13-37-229. Disclosure requirements for candidates, ballot issue committees, political party committees, and independent committees — exceptions. (1) The reports required under 13-37-225 through 13-37-227 from candidates, ballot issue committees, political party committees, independent committees, and joint fundraising committees must disclose the following information concerning contributions received:

Terms Used In Montana Code 13-37-229

  • Ballot: means a paper ballot counted manually or a paper ballot counted by a machine, such as an optical scan system or other technology that automatically tabulates votes cast by processing the paper ballots. See Montana Code 13-1-101
  • Candidate: means :

    (a)an individual who has filed a declaration or petition for nomination, acceptance of nomination, or appointment as a candidate for public office as required by law;

    (b)for the purposes of chapter 35, 36, or 37, an individual who has solicited or received and retained contributions, made expenditures, or given consent to an individual, organization, political party, or committee to solicit or receive and retain contributions or make expenditures on the individual's behalf to secure nomination or election to any office at any time, whether or not the office for which the individual will seek nomination or election is known when the:

    (i)solicitation is made;

    (ii)contribution is received and retained; or

    (iii)expenditure is made; or

    (c)an officeholder who is the subject of a recall election. See Montana Code 13-1-101

  • Commissioner: means the commissioner of political practices created by 13-37-102. See Montana Code 13-37-101
  • Contribution: means :

    (i)the receipt by a candidate or a political committee of an advance, gift, loan, conveyance, deposit, payment, or distribution of money or anything of value to support or oppose a candidate or a ballot issue;

    (ii)an expenditure, including an in-kind expenditure, that is made in coordination with a candidate or ballot issue committee and is reportable by the candidate or ballot issue committee as a contribution;

    (iii)the receipt by a political committee of funds transferred from another political committee; or

    (iv)the payment by a person other than a candidate or political committee of compensation for the personal services of another person that are rendered to a candidate or political committee. See Montana Code 13-1-101

  • Expenditure: means a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, promise, pledge, or gift of money or anything of value:

    (i)made by a candidate or political committee to support or oppose a candidate or a ballot issue;

    (ii)made by a candidate while the candidate is engaging in campaign activity to pay child-care expenses as provided in 13-37-220; or

    (iii)used or intended for use in making independent expenditures or in producing electioneering communications. See Montana Code 13-1-101

  • Individual: means a human being. See Montana Code 13-1-101
  • issue: means a proposal submitted to the people at an election for their approval or rejection, including but not limited to an initiative, referendum, proposed constitutional amendment, recall question, school levy question, bond issue question, or ballot question. See Montana Code 13-1-101
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Person: means an individual, corporation, association, firm, partnership, cooperative, committee, including a political committee, club, union, or other organization or group of individuals or a candidate as defined in subsection (8). See Montana Code 13-1-101
  • Political committee: means a combination of two or more individuals or a person other than an individual who receives a contribution or makes an expenditure:

    (i)to support or oppose a candidate or a committee organized to support or oppose a candidate or a petition for nomination;

    (ii)to support or oppose a ballot issue or a committee organized to support or oppose a ballot issue; or

    (iii)to prepare or disseminate an election communication, an electioneering communication, or an independent expenditure. See Montana Code 13-1-101

  • Political party committee: means a political committee formed by a political party organization and includes all county and city central committees. See Montana Code 13-1-101

(a)the amount of cash on hand at the beginning of the reporting period;

(b)the full name, mailing address, occupation, and employer, if any, of each person who has made aggregate contributions, other than loans, of $50 or more to a candidate, political committee, or joint fundraising committee, including the purchase of tickets and other items for events, such as dinners, luncheons, rallies, and similar fundraising events. If a contribution is made by a joint fundraising committee to a participant in the joint fundraising committee, the participant shall disclose the information in this subsection (1)(b) for each contributor of the funds allocated to the participant by the joint fundraising committee.

