1. a. Each treasurer of a committee shall file with the board or commissioner disclosure reports of contributions received and disbursed on forms prescribed by rules as provided by chapter 17A. The reports from all committees, except those committees for municipal and school elective offices and for local ballot issues, shall be filed on the nineteenth day or mailed bearing a United States postal service postmark dated on or before the nineteenth day of January, May, July, and October of each year. The May, July, and October reports shall be current as of five days prior to the filing deadline. The January report shall be the annual report covering activity through December 31. However, a state, county, or city statutory political committee is not required to file the May and July reports for a year in which no primary or general election is held at the respective state, county, or city level. A candidate's committee, other than for municipal and school elective offices, for a year in which the candidate is not standing for election, is not required to file the May, July, and October reports. Reports for committees for a ballot issue placed before the voters of the entire state shall be filed at the January, May, July, and October deadlines.
b. A candidate's committee of a candidate for statewide office or the general assembly shall file a supplementary report in a year in which a primary, general or special election for that office is held if the committee of a candidate for governor receives ten thousand dollars or more, a committee of a candidate for any other statewide office receives five thousand dollars or more, or the committee of a candidate for the general assembly receives one thousand dollars or more after the close of the period covered by the last report filed prior to that primary, general or special election. The amounts of contributions causing a supplementary report under this paragraph shall include the estimated fair market value of in-kind contributions. The report shall be filed by the Friday immediately preceding the election and be current through the Tuesday immediately preceding the election.
c. A candidate's committee for a candidate for the general assembly at a special election shall file a report by the fourteenth day prior to the special election which is current through the nineteenth day prior to the special election.
d. Committees for municipal and school elective offices and local ballot issues shall file their first reports five days prior to any election in which the name of the candidate or the local ballot issue which they expressly advocate appears on the printed ballot and shall file their next report on the first day of the month following the final election in a calendar year in which the candidate's name or the ballot issue appears on the ballot. A committee expressly advocating the nomination, election, or defeat of a candidate for a municipal or school elective office or the passage or defeat of a local ballot issue shall also file disclosure reports on the nineteenth day of January and October of each year in which the candidate or ballot issue does not appear on the ballot and on the nineteenth day of January, May, and July of each year in which the candidate or ballot issue appears on the ballot, until the committee dissolves. These reports shall be current to five days prior to the filing deadline and are considered timely filed if mailed bearing a United States postal service postmark on or before the due date.
e. A state statutory political committee and congressional district committees as authorized by the constitution of the state statutory political committee are not subject to this subsection if the state statutory political committee and congressional district political committees file copies of campaign disclosure reports as required by federal law with the board at the times the reports are required to be filed under federal law, provided that the federal reports contain all information required by this chapter. A committee of a national political party is not required to file a disclosure report with the board if it is required by federal law to file a campaign disclosure report with a federal agency.
2. If any committee, after having filed a statement of organization or one or more disclosure reports, dissolves or determines that it shall no longer receive contributions or make disbursements, the treasurer of the committee shall notify the board or the commissioner within thirty days following such dissolution by filing a dissolution report on forms prescribed by the board. Moneys refunded in accordance with a dissolution statement shall be considered a disbursement or expense but the names of persons receiving refunds need not be released or reported unless the contributors' names were required to be reported when the contribution was received.
3. Each report under this section shall disclose:
a. The amount of cash on hand at the beginning of the reporting period.
b. The name and mailing address of each person who has made one or more contributions of money to the committee including the proceeds from any fund-raising events except those reportable under paragraph "f" of this subsection, when the aggregate amount in a calendar year exceeds the amount specified in the following schedule:
(1) For any candidate for school or township office . . . . . . . . . $ 25
(2) For any candidate for city office . . . . . . . . . $ 25
(3) For any candidate for county office . . . . . . . . . $ 25
(4) For any candidate for the general assembly . . . . . . . . . $ 25
(5) For any candidate for the Congress of the United States . . . . . . . . . $100
(6) For any candidate for statewide office . . . . . . . . . $ 25
(7) For any committee of a national political party . . . . . . . . . $200
(8) For any state statutory political committee . . . . . . . . . $200
(9) For any county statutory political committee . . . . . . . . . $ 50
(10) For any other political committee . . . . . . . . . $ 25
(11) For any ballot issue . . . . . . . . . $ 25
c. The total amount of contributions made to the political committee during the reporting period and not reported under paragraph "b" of this subsection.
d. The name and mailing address of each person who has made one or more in-kind contributions to the committee when the aggregate market value of the in-kind contribution in a calendar year exceeds the amount specified in subsection 3, paragraph "b", of this section. In-kind contributions shall be designated on a separate schedule from schedules showing contributions of money and shall identify the nature of the contribution and provide its estimated fair market value.
