“candidate” means a candidate for nomination for election or election to the office of Governor or the office of member of the Senate or General Assembly, and any candidate committee, joint candidates committee, or both, of such a candidate;

“committee” means a political committee, continuing political committee, political party committee, or legislative leadership committee;

“person” means an individual, partnership, committee, association, corporation, or any other organization or group of persons; and

“professional campaign fund raiser” or “fund raiser” means a person who is employed, retained or engaged for monetary compensation of at least $5,000 per year in the aggregate to perform for any candidate or committee, or both, any service directly related to the solicitation of contributions for that candidate or committee. The terms “professional campaign fund raiser” and “fund raiser” do not include any person who is reimbursed only for incurred costs by a candidate or committee for performing any service directly related to the solicitation of contributions for that candidate or committee.

b. Whenever a professional campaign fund raiser plans or organizes or is involved in the planning or organizing of, or attends, at least three events within a three-month period at which contributions are raised by that person for a candidate or committee by whom he or she has been employed, retained or engaged, or that person raises money or other thing of value at least equivalent to the maximum amount of contributions permitted to be made by an individual to a candidate for public office pursuant to section 18 of P.L.1993, c.65 (C. 19:44A-11.3) in the aggregate in contributions for such a candidate or committee prior to a primary election or prior to a general election, that person shall register with the Election Law Enforcement Commission using a form prepared by the commission.

The form shall be filed within five business days after either threshold is reached and shall include the name, business mailing address, and regular occupation or business of the fund raiser, the resident mailing address of a State resident designated as the fund raiser’s agent for the service of process, the general nature of the services to be offered, the dates and locations of each fund raising event the person planned or organized or was involved in the planning or organizing of, or attended, the amount of money the person raised at each event and any other information the commission deems relevant. A professional campaign fund raiser who registers for the first time pursuant to this subsection shall re-register annually thereafter regardless of the number of events that person plans, organizes or attends, or the amount of contributions that person receives as long as the person remains employed, retained or engaged as a professional fund raiser. A fund raiser who chooses to terminate fund raising services in this State shall so notify the commission in writing within 30 days after such termination of services.

c. A fund raiser who has filed a registration form with the commission pursuant to subsection b. of this section shall file, not later than April 15, July 15, October 15 and January 15 of each calendar year, a report with the commission which includes, for the preceding quarter, the names of each candidate or committee for which fund raising services were provided, the services provided to each named candidate or committee, gross and net amounts raised for each named candidate or committee, the amount of compensation received from each candidate or committee, and an itemized list of expenditures made in connection with providing fund raising services.

d. A fund raiser who has not registered with the commission pursuant to subsection b. of this section but is required to be registered, shall not, for compensation, perform for any candidate or committee any service directly related to the solicitation of contributions for that candidate or committee. A candidate or committee shall not pay any compensation to any fund raiser who is not registered pursuant to subsection b. of this section but is required to be registered, for performing any service directly related to the solicitation of contributions for that candidate or committee.

e. Each fund raiser who registers with the commission shall pay, with the initial registration and annually thereafter, a fee to the commission which the commission shall establish by regulation to be not less than the fee paid by legislative agents pursuant to subsection j. of section 6 of P.L.1971, c.183 (C. 52:13C-23), as well as reasonable fees for the filing of quarterly reports.

f. There is created a non-lapsing revolving fund to be known as the “Professional Campaign Fund Raiser Fund,” to be held separate and apart from all other funds of the State. All fees collected pursuant to subsection e. of this section shall be deposited in that fund and appropriated exclusively for the purposes of the commission. All monies appropriated from the fund shall be dedicated to defray the expenses of the commission in administering this act.

g. (1) Any fund raiser who is determined by the commission to have purposely violated any provision of this section or to have filed or prepared or assisted in the preparation for filing or purposely acquiesced in the preparation or filing of any report required under this section which the fund raiser knows is false, inaccurate or incomplete in any material particular, or who purposely fails or refuses to file any such report when required to do so pursuant to this section, or who purposely supplies any information the fund raiser knows to be false, inaccurate or incomplete to any person preparing or assisting in the preparation of any such report, with the knowledge that such information is intended for the purposes of such report, is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree.

(2) Any fund raiser responsible for the preparation, certification, filing or retention of any reports, notices or other documents, who fails, neglects or omits to prepare, certify, file or retain any such report, record or notice or document by the time required by this section or who omits or incorrectly states or certifies any of the information required by this section to be included in such report, record, notice or document shall be liable to a penalty of not more than $6,000 for the first offense and not more than $12,000 for the second and each subsequent offense. Any penalty imposed pursuant to this subsection may be recovered by a summary proceeding pursuant to the “Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999,” P.L.1999, c.274 (C. 2A:58-10 et seq.).

L.2004,c.29,s.1.