(c)for each person identified under subsection (1)(b), the aggregate amount of contributions made by that person within the reporting period and the total amount of contributions made by that person for all reporting periods;

(d)the total sum of individual contributions made to or for a political committee, candidate, or joint fundraising committee and not reported under subsections (1)(b) and (1)(c);

(e)the name and address of each political committee, candidate, or joint fundraising committee from which the reporting committee or candidate received any transfer of funds, together with the amount and dates of all transfers;

(f)each loan from any person during the reporting period, together with the full names, mailing addresses, occupations, and employers, if any, of the lender and endorsers, if any, and the date and amount of each loan;

(g)except as provided in subsection (5), the amount and nature of debts and obligations owed to a political committee, candidate, or joint fundraising committee in the form prescribed by the commissioner;

(h)an itemized account of proceeds that total less than $50 from a person from mass collections made at fundraising events;

(i)each contribution, rebate, refund, or other receipt not otherwise listed under subsections (1)(b) through (1)(h) during the reporting period; and

(j)the total sum of all receipts received by or for the committee or candidate during the reporting period.

(2)(a) Except as provided in subsection (2)(c), the reports required under 13-37-225 through 13-37-227 from candidates, ballot issue committees, political party committees, independent committees, and joint fundraising committees must disclose the following information concerning expenditures made:

(i)the full name, mailing address, occupation, and principal place of business, if any, of each person to whom expenditures have been made by the committee or candidate during the reporting period, including the amount, date, and purpose of each expenditure and the total amount of expenditures made to each person;

(ii)the full name, mailing address, occupation, and principal place of business, if any, of each person to whom an expenditure for personal services, salaries, and reimbursed expenses has been made, including the amount, date, and purpose of that expenditure and the total amount of expenditures made to each person;

(iii)the total sum of expenditures made by a political committee, candidate, or joint fundraising committee during the reporting period. If the expenditure is made by a joint fundraising committee, the joint fundraising committee shall report gross and net allocations to each participant.

(iv)the name and address of each political committee, candidate, or joint fundraising committee to which the reporting committee or candidate made any transfer of funds, together with the amount and dates of all transfers;

(v)the name of any person to whom a loan was made during the reporting period, including the full name, mailing address, occupation, and principal place of business, if any, of that person and the full names, mailing addresses, occupations, and principal places of business, if any, of the endorsers, if any, and the date and amount of each loan;

(vi)except as provided in subsection (5), the amount and nature of debts and obligations owed by a political committee, candidate, or joint fundraising committee in the form prescribed by the commissioner; and

(vii)if a joint fundraising committee allocated contributions to a participant, the contribution information under subsections (1)(a) through (1)(c) for each contributor that contributed to the gross amount allocated by the joint fundraising committee to the participant.

(b)Reports of expenditures made to a consultant, advertising agency, polling firm, or other person that performs services for or on behalf of a candidate, political committee, or joint fundraising committee must be itemized and described in sufficient detail to disclose the specific services performed by the entity to which payment or reimbursement was made.

(c)A candidate is required to report the information specified in this subsection (2) only if the transactions involved were undertaken for the purpose of supporting or opposing a candidate.

(d)Subsection (2)(a)(vii) applies only to the report of a joint fundraising committee.

(3)(a) A candidate, a political committee, or a joint fundraising committee is not required to report the following expenditures under the 2-business-day reporting requirements in 13-37-226(1)(d) and (2)(d):

(i)bookkeeping expenses paid to track and ensure campaign finance compliance;

(ii)payroll expenditures;

(iii)mileage; and

(iv)payment on a previously disclosed debt.

(b)A candidate, a political committee, or a joint fundraising committee is not relieved of the duty to report the expenditures listed in subsection (3)(a) in the next periodic report.

(4)A candidate is not required to report:

(a)contributions received from a political party committee for compensation of the personal services of another person that are rendered to the candidate if the political party committee reports the amount of contributions made to the candidate in the form of personal services; and

(b)tangible campaign materials such as campaign signage, literature, or photographs produced for a previous campaign or video produced for a previous campaign if the expenditures to produce the tangible materials or video were reported in a previous campaign by the candidate.

(5)A candidate, political committee, or joint fundraising committee is not required to report a debt or obligation unless the debt or obligation exists and has not been paid as of the day the report must be filed.

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