Senate Study Bill 1033 - IntroducedA Bill ForAn Act 1relating to consent for recurring contributions made
2to a political or candidate’s committee, making penalties
3applicable, and including applicability provisions.
4BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
1   Section 1.  NEW SECTION.  68A.507  Recurring contributions —
2consent required.
   31.  a.  A solicitation by a committee for a recurring
4contribution, directly or through an agent or intermediary,
5shall be in a form that requires affirmative consent from the
6person making the recurring contribution.
   7b.  A committee shall not accept a recurring contribution
8from a person unless the committee receives the affirmative
9consent of the person to make a recurring contribution at the
10time of the initial contribution.
   112.  A committee that accepts a recurring contribution shall
12immediately cancel a recurring contribution upon request of the
13person making the contribution.
   143.  A recurring contribution made in response to a
15solicitation that did not require affirmative consent shall
16be returned to the person making the contribution within
17fourteen days of receipt of a request from the person making
18the contribution to return the contribution or the date on
19which the committee becomes aware that the solicitation of
20the recurring contribution was in violation of subsection 1,
21whichever is earlier.
   224.  This section does not apply to a political committee
23soliciting or accepting a contribution from an employee or
24shareholder.
   255.  For the purposes of this section:
   26a.  “Affirmative consent” does not include passive action
27by the person making the contribution, such as by failing to
28uncheck a prechecked box authorizing a recurring contribution.
   29b.  “Recurring contribution” means a contribution from a
30person to a committee that is automatically charged to the
31person’s bank account, credit card, or other payment account on
32a repeated basis without approval or other affirmative consent
33by the person after the initial contribution to the committee.
34   Sec. 2.  APPLICABILITY.
     351.  Except as provided in subsection 2, this Act applies
-1-1to a recurring contribution created before, on, or after the
2effective date of this Act.
   32.  Section 68A.507, subsection 3, as enacted in this Act,
4applies to a recurring contribution made on or after the
5effective date of this Act.
6EXPLANATION
7The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
8the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   9This bill relates to recurring contributions made to a
10political committee or a candidate’s committee. The bill
11prohibits a committee from accepting a recurring contribution
12from a person unless the committee has received the affirmative
13consent of the person to make a recurring contribution.
14Affirmative consent does not include passive action by the
15person making the contribution. The bill defines “recurring
16contribution”.
   17The bill requires a committee to immediately cancel a
18recurring contribution upon request of the person making the
19contribution. The bill also requires a committee to return
20a recurring contribution made in response to a solicitation
21that violates the provisions of the bill to the person within
2214 days of receipt of a request from the person or the date
23on which the committee becomes aware that the solicitation
24violated the provisions of the bill, whichever is sooner,
25unless the recurring contribution was made prior to the
26effective date of the bill. Otherwise, the bill applies to
27recurring contributions created before, on, or after the
28effective date of the bill. The bill does not apply to a
29political committee soliciting or accepting a contribution from
30an employee or shareholder.
   31By operation of law, a person who willfully violates a
32provision of the bill is guilty of a serious misdemeanor. A
33serious misdemeanor is punishable by confinement for no more
34than one year and a fine of at least $430 but not more than
35$2,560.
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ss/ns