(a)  Each campaign treasurer of a candidate, each state and municipal committee of a political party, and each political action committee shall keep accurate records and make a full report, upon a form prescribed by the board of elections, of all contributions received, and expenditures made, by it in excess of a total of one hundred dollars ($100) from any one source within a calendar year, in furtherance of the nomination, election, or defeat of any candidate or the approval or rejection of any question submitted to the voters, or at any financial town meeting, financial town referendum, or other election at which amendments to a city or town charter are proposed, during the period from the date of the last report, or in the case of the initial report, beginning on the date of the appointment of the campaign treasurer for state and municipal committees and political action committees and on the date a person becomes a “candidate” as defined in § 17-25-3(2) for individual candidates. The report shall contain the name, address, and place of employment of each person or source from whom the contributions and expenditures in excess of one hundred dollars ($100) were received or made and the amount contributed or expended by each person or source. The report shall be filed with the board of elections on the dates designated in § 17-25-11. The campaign treasurer of the candidate or committee reporting shall certify to the correctness of each report. Notwithstanding any other provisions contained in this title, this subsection shall apply to any person or entity advocating the approval or rejection of any question presented to voters at any financial town meeting, financial town referendum, or other election at which amendments to a city or town charter are proposed, which shall file reports of contributions or expenditures in accordance with the filing schedule established by § 17-25-11 if the total of the money so expended exceeds one hundred dollars ($100) in a calendar year. As used in this subsection, the word “entity” means any political action committee, political party committee, authorized campaign committee of a candidate or officer holder, corporation, whether for profit, not-for-profit, or exempt nonprofit pursuant to 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, domestic corporation or foreign corporation, as defined in § 7-1.2-106, financial institution, cooperative, association, receivership, partnership, committee, union, charity, trust, holding company, firm, joint stock company, public utility, sole proprietorship, limited partnership, or any other entity recognized by the laws of the United States and/or the state of Rhode Island.

Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 17-25-7

  • Candidate: means any individual who undertakes any action, whether preliminary or final, which is necessary under the law to qualify for nomination for election or election to public office, and/or any individual who receives a contribution or makes an expenditure, or gives his or her consent for any other person to receive a contribution or make an expenditure, with a view to bringing about his or her nomination or election to any public office, whether or not the specific public office for which he or she will seek nomination or election is known at the time the contribution is received or the expenditure is made and whether or not he or she has announced his or her candidacy or filed a declaration of candidacy at that time. See Rhode Island General Laws 17-25-3
  • Charity: An agency, institution, or organization in existence and operating for the benefit of an indefinite number of persons and conducted for educational, religious, scientific, medical, or other beneficent purposes.
  • 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.
  • Election: means any primary, general, or special election or town meeting for any public office of the state, municipality, or district, or for the determination of any question submitted to the voters of the state, municipality, or district. See Rhode Island General Laws 17-25-3
  • Exempt nonprofit: means any organization described in § 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code that spends an aggregate annual amount of no more than ten percent (10%) of its annual expenses or no more than fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000), whichever is less, on independent expenditures, electioneering communications, and covered transfers as defined herein and certifies the same to the board of elections seven (7) days before and after a primary election and seven (7) days before and after a general or special election. See Rhode Island General Laws 17-25-3
  • expenditures: include all transfers of money, credit or debit card transactions, on-line or electronic payment systems such as "pay pal" paid personal services, or other thing of value to or by any candidate, committee of a political party, or political action committee or ballot question advocate. See Rhode Island General Laws 17-25-3
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • Person: means an individual, partnership, committee, association, corporation, union, charity, and/or any other organization. See Rhode Island General Laws 17-25-3
  • Political action committee: means any group of two (2) or more persons that accepts any contributions to be used for advocating the election or defeat of any candidate or candidates. See Rhode Island General Laws 17-25-3
  • referendum: means the same as the definition set forth in § 17-5-1. See Rhode Island General Laws 17-25-3
  • State: means state of Rhode Island. See Rhode Island General Laws 17-25-3
  • town: may be construed to include city; the words "town council" include city council; the words "town clerk" include city clerk; the words "ward clerk" include clerk of election district; the words "town treasurer" include city treasurer; and the words "town sergeant" include city sergeant. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-9
  • United States: include the several states and the territories of the United States. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-8

(b)  Each state and municipal committee of a political party shall also file with the board of elections, not later than March 1 of each year, an annual report setting forth in the aggregate all contributions received and all expenditures made during the previous calendar year, whether or not these expenditures were made, incurred, or authorized in furtherance of the election or defeat of any candidate. The treasurer of the committee or organization reporting shall certify to the correctness of each report.

(c)  Any report filed pursuant to the provisions of this section shall include contributions received from any “testimonial affair,” as defined in § 17-25-3, held since the date of the most recent report filed.

History of Section.
P.L. 1974, ch. 298, § 1; P.L. 1981, ch. 188, § 1; P.L. 1982, ch. 347, § 1; P.L. 1984, ch. 2, § 1; P.L. 1992, ch. 21, § 1; P.L. 2012, ch. 273, § 1; P.L. 2012, ch. 287, § 1; P.L. 2014, ch. 149, § 1; P.L. 2014, ch. 185, § 1; P.L. 2016, ch. 423, § 1; P.L. 2016, ch. 424, § 1.