20A-11-602. Political action committees — Financial reporting.
(1)
Terms Used In Utah Code 20A-11-602
Address: means the number and street where an individual resides or where a reporting entity has its principal office. See Utah Code 20A-11-101
Candidate: means any person who:
(a)
files a declaration of candidacy for a public office; or
(b)
receives contributions, makes expenditures, or gives consent for any other person to receive contributions or make expenditures to bring about the person's nomination or election to a public office. See Utah Code 20A-11-101
Contribution: means any of the following when done for political purposes:
(i)
a gift, subscription, donation, loan, advance, or deposit of money or anything of value given to the filing entity;
(ii)
an express, legally enforceable contract, promise, or agreement to make a gift, subscription, donation, unpaid or partially unpaid loan, advance, or deposit of money or anything of value to the filing entity;
(iii)
any transfer of funds from another reporting entity to the filing entity;
(iv)
compensation paid by any person or reporting entity other than the filing entity for personal services provided without charge to the filing entity;
(v)
remuneration from:
(A)
any organization or its directly affiliated organization that has a registered lobbyist; or
(B)
any agency or subdivision of the state, including school districts;
(vi)
a loan made by a candidate deposited to the candidate's own campaign; and
Convention: means the political party convention at which party officers and delegates are selected. See Utah Code 20A-1-102
Detailed listing: means :
(a)
for each contribution or public service assistance:
(i)
the name and address of the individual or source making the contribution or public service assistance, except to the extent that the name or address of the individual or source is unknown;
(ii)
the amount or value of the contribution or public service assistance; and
(iii)
the date the contribution or public service assistance was made; and
(b)
for each expenditure:
(i)
the amount of the expenditure;
(ii)
the goods or services acquired by the expenditure; and
Expenditure: means any of the following made by a reporting entity or an agent of a reporting entity on behalf of the reporting entity:
(i)
any disbursement from contributions, receipts, or from the separate bank account required by this chapter;
(ii)
a purchase, payment, donation, distribution, loan, advance, deposit, gift of money, or anything of value made for political purposes;
(iii)
an express, legally enforceable contract, promise, or agreement to make any purchase, payment, donation, distribution, loan, advance, deposit, gift of money, or anything of value for political purposes;
(iv)
compensation paid by a filing entity for personal services rendered by a person without charge to a reporting entity;
(v)
a transfer of funds between the filing entity and a candidate's personal campaign committee;
(vi)
goods or services provided by the filing entity to or for the benefit of another reporting entity for political purposes at less than fair market value; or
Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
Financial statement: includes any summary report, interim report, verified financial statement, or other statement disclosing contributions, expenditures, receipts, donations, or disbursements that is required by this chapter or 2. See Utah Code 20A-11-101
Municipal general election: means the election held in municipalities and, as applicable, special districts on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of each odd-numbered year for the purposes established in Section 20A-1-202. See Utah Code 20A-1-102
Person: means both natural and legal persons, including individuals, business organizations, personal campaign committees, party committees, political action committees, political issues committees, and labor organizations, as defined in Section 20A-11-1501. See Utah Code 20A-11-101
Political action committee: includes groups affiliated with a registered political party but not authorized or organized by the governing board of the registered political party that receive contributions or makes expenditures for political purposes. See Utah Code 20A-11-101
Political convention: means a county or state political convention held by a registered political party to select candidates. See Utah Code 20A-11-101
Political purposes: means an act done with the intent or in a way to influence or tend to influence, directly or indirectly, any person to refrain from voting or to vote for or against any:
(a)
candidate or a person seeking a municipal or county office at any caucus, political convention, or election; or
Publicly identified class of individuals: means a group of 50 or more individuals sharing a common occupation, interest, or association that contribute to a political action committee or political issues committee and whose names can be obtained by contacting the political action committee or political issues committee upon whose financial statement the individuals are listed. See Utah Code 20A-11-101
Registered political action committee: means any political action committee that is required by this chapter to file a statement of organization with the Office of the Lieutenant Governor. See Utah Code 20A-11-101
Regular general election: means the election held throughout the state on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of each even-numbered year for the purposes established in Section 20A-1-201. See Utah Code 20A-1-102
Reporting entity: means a candidate, a candidate's personal campaign committee, a judge, a judge's personal campaign committee, an officeholder, a party committee, a political action committee, a political issues committee, a corporation, or a labor organization, as defined in Section 20A-11-1501. See Utah Code 20A-11-101
Source: means the person or entity that is the legal owner of the tangible or intangible asset that comprises the contribution. See Utah Code 20A-11-101
State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes a state, district, or territory of the United States. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
(a)
Each registered political action committee that has received contributions totaling at least $750, or disbursed expenditures totaling at least $750, during a calendar year shall file a verified financial statement with the lieutenant governor’s office:
(i)
on January 10, reporting contributions and expenditures as of December 31 of the previous year;
(ii)
seven days before the state political convention of each major political party;
(iii)
seven days before the county political convention of a political party, if the political action committee makes an expenditure on or before the day described in Subsection (1)(b)(ii) in relation to a candidate that the party may nominate at the convention;
(iv)
seven days before the regular primary election date;
(v)
on September 30; and
(vi)
seven days before:
(A)
the municipal general election; and
(B)
the regular general election.
