| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to campaign financing; amending s. |
| 3 | 106.141, F.S.; allowing unopposed legislative candidates |
| 4 | to transfer surplus campaign funds to or retain such funds |
| 5 | in a campaign account for reelection to the same office; |
| 6 | establishing limits on the transferable amount of such |
| 7 | funds; providing a prohibition from fundraising under |
| 8 | certain conditions; providing an effective date. |
| 9 |
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| 10 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 11 |
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| 12 | Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (4) of section |
| 13 | 106.141, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 14 | 106.141 Disposition of surplus funds by candidates.-- |
| 15 | (4)(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b), any candidate |
| 16 | required to dispose of funds pursuant to this section shall, at |
| 17 | the option of the candidate, dispose of such funds by any of the |
| 18 | following means, or any combination thereof: |
| 19 | 1. Return pro rata to each contributor the funds that have |
| 20 | not been spent or obligated. |
| 21 | 2. Donate the funds that have not been spent or obligated |
| 22 | to a charitable organization or organizations that meet the |
| 23 | qualifications of s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. |
| 24 | 3. Give not more than $10,000 of the funds that have not |
| 25 | been spent or obligated to the political party of which such |
| 26 | candidate is a member, except that a candidate for the Florida |
| 27 | Senate may give not more than $30,000 of such funds to the |
| 28 | political party of which the candidate is a member. |
| 29 | 4. Give the funds that have not been spent or obligated: |
| 30 | a. In the case of a candidate for state office, to the |
| 31 | state, to be deposited in either the Election Campaign Financing |
| 32 | Trust Fund or the General Revenue Fund, as designated by the |
| 33 | candidate; or |
| 34 | b. In the case of a candidate for an office of a political |
| 35 | subdivision, to such political subdivision, to be deposited in |
| 36 | the general fund thereof. |
| 37 | 5. With respect to an unopposed candidate for the House of |
| 38 | Representatives or the Senate, transfer the funds to or retain |
| 39 | the funds in a campaign account for the same office to which the |
| 40 | candidate was elected by virtue of being unopposed, with a |
| 41 | maximum per election of $50,000 for a candidate for the House of |
| 42 | Representatives and $150,000 for a candidate for the Senate. An |
| 43 | unopposed candidate for the House of Representatives who |
| 44 | exercises this option is prohibited from accepting campaign |
| 45 | contributions for the same office for 1 year after the date of |
| 46 | qualifying for the election in which such option is exercised. |
| 47 | An unopposed candidate for the Senate who exercises this option |
| 48 | is prohibited from accepting campaign contributions for the same |
| 49 | office for 2 years after the date of qualifying for the election |
| 50 | in which such option is exercised. |
| 51 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2006. |