House File 596 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 596 BY BAETH and ZABNER A BILL FOR An Act limiting campaign contributions to certain candidates, 1 and making penalties applicable. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 2071YH (3) 90 ss/ns

H.F. 596 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 68A.507 Contribution limits for 1 candidates. 2 1. For the purposes of this section, “election campaign 3 cycle” means the time period between elections for a particular 4 office. Each primary, general, and special election is a 5 separate election campaign cycle. Separate contribution limits 6 for each type of election for a particular office, including 7 primary, general, and special elections, apply in an election 8 campaign cycle. 9 2. A person shall not make, and a candidate for the office 10 of a statewide elected official as defined in section 68B.2, 11 the candidate’s committee, or anyone acting on behalf of the 12 candidate or candidate’s committee shall not accept, any 13 contribution which will cause the total amount of the person’s 14 contributions to the candidate or candidate’s committee to 15 exceed the following amounts for an election campaign cycle: 16 a. From a political committee, four thousand dollars. 17 b. From a national political party, state statutory 18 political committee, or county statutory political committee, 19 forty thousand dollars. 20 c. From any other natural person, four thousand dollars. 21 3. A person shall not make, and a candidate for state 22 senator or state representative, the candidate’s committee, 23 or anyone acting on behalf of the candidate or candidate’s 24 committee shall not accept, any contribution which will cause 25 the total amount of the person’s contributions to the candidate 26 or candidate’s committee to exceed the following amounts for an 27 election campaign cycle: 28 a. From a political committee, one thousand dollars. 29 b. From a national political party, state statutory 30 political committee, or county statutory political committee, 31 ten thousand dollars. 32 c. From any other natural person, one thousand dollars. 33 EXPLANATION 34 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 35 -1- LSB 2071YH (3) 90 ss/ns 1/ 2

H.F. 596 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 1 This bill imposes campaign contribution limits on candidates 2 for statewide elected office and candidates for state senator 3 or representative. In an election campaign cycle for statewide 4 elected office, a political committee shall not contribute more 5 than $4,000 to one candidate; a national political party, state 6 statutory political committee, or county statutory political 7 committee shall not contribute more than $40,000; and any other 8 natural person shall not contribute more than $4,000. For a 9 candidate for state senator or representative, a political 10 committee shall not contribute more than $1,000; a national 11 political party, state statutory political committee, or county 12 statutory political committee shall not contribute more than 13 $10,000; and any other natural person shall not contribute more 14 than $1,000. 15 A person who violates the bill is subject to penalties 16 pursuant to Code section 68B.32D. A person who willfully 17 violates the bill is guilty of a serious misdemeanor (Code 18 section 68A.701). A serious misdemeanor is punishable by 19 confinement for no more than one year and a fine of at least 20 $430 but not more than $2,560. 21 A variety of civil remedies are also available in Code 22 section 68B.32D for a violation of Code chapter 68A or rules 23 of the ethics and campaign disclosure board, ranging from a 24 reprimand to a civil penalty of not more than $2,000. 25 -2- LSB 2071YH (3) 90 ss/ns 2/ 2