(b)
The registered political action committee shall report:
(i)
a detailed listing of all contributions received and expenditures made since the last statement; and
(ii)
for a financial statement described in Subsections (1)(a)(ii) through (v), all contributions and expenditures as of five days before the required filing date of the financial statement.
(c)
The registered political action committee need not file a statement under this section if it received no contributions and made no expenditures during the reporting period.
(2)
(a)
The verified financial statement shall include:
(i)
the name and address of any individual who makes a contribution to the reporting political action committee, if known, and the amount of the contribution;
(ii)
the identification of any publicly identified class of individuals that makes a contribution to the reporting political action committee, if known, and the amount of the contribution;
(iii)
the name and address of any political action committee, group, or entity, if known, that makes a contribution to the reporting political action committee, and the amount of the contribution;
(iv)
for each nonmonetary contribution, the fair market value of the contribution;
(v)
the name and address of each reporting entity that received an expenditure from the reporting political action committee, and the amount of each expenditure;
(vi)
for each nonmonetary expenditure, the fair market value of the expenditure;
(vii)
the total amount of contributions received and expenditures disbursed by the reporting political action committee;
(viii)
a statement by the political action committee’s treasurer or chief financial officer certifying that, to the best of the person‘s knowledge, the financial report is accurate; and
(ix)
a summary page in the form required by the lieutenant governor that identifies:
(A)
beginning balance;
(B)
total contributions during the period since the last statement;
(C)
total contributions to date;
(D)
total expenditures during the period since the last statement; and
(E)
total expenditures to date.
(b)
(i)
Contributions received by a political action committee that have a value of $50 or less need not be reported individually, but shall be listed on the report as an aggregate total.
(ii)
Two or more contributions from the same source that have an aggregate total of more than $50 may not be reported in the aggregate, but shall be reported separately.
(c)
A political action committee is not required to report an independent expenditure under 17, if, in the financial statement described in this section, the political action committee:
(i)
includes the independent expenditure;
(ii)
identifies the independent expenditure as an independent expenditure; and
(iii)
provides the information, described in Section 20A-11-1704, in relation to the independent expenditure.
(3)
A group or entity may not divide or separate into units, sections, or smaller groups for the purpose of avoiding the financial reporting requirements of this chapter, and substance shall prevail over form in determining the scope or size of a political action committee.
(4)
(a)
As used in this Subsection (4), “received” means:
(i)
for a cash contribution, that the cash is given to a political action committee;
(ii)
for a contribution that is a negotiable instrument or check, that the negotiable instrument or check is negotiated; and
(iii)
for any other type of contribution, that any portion of the contribution’s benefit inures to the political action committee.
(b)
A political action committee shall report each contribution to the lieutenant governor within 31 days after the contribution is received.
(5)
A political action committee may not expend a contribution for political purposes if the contribution:
(a)
is cash or a negotiable instrument;
(b)
exceeds $50; and
(c)
is from an unknown source.
(6)
Within 31 days after receiving a contribution that is cash or a negotiable instrument, exceeds $50, and is from an unknown source, a political action committee shall disburse the amount of the contribution to:
(a)
the treasurer of the state or a political subdivision for deposit into the state’s or political subdivision’s general fund; or
(b)
an organization that is exempt from federal income taxation under Section 501(c)(3), Internal Revenue Code.
Amended by Chapter 74, 2019 General Session Amended by Chapter 116, 2019 General Session