e. Each loan to any person or committee within the calendar year in an aggregate amount in excess of those amounts enumerated in the schedule in paragraph "b" of this subsection, together with the name and mailing address of the lender and endorsers, the date and amount of each loan received, and the date and amount of each loan repayment. Loans received and loan repayments shall be reported on a separate schedule.
f. The total amount of proceeds from any fund-raising event. Contributions and sales at fund-raising events which involve the sale of a product acquired at less than market value and sold for an amount of money in excess of the amount specified in paragraph "b" of this subsection shall be designated separately from in-kind and monetary contributions and the report shall include the name and address of the donor, a description of the product, the market value of the product, the sales price of the product, and the name and address of the purchaser.
g. The name and mailing address of each person to whom disbursements or loan repayments have been made by the committee from contributions during the reporting period and the amount, purpose, and date of each disbursement except that disbursements of less than five dollars may be shown as miscellaneous disbursements so long as the aggregate miscellaneous disbursements to any one person during a calendar year do not exceed one hundred dollars. If disbursements are made to a consultant, the consultant shall provide the committee with a statement of disbursements made by the consultant during the reporting period showing the name and address of the recipient, amount, purpose, and date to the same extent as if made by the candidate, which shall be included in the report by the committee.
h. The amount and nature of debts and obligations owed in excess of those amounts stated in the schedule in paragraph "b" of this subsection by the committee. Loans made to a committee and reported under paragraph "b" of this subsection shall not be considered a debt or obligation under this paragraph. A loan made by a committee to any person shall be considered a disbursement.
i. If a person listed under paragraph "b", "d", "e", or "f" as making a contribution or loan to or purchase from a candidate's committee is related to the candidate within the third degree of consanguinity or affinity, the existence of that person's family relationship shall be indicated on the report.
j. The name and mailing address of each person with whom a candidate's committee has entered into a contract during the reporting period for future or continuing performance and the nature of the performance, period of performance and total, anticipated compensation for performance. For a report filed under subsection 1, paragraph "b", this paragraph also requires the reporting of estimates of performance which the candidate's committee reasonably expects to contract for during the balance of the period running until thirty days after the election.
k. Other pertinent information required by this chapter, by rules adopted pursuant to this chapter, or forms approved by the board.
4. If the report is the first report filed by the committee, the report shall include all information required under subsection 3 covering the period from the beginning of the committee's financial activity, even if from a different calendar year, through the end of the current reporting period. If no contributions have been accepted nor any disbursements made or indebtedness incurred during that reporting period, the treasurer of the committee shall file a disclosure statement which shows only the amount of cash on hand at the beginning of the reporting period.
5. A committee shall not dissolve until all loans, debts and obligations are paid, forgiven, or transferred and the remaining money in the account is distributed according to the organization statement. If a loan is transferred or forgiven, the amount of the transferred or forgiven loan must be reported as an in-kind contribution and deducted from the loans payable balance on the disclosure form. If, upon review of a committee's statement of dissolution and final report, the board determines that the requirements for dissolution have been satisfied, the dissolution shall be certified and the committee relieved of further filing requirements.
A statutory political committee is prohibited from dissolving, but may be placed in an inactive status upon the approval of the board. Inactive status may be requested for a statutory political committee when no officers exist and the statutory political committee has ceased to function. The request shall be made by the previous treasurer or chairperson of the committee and by the appropriate state statutory political committee. A statutory political committee granted inactive status shall not solicit or expend funds in its name until the committee reorganizes and fulfills the requirements of a political committee under this chapter.
6. A permanent organization temporarily engaging in activity which would qualify it as a political committee shall organize a political committee and shall keep the funds relating to that political activity segregated from its operating funds. The political committee shall file reports in accordance with this chapter. When the permanent organization ceases to be involved in the political activity, it shall dissolve the political committee.
A communication regarding any subject by a permanent organization, which is a nonprofit organization, to its dues-paying members is not political activity requiring the organization of a political committee, reporting, or disclosure pursuant to this chapter.
As used in this subsection, "permanent organization" means an organization which is continuing, stable, and enduring, and which was originally organized for purposes other than engaging in election activities.
[S13, § 1137-a1, -a3; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, § 972, 973, 975, 976; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, § 56.1, 56.2, 56.4, 56.5; C75, 77, 79, 81, § 56.6; 81 Acts, ch 35, § 6-8]
83 Acts, ch 139, § 4-9, 14; 86 Acts, ch 1023, § 5-9; 86 Acts, ch 1224, § 38; 87 Acts, ch 112, § 6, 7; 89 Acts, ch 107, § 1; 90 Acts, ch 1233, § 2; 91 Acts, ch 165, § 1; 91 Acts, ch 226, § 5; 92 Acts, ch 1228, § 25; 93 Acts, ch 163, § 33; 95 Acts, ch 198, §9, 10; 99 Acts, ch 136, §6, 17
Referred to in § 56.5, 56.15, 56.43, 68B.32A
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