Connecticut General Statutes 9-601c – “Independent expenditure” defined
(a) As used in this chapter and chapter 157, the term “independent expenditure” means an expenditure, as defined in § 9-601b, that is made without the consent, coordination, or consultation of, a candidate or agent of the candidate, candidate committee, political committee or party committee.
Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 9-601c
- Agent: means a person authorized to act for or in place of another. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
- Candidate: means an individual who seeks nomination for election or election to public office whether or not such individual is elected, and for the purposes of this chapter and chapter 157, an individual shall be deemed to seek nomination for election or election if such individual has (A) been endorsed by a party or become eligible for a position on the ballot at an election or primary, or (B) solicited or received contributions, other than for a party committee, made expenditures or given such individual's consent to any other person, other than a party committee, to solicit or receive contributions or make expenditures with the intent to bring about such individual's nomination for election or election to any such office. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
- candidate committee: includes candidate committees for participating and nonparticipating candidates, unless the context of a provision clearly indicates otherwise. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
- Committee: means a party committee, political committee or a candidate committee organized, as the case may be, for a single primary, election or referendum, or for ongoing political activities, to aid or promote the success or defeat of any political party, any one or more candidates for public office or the position of town committee member or any referendum question. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
- Deputy treasurer: means the individual appointed by the candidate or by the chairperson of a committee to serve in the capacity of the treasurer if the treasurer is unable to perform the treasurer's duties. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
- Election: means any electors' meeting at which the electors choose public officials by use of voting tabulators or by paper ballots as provided in §. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
- Entity: includes any tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or any subsequent corresponding internal revenue code of the United States, as amended from time to time, and any tax-exempt political organization organized under Section 527 of said code. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- expenditure: means :
(1) Any purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value, when made to promote the success or defeat of any candidate seeking the nomination for election, or election, of any person or for the purpose of aiding or promoting the success or defeat of any referendum question or the success or defeat of any political party. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601b
- independent expenditure: means an expenditure, as defined in §. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601c
- Individual: means a human being, a sole proprietorship, or a professional service corporation organized under chapter 594a and owned by a single human being. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
- Party committee: means a state central committee or a town committee. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
- Person: means an individual, committee, firm, partnership, organization, association, syndicate, company trust, corporation, limited liability company or any other legal entity of any kind but does not mean the state or any political or administrative subdivision of the state. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
- Political committee: means (A) a committee organized by a business entity or organization, (B) persons other than individuals, or two or more individuals organized or acting jointly conducting their activities in or outside the state, (C) an exploratory committee, (D) a committee established by or on behalf of a slate of candidates in a primary for the office of justice of the peace, but does not mean a candidate committee or a party committee, (E) a legislative caucus committee, or (F) a legislative leadership committee. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
- Treasurer: means the individual appointed by a candidate or by the chairperson of a party committee or a political committee to receive and disburse funds on behalf of the candidate or committee. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
(b) When the State Elections Enforcement Commission evaluates an expenditure to determine whether such expenditure is an independent expenditure, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the following expenditures are not independent expenditures:
(1) An expenditure made by a person in cooperation, consultation or in concert with, at the request, suggestion or direction of, or pursuant to a general or particular understanding with (A) a candidate, candidate committee, political committee or party committee, or (B) a consultant or other agent acting on behalf of a candidate, candidate committee, political committee or party committee;
(2) An expenditure made by a person for the production, dissemination, distribution or publication, in whole or in substantial part, of any broadcast or any written, graphic or other form of political advertising or campaign communication prepared by (A) a candidate, candidate committee, political committee or party committee, or (B) a consultant or other agent acting on behalf of a candidate, candidate committee, political committee or party committee;
