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House Bill 0183c1

Florida House of Representatives - 1997 CS/HB 183 By the Committee on Election Reform and Representatives Diaz de la Portilla, Feeney, Byrd and Culp 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to campaign financing; amending 3 s. 106.1405, F.S.; prohibiting the use of 4 campaign funds by candidates and their spouses 5 for salary or personal expenses; providing 6 penalties; amending s. 106.011, F.S.; revising 7 the definition of "independent expenditure"; 8 amending s. 106.085, F.S.; revising notice 9 requirements for certain independent 10 expenditures; providing penalties; providing an 11 effective date. 12 13 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 14 15 Section 1. Section 106.1405, Florida Statutes, is 16 amended to read: 17 106.1405 Use of campaign funds for salary or personal 18 expenses prohibited; penalties by candidates.-- 19 (1) If A candidate or the spouse of a candidate may 20 not intends to draw a salary from the campaign account of such 21 candidate or use funds on deposit in a campaign account of 22 such candidate to defray normal living expenses for the 23 candidate or the candidate's family, other than expenses 24 actually incurred for transportation, meals, and lodging by 25 the candidate or a family member during travel in the course 26 of the campaign, the candidate shall, at the same time he or 27 she appoints a treasurer and designates his or her campaign 28 depository, file with the officer before whom he or she 29 qualifies a statement that the candidate intends to use the 30 funds for such purposes. Unless the statement of intent is 31 filed at such time, the funds shall not be so used. 1 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. Florida House of Representatives - 1997 CS/HB 183 168-359-97 1 (2) Violation of this section is punishable as 2 provided in s. 106.19. 3 Section 2. Subsection (5) of section 106.011, Florida 4 Statutes, is amended to to read: 5 106.011 Definitions.--As used in this chapter, the 6 following terms have the following meanings unless the context 7 clearly indicates otherwise: 8 (5) "Independent expenditure" means an expenditure by 9 a person or organization for the purpose of advocating the 10 election or defeat of a candidate or the approval or rejection 11 of an issue, which expenditure is not controlled by, 12 coordinated with, or made upon consultation with, any 13 candidate, political committee, or agent of such candidate or 14 committee or which expenditure is not controlled by, 15 coordinated with, made upon consultation with, or made through 16 the national or state political party, or the state or county 17 executive committee, including any subordinate committee of a 18 national or state committee of a political party or executive 19 committee. An expenditure for such purpose by a person having 20 a contract with the candidate, political committee, or agent 21 of such candidate or committee in a given election period 22 shall not be deemed an independent expenditure. 23 Section 3. Section 106.085, Florida Statutes, is 24 amended to read: 25 106.085 Independent expenditures; unfair surprise 26 prohibited; notice requirements; penalty.-- 27 (1) Any individual, group, organization, or committee 28 making an independent expenditure in excess of $1,000 on 29 behalf of or in opposition to a candidate shall deliver notice 30 in writing of such independent expenditure, as well as the 31 amount of such expenditure and a detailed description of the 2 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. Florida House of Representatives - 1997 CS/HB 183 168-359-97 1 media type or use of such expenditure, within 24 hours after 2 obligating any funds for such expenditure. However, the notice 3 of the obligation of the expenditure must be made at least 10 4 days prior to any election. An expenditure is obligated upon 5 the purchase of any political advertising or the entering into 6 any agreement, either oral or written, to purchase any 7 political advertising. Such notice shall be delivered to all 8 of the candidates in the affected race and to the qualifying 9 officer of such candidates. The notice shall specifically 10 state the name of the candidate whom the independent 11 expenditure is designed to support or oppose. For purposes of 12 this subsection, notice shall include, but is not limited to, 13 personal hand delivery or overnight mail. Each new 14 expenditure shall require the delivery or filing of an 15 additional new notice. This subsection does not apply to a 16 primary election if the candidate is unopposed in the primary 17 election. 18 (2)(a) If the political advertisement required to be 19 noticed under subsection (1) is to be broadcast over any 20 television, cable television, or radio station, a copy of the 21 actual advertisement or text of the advertisement must be 22 provided with the notification, along with a listing of the 23 stations airing the advertisement. 24 (b) If the political advertisement required to be 25 noticed under subsection (1) is to be communicated through 26 means other than the spoken word, a duplicate reproduced from 27 the original advertisement to be used must be provided with 28 the notification. 29 (c) If the political advertisement required to be 30 noticed under subsection (1) is to be a telephone 31 solicitation, a copy of the script of the telephone 3 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. Florida House of Representatives - 1997 CS/HB 183 168-359-97 1 solicitation must be provided with the notification, along 2 with the estimated number of intended recipients. 3 (3)(2) A person who violates any provision of this 4 section shall be liable for a civil fine of up to $5,000 to be 5 determined by the Florida Elections Commission or the entire 6 an amount equal to 10 percent of the expenditure not noticed, 7 whichever is greater. 8 (4) This section does not prohibit a person from 9 making an independent expenditure in support of or in 10 opposition to any candidate or issue, unless otherwise 11 prohibited by law, from expressing his or her opinion on any 12 issue, or from purchasing any political advertisement or 13 campaign material. 14 Section 4. This act shall take effect January 1, 1998. 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 4