20A-11-801. Political issues committees — Registration — Criminal penalty for providing false information or accepting unlawful contribution.
(1)
Terms Used In Utah Code 20A-11-801
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
Ballot: means the storage medium, including a paper, mechanical, or electronic storage medium, that records an individual voter's vote. See Utah Code 20A-1-102
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
Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
Corporation: means a domestic or foreign, profit or nonprofit, business organization that is registered as a corporation or is authorized to do business in a state and makes any expenditure from corporate funds for:
(i)
the purpose of expressly advocating for political purposes; or
(ii)
the purpose of expressly advocating the approval or the defeat of any ballot proposition. See Utah Code 20A-11-101
Election: means each:
(a)
regular general election;
(b)
regular primary election; and
(c)
special election at which candidates are eliminated and selected. See Utah Code 20A-11-101
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 issues committee: means an entity, or any group of individuals or entities within or outside this state, a major purpose of which is to:
(i)
solicit or receive donations from any other person, group, or entity to assist in placing a ballot proposition on the ballot, assist in keeping a ballot proposition off the ballot, or to advocate that a voter refrain from voting or vote for or vote against any ballot proposition;
(ii)
make expenditures to expressly advocate for any person to sign or refuse to sign a ballot proposition or incorporation petition or refrain from voting, vote for, or vote against any proposed ballot proposition or an incorporation in an incorporation election; or
(iii)
make expenditures to assist in qualifying or placing a ballot proposition on the ballot or to assist in keeping a ballot proposition off the ballot. See Utah Code 20A-11-101
Registered political issues committee: means any political issues 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
(a)
Unless the political issues committee has filed a notice of dissolution under Subsection (4), each political issues committee shall file a statement of organization with the lieutenant governor’s office:
(i)
before 5 p.m. on January 10 of each year; or
(ii)
electronically, before midnight on January 10 of each year.
(b)
If a political issues committee is organized after the filing deadline described in Subsection (1)(a), the political issues committee shall file an initial statement of organization no later than seven days after the day on which the political issues committee:
(i)
receives political issues contributions totaling at least $750; or
(ii)
distributes political issues expenditures totaling at least $750.
(c)
Each political issues committee shall deposit each contribution received into one or more separate accounts in a financial institution that are dedicated only to that purpose.
(2)
(a)
Each political issues committee shall designate two officers that have primary decision-making authority for the political issues committee.
(b)
An individual may not exercise primary decision-making authority for a political issues committee if the individual is not designated under Subsection (2)(a).
(3)
The statement of organization shall include:
(a)
the name and address of the political issues committee;
(b)
the name, address, phone number, occupation, and title of the two primary officers designated under Subsection (2);
(c)
the name, address, occupation, and title of all other officers of the political issues committee;
(d)
the name and address of the organization, individual, corporation, association, unit of government, or union that the political issues committee represents, if any;
(e)
the name and address of all affiliated or connected organizations and their relationships to the political issues committee;
(f)
the name, residential address, business address, occupation, and phone number of the committee’s treasurer or chief financial officer;
(g)
the name, address, and occupation of each member of the supervisory and advisory boards, if any; and
(h)
the ballot proposition whose outcome they wish to affect, and whether they support or oppose it.
(4)
(a)
A registered political issues committee that intends to permanently cease operations during a calendar year shall:
(i)
dispose of all remaining funds by returning the funds to donors or donating the funds to an organization that is exempt from federal income taxation under Section 501(c)(3), Internal Revenue Code; and
(ii)
after complying with Subsection (4)(a)(i), file a notice of dissolution with the lieutenant governor’s office.
(b)
A political issues committee may not donate money to a political action committee, but may accept a contribution from a political action committee.
(c)
Any notice of dissolution filed by a political issues committee does not exempt that political issues committee from complying with the financial reporting requirements of this chapter in relation to all contributions received, and all expenditures made, before, at, or after dissolution.
(d)
A political issues committee shall report all money donated or expended under Subsection (4)(a) in a financial report to the lieutenant governor, in accordance with the financial reporting requirements described in this chapter.
(5)
(a)
Unless the political issues committee has filed a notice of dissolution under Subsection (4), a political issues committee shall file, with the lieutenant governor’s office, notice of any change of an officer described in Subsection (2).
(b)
A political issues committee shall:
(i)
file a notice of a change of a primary officer described in Subsection (2)(a) before 5 p.m. within 10 days after the day on which the change occurs; and
(ii)
include in the notice of change the name and title of the officer being replaced and the name, address, occupation, and title of the new officer.
(6)
(a)
A person is guilty of providing false information in relation to a political issues committee if the person intentionally or knowingly gives false or misleading material information in the statement of organization or the notice of change of primary officer.
(b)
Each primary officer designated in Subsection (2)(a) or (5)(b) is guilty of accepting an unlawful contribution if the political issues committee knowingly or recklessly accepts a contribution from a corporation that:
(i)
was organized less than 90 days before the date of the general election; and
(ii)
at the time the political issues committee accepts the contribution, has failed to file a statement of organization with the lieutenant governor’s office as required by Section 20A-11-704.
(c)
A violation of this Subsection (6) is a third degree felony.
(7)
(a)
As used in this Subsection (7), “received” means:
(i)
for a cash contribution, that the cash is given to a political issues 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 issues committee.
(b)
Each political issues committee shall report to the lieutenant governor each contribution received by the political issues committee within seven business days after the day on which the contribution is received if the contribution is received within 30 days before the last day on which the sponsors of the initiative or referendum described in Subsection 20A-11-801(3)(h) may submit signatures to qualify the initiative or referendum for the ballot.
(c)
For each contribution that a political issues committee fails to report within the period described in Subsection (7)(b), the lieutenant governor shall impose a fine against the political issues committee in an amount equal to:
(i)
10% of the amount of the contribution, if the political issues committee reports the contribution within 60 days after the last day on which the political issues committee should have reported the contribution under Subsection (7)(b); or
(ii)
20% of the amount of the contribution, if the political issues committee fails to report the contribution within 60 days after the last day on which the political issues committee should have reported the contribution under Subsection (7)(b).
(d)
The lieutenant governor shall:
(i)
deposit money received under Subsection (7)(c) into the General Fund; and
(ii)
report on the lieutenant governor’s website, in the location where reports relating to each political issues committee are available for public access:
(A)
each fine imposed by the lieutenant governor against the political issues committee;
(B)
the amount of the fine;
(C)
the amount of the contribution to which the fine relates; and