(3) An expenditure made by a person based on information about a candidate’s, political committee’s, or party committee’s plans, projects or needs, provided by (A) a candidate, candidate committee, political committee or party committee, or (B) a consultant or other agent acting on behalf of a candidate, candidate committee, political committee or party committee, with the intent that such expenditure be made;
(4) An expenditure made by an individual who, in the same election cycle, is serving or has served as the campaign chairperson, treasurer or deputy treasurer of a candidate committee, political committee or party committee benefiting from such expenditure, or in any other executive or policymaking position, including as a member, employee, fundraiser, consultant or other agent, of a candidate committee, political committee or party committee;
(5) An expenditure made by a person or an entity on or after January first in the year of an election in which a candidate is seeking public office that benefits such candidate when such person or entity has hired an individual as an employee or consultant and such individual was an employee of or consultant to such candidate’s candidate committee or such candidate’s opponent’s candidate committee during any part of the eighteen-month period preceding such expenditure;
(6) An expenditure made by a person for fundraising activities (A) for a candidate, candidate committee, political committee or party committee, or a consultant or other agent acting on behalf of a candidate, candidate committee, political committee or party committee, or (B) for the solicitation or receipt of contributions on behalf of a candidate, candidate committee, political committee or party committee, or a consultant or other agent acting on behalf of a candidate, candidate committee, political committee or party committee;
(7) An expenditure made by a person based on information about a candidate’s campaign plans, projects or needs, that is directly or indirectly provided by a candidate, the candidate’s candidate committee, a political committee or a party committee, or a consultant or other agent acting on behalf of such candidate, candidate committee, political committee or party committee, to the person making the expenditure or such person’s agent, with an express or tacit understanding that such person is considering making the expenditure;
(8) An expenditure made by a person for a communication that clearly identifies a candidate during an election campaign, if the person making the expenditure, or such person’s agent, has informed the candidate who benefits from the expenditure, that candidate’s candidate committee, a political committee or a party committee, or a consultant or other agent acting on behalf of the benefiting candidate or candidate committee, political committee, or party committee, concerning the communication’s contents, or of the intended audience, timing, location or mode or frequency of dissemination. As used in this subdivision, a communication clearly identifies a candidate when that communication contains the name, nickname, initials, photograph or drawing of the candidate or an unambiguous reference to that candidate, which includes, but is not limited to, a reference that can only mean that candidate; and
(9) An expenditure made by a person or an entity for consultant or creative services, including, but not limited to, services related to communications strategy or design or campaign strategy or to engage a campaign-related vendor, to be used to promote or oppose a candidate’s election to office if the provider of such services is or has provided consultant or creative services to such candidate, such candidate’s candidate committee or an agent of such candidate committee, or to any opposing candidate’s candidate committee or an agent of such candidate committee after January first of the year in which the expenditure occurs. For purposes of this subdivision, communications strategy or design does not include the costs of printing or costs for the use of a medium for the purpose of communications. For purposes of this subdivision, campaign-related vendor includes, but is not limited to, a vendor that provides the following services: Polling, mail design, mail strategy, political strategy, general campaign advice or telephone banking.
(c) When the State Elections Enforcement Commission evaluates an expenditure to determine whether an expenditure by entity is an independent expenditure, the following shall not be presumed to constitute evidence of consent, coordination or consultation within the meaning of subsection (a) of this section: (1) Participation by a candidate or an agent of the candidate in an event sponsored by the entity, unless such event promotes the success of the candidate’s candidacy or the defeat of the candidate’s opponent, or unless the event is during the period that is forty-five days prior to the primary for which the candidate is seeking nomination for election or election to office; (2) membership of the candidate or agent of the candidate in the entity, unless the candidate or agent of the candidate holds an executive or policymaking position within the entity after the candidate becomes a candidate; or (3) financial support for, or solicitation or fundraising on behalf of the entity by a candidate or an agent of the candidate, unless the entity has made or obligated to make independent expenditures in support of such candidate in the election or primary for which the candidate is a candidate.
(d) When the State Elections Enforcement Commission evaluates an expenditure to determine whether such expenditure is an independent expenditure, the commission shall consider, as an effective rebuttal to the presumptions provided in subsection (b) of this section, the establishment by the person making the expenditure of a firewall policy designed and implemented to prohibit the flow of information between (1) employees, consultants or other individuals providing services to the person paying for the expenditure, and (2) the candidate or agents of the candidate.