49 contributions to encourage registration of voters and
  7 50 participation in the political process, or to
  8  1 publicize public issues, or both, but does not use any
  8  2 part of those contributions to endorse or oppose
  8  3 expressly advocate the nomination, election, or defeat
  8  4 of any candidate for public office.  A nonprofit
  8  5 corporation or organization may use contributions
  8  6 solicited or received to support or oppose expressly
  8  7 advocate the passage or defeat of ballot issues but
  8  8 the expenditures shall be disclosed by the nonprofit
  8  9 corporation or organization in the manner provided for
  8 10 a permanent organization temporarily engaged in a
  8 11 political activity under section 56.6.
  8 12    This section does not prohibit a family farm
  8 13 corporation, as defined in section 9H.1, from placing
  8 14 a yard sign on agricultural land, and does not
  8 15 prohibit the placement of yard signs, with the prior
  8 16 written permission of the individual property owner,
  8 17 on property rented or leased by a corporation from
  8 18 private individuals, subject to the requirements of
  8 19 section 56.14.  This section also does not prohibit
  8 20 the placement of a yard sign on residential property
  8 21 that is owned by a corporation, but rented or leased
  8 22 to a private individual, if the prior permission of
  8 23 the renter or lessee is obtained.
  8 24    Sec. 11.  Section 56.15, Code 1999, is amended by
  8 25 adding the following new subsection:
  8 26    NEW SUBSECTION.  4A.  For purposes of this section,
  8 27 "committee" shall include statutory political
  8 28 committees organized under chapter 43, and nonparty
  8 29 political organizations organized under chapter 44.
  8 30    Sec. 12.  NEW SECTION.  56.15B  DEDUCTING DUES FROM
  8 31 PAY PROHIBITED.
  8 32    It shall be a violation of this chapter for any
  8 33 person, firm, association, labor organization,
  8 34 financial institution, or corporation to deduct labor
  8 35 organization dues, charges, fees, contributions, fines
  8 36 or assessments from an employee's earnings, wages, or
  8 37 compensation, unless the employer has first been
  8 38 presented with an individual written order signed by
  8 39 the employee, which written order shall be terminable
  8 40 at any time by the employee giving at least thirty
  8 41 days' written notice of such termination to the
  8 42 employer.  Violations of this section shall be
  8 43 punishable according to the administrative procedures
  8 44 to be followed by the ethics and campaign disclosure
  8 45 board pursuant to chapter 68B.
  8 46    Sec. 13.  Section 56.22, subsection 2, Code 1999,
  8 47 is amended to read as follows:
  8 48    2.  Funds distributed to statutory political
  8 49 committees pursuant to this chapter shall not be used
  8 50 to support or oppose expressly advocate the
  9  1 nomination, election, or defeat of any candidate.
  9  2 Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to
  9  3 prohibit a statutory political committee from using
  9  4 such funds to pay expenses incurred in arranging and
  9  5 holding a nominating convention."
  9  6    #2.  Title page, by striking lines 2 through 6 and
  9  7 inserting the following:  "express advocacy of
  9  8 candidates and ballot issues and requiring compliance
  9  9 with labor union member contribution provisions." 
  9 10 
  9 11 
  9 12                               
  9 13 BILL FINK 
  9 14 SF 470.207 78
  9 15 jj/gg
     

Text: S03452                            Text: S03454
Text: S03400 - S03499                   Text: S Index
Bills and Amendments: General Index     Bill History: General Index

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