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91_HB2602 LRB9101541MWmb 1 AN ACT to amend the Election Code. 2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 3 represented in the General Assembly: 4 Section 5. The Election Code is amended by changing 5 Section 9-26 and adding Sections 9-1.9-5, 9-2.10, 9-7.2, 6 9-7.15, 9-8.5, 9-25.5, and 9-25.10 as follows: 7 (10 ILCS 5/9-1.9-5 new) 8 Sec. 9-1.9-5. Political action committee. "Political 9 action committee" means a political committee other than a 10 political committee established by a public official, a 11 candidate for public office, a county central committee of a 12 political party, or the State central committee of a 13 political party. 14 (10 ILCS 5/9-2.10 new) 15 Sec. 9-2.10. Single political committee. No public 16 official or candidate for public office may establish more 17 than one political committee. 18 (10 ILCS 5/9-7.2 new) 19 Sec. 9-7.2. Prohibited contributors. No corporation, 20 including without limitation a professional or non-profit 21 corporation, or labor union may make contributions from its 22 treasury funds. Those entities may establish political 23 committees subject to this Article for the purpose of making 24 contributions. 25 (10 ILCS 5/9-7.15 new) 26 Sec. 9-7.15. Contributor registration and disclosure. 27 The political action committee of any corporation, labor 28 union, or association of individuals, however described or -2- LRB9101541MWmb 1 organized, that spends more than $3,000 in money or the fair 2 market value of its services, in the aggregate and over any 3 period of time, (i) to one or more political committees, (ii) 4 in support of or in opposition to any one or more candidates 5 for public office or public questions, or (iii) to one or 6 more political committees and in support of or in opposition 7 to any one or more candidates for public office or public 8 questions shall register with the Board in a manner 9 prescribed by the Board and shall file financial disclosure 10 reports with the Board. The reports shall be filed at the 11 same times that campaign contribution and expenditure reports 12 are required to be filed by political committees and shall be 13 for the same reporting periods. The reports shall itemize all 14 amounts and recipients. The Board shall promulgate forms for 15 the reports. 16 (10 ILCS 5/9-8.5 new) 17 Sec. 9-8.5. Limits on contributions, transfers, and 18 carry-over. 19 (a) No individual may make contributions to the 20 political committee of a candidate for the General Assembly 21 or of a General Assembly member of more than $1,500 during a 22 primary election period or more than $1,500 during an 23 election period. No individual may make contributions to the 24 political committee of a candidate for statewide office or of 25 a statewide officer of more than $2,500 during a primary 26 election period or more than $2,500 during an election 27 period. No individual may make contributions to a political 28 action committee, a political committee of a county central 29 committee of a political party, or a political committee of a 30 State central committee of a political party of more than 31 $3,000 during an election cycle. 32 (b) No political action committee may make contributions 33 to the political committee of a candidate for the General -3- LRB9101541MWmb 1 Assembly or of a General Assembly member of more than $2,000 2 during a primary election period or more than $2,000 during 3 an election period. No political action committee may make 4 contributions to the political committee of a candidate for 5 statewide office or of a statewide officer of more than 6 $3,000 during a primary election period or more than $3,000 7 during an election period. No political action committee may 8 make contributions to the political committee of a county 9 central committee of a political party or of a State central 10 committee of a political party of more than $4,000 during a 11 primary election period or more than $4,000 during an 12 election period. 13 (c) The political committee of a candidate for public 14 office or of a public official may not transfer funds, or 15 make contributions to the political committee of another 16 candidate for public office or of another public official, to 17 a political action committee, or to the political committee 18 of a county or State central committee of a political party. 19 (d) No political committee of a candidate for the 20 General Assembly or of a General Assembly member may have a 21 balance of more than $25,000 on June 30 of an odd-numbered 22 year. No political committee of a candidate for statewide 23 office or of a statewide officer may have a balance of more 24 than $100,000 on June 30 of an odd-numbered year. Funds in 25 excess of these amounts on that date shall be returned to 26 contributors or surrendered to the State Treasurer for 27 deposit into the State treasury. 28 (e) On July 1 of each odd-numbered year, the limits 29 established in this Section shall be adjusted for inflation 30 as determined by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban 31 Consumers as determined by the United States Department of 32 Labor and rounded to the nearest $100. 33 (f) For purposes of this Section, a statewide office or 34 statewide officer means the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, -4- LRB9101541MWmb 1 Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, or 2 State Comptroller. A primary election period begins July 1 3 of an odd-numbered year and ends the day of the next general 4 primary election. An election period begins the day after a 5 general primary election and ends June 30 of the next 6 odd-numbered year. An election cycle begins July 1 of an 7 odd-numbered year and ends June 30 of the next odd-numbered 8 year. 9 (g) Contributions accepted in violation of subsection 10 (a), (b), or (c) shall be surrendered immediately to the 11 State Treasurer for deposit into the State treasury. 12 (10 ILCS 5/9-25.5 new) 13 Sec. 9-25.5. Dissolution of political committee. Each 14 public official who leaves office due to retirement or 15 defeat, and each candidate for public office who has been 16 defeated, must close his or her political committee and 17 dispose of any remaining funds within 4 years after leaving 18 office or losing an election. 19 Upon the dissolution of a political committee, its 20 remaining funds shall be returned to contributors or 21 surrendered to the State Treasurer for deposit into the State 22 treasury. 23 (10 ILCS 5/9-25.10 new) 24 Sec. 9-25.10. Candidate guidebooks. The State Board 25 shall prepare or have prepared candidate guidebooks for each 26 region or legislative district of the State. The guidebook 27 shall contain a photo of and statement from each candidate 28 for statewide office and each candidate for the General 29 Assembly in that region or district. The guidebooks shall be 30 distributed to each household in the region or district 31 within a reasonable time before the general election. 32 The State Board shall adopt rules for the implementation -5- LRB9101541MWmb 1 of this Section. 2 For the purpose of this Section, statewide office means 3 the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, 4 Secretary of State, State Treasurer, and State Comptroller. 5 (10 ILCS 5/9-26) (from Ch. 46, par. 9-26) 6 Sec. 9-26. Willful failure to file or willful filing of 7 false or incomplete information required by this Article 8 shall constitute a Class A misdemeanorbusiness offense9subject to a fine of up to $5,000. 10 The receipt and retention of contributions in violation 11 of Section 9-8.5 is a Class A misdemeanor. 12 Willful filing of a false complaint under this Article 13 shall constitute a Class B misdemeanor. 14 A prosecution for any offense designated by this Article 15 shall be commenced no later than 18 months after the 16 commission of the offense. 17 The appropriate State's Attorney or the Attorney General 18 shall bring such actions in the name of the people of the 19 State of Illinois. 20 (Source: P.A. 90-737, eff. 1-1-99.) -6- LRB9101541MWmb 1 INDEX 2 Statutes amended in order of appearance 3 10 ILCS 5/9-1.9-5 new 4 10 ILCS 5/9-2.10 new 5 10 ILCS 5/9-7.2 new 6 10 ILCS 5/9-7.15 new 7 10 ILCS 5/9-8.5 new 8 10 ILCS 5/9-25.5 new 9 10 ILCS 5/9-25.10 new 10 10 ILCS 5/9-26 from Ch. 46, par. 9-26