SENATE BILL NO. 90 January 26, 1999, Introduced by Senator PETERS and referred to the Committee on Government Operations. A bill to amend 1976 PA 388, entitled "Michigan campaign finance act," by amending section 52 (MCL 169.252), as amended by 1996 PA 590. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT: 1 Sec. 52. (1) Except as provided in subsection (5) and 2 subject tosubsectionSUBSECTIONS (8) AND (9), a person other 3 than an independent committee or a political party committee 4 shall not make contributions to a candidate committee of a candi- 5 date for elective office that, with respect to an election cycle, 6 are more than the following: 7 (a) $3,400.00 for a candidate for state elective office 8 other than the office of state legislator, or for a candidate for 9 local elective office if the district from which he or she is 10 seeking office has a population of more than 250,000. 00445'99 KKR 2 1 (b) $1,000.00 for a candidate for state senator, or for a 2 candidate for local elective office if the district from which he 3 or she is seeking office has a population of more than 85,000 but 4 250,000 or less. 5 (c) $500.00 for a candidate for state representative, or for 6 a candidate for local elective office if the district from which 7 he or she is seeking office has a population of 85,000 or less. 8 (2) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, an 9 independent committee shall not make contributions to a candidate 10 committee of a candidate for elective office that, in the aggre- 11 gate for that election cycle, are more than 10 times the amount 12 permitted a person other than an independent committee or politi- 13 cal party committee in subsection (1). A house political party 14 caucus committee or a senate political party caucus committee is 15 not limited under this subsection in the amount of contributions 16 made to the candidate committee of a candidate for the office of 17 state legislator, except as follows: 18 (a) A house political party caucus committee or a senate 19 political party caucus committee shall not pay a debt incurred by 20 a candidate if that debt was incurred while the candidate was 21 seeking nomination at a primary election and the candidate was 22 opposed at that primary. 23 (b) A house political party caucus committee or a senate 24 political party caucus committee shall not make a contribution to 25 or make an expenditure on behalf of a candidate if that candidate 26 is seeking nomination at a primary election and the candidate is 27 opposed at that primary. 00445'99 3 1 (3) A political party committee other than a state central 2 committee shall not make contributions to the candidate committee 3 of a candidate for elective office that are more than 10 times 4 the amount permitted a person other than an independent committee 5 or political party committee in subsection (1). 6 (4) A state central committee of a political party shall not 7 make contributions to the candidate committee of a candidate for 8 state elective office other than a candidate for the legislature 9 that are more than 20 times the amount permitted a person other 10 than an independent committee or political party committee in 11 subsection (1). A state central committee of a political party 12 shall not make contributions to the candidate committee of a can- 13 didate for state senator, state representative, or local elective 14 office that are more than 10 times the amount permitted a person 15 other than an independent committee or political party committee 16 in subsection (1). 17 (5) A contribution from a member of a candidate's immediate 18 family to the candidate committee of that candidate is exempt 19 from the limitations of subsection (1). 20 (6) Consistent with the provisions of this section, a con- 21 tribution designated in writing for a particular election cycle 22 is considered made for that election cycle. A contribution made 23 after the close of a particular election cycle and designated in 24 writing for that election cycle shall be made only to the extent 25 that the contribution does not exceed the candidate committee's 26 net outstanding debts and obligations from the election cycle so 27 designated. If a contribution is not designated in writing for a 00445'99 4 1 particular election cycle, the contribution is considered made 2 for the election cycle that corresponds to the date of the writ- 3 ten instrument. 4 (7) A candidate committee, a candidate, or a treasurer or 5 agent of a candidate committee shall not accept a contribution 6 with respect to an election cycle that exceeds the limitations in 7 subsection (1), (2), (3), or (4). 8 (8) The contribution limits in subsection (1) for a candi- 9 date for local elective office are effective onthe effective10date of the amendatory act that provides for those contribution11limitsMARCH 31, 1997; however, only contributions received by 12 that candidate on and afterthat dateMARCH 31, 1997 shall be 13 used to determine if the contribution limit has been reached. 14 (9) AN INDIVIDUAL SHALL NOT MAKE CONTRIBUTIONS TO COMMITTEES 15 ORGANIZED UNDER THIS ACT THAT, IN THE AGGREGATE, EXCEED 16 $50,000.00 IN A CALENDAR YEAR OR THAT EXCEED $100,000.00 IN AN 17 ELECTION CYCLE. 18 (10)(9)A person who knowingly violates this section is 19 guilty of a misdemeanor punishable, if the person is an individu- 20 al, by a fine of not more than $1,000.00 or imprisonment for not 21 more than 90 days, or both, or, if the person is not an individu- 22 al, by a fine of not more than $10,000.00. 23 (11)(10)For purposes of the limitations provided in 24 subsections (1) and (2), all contributions made by political com- 25 mittees or independent committees established by any corporation, 26 joint stock company, domestic dependent sovereign, or labor 27 organization, including any parent, subsidiary, branch, division, 00445'99 5 1 department, or local unit thereof, shall be considered to have 2 been made by a single independent committee. By way of illustra- 3 tion and not limitation, all of the following apply as a result 4 of the application of this requirement: 5 (a) All of the political committees and independent commit- 6 tees established by a for profit corporation or joint stock com- 7 pany, by a subsidiary of the for profit corporation or joint 8 stock company, or by any combination thereof, are treated as a 9 single independent committee. 10 (b) All of the political committees and independent commit- 11 tees established by a single national or international labor 12 organization, by a labor organization of that national or inter- 13 national labor organization, by a local labor organization of 14 that national or international labor organization, or by any 15 other subordinate organization of that national or international 16 labor organization, or by any combination thereof, are treated as 17 a single independent committee. 18 (c) All of the political committees and independent commit- 19 tees established by an organization of national or international 20 unions, by a state central body of that organization, by a local 21 central body of that organization, or by any combination thereof, 22 are treated as a single independent committee. 23 (d) All of the political committees and independent commit- 24 tees established by a nonprofit corporation, by a related state 25 entity of that nonprofit corporation, by a related local entity 26 of that nonprofit corporation, or by any combination thereof, are 27 treated as a single independent committee. 00445'99 Final page. 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