Session Laws

Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to immediately amend and clarify the campaign finance and lobbying laws of the commonwealth, therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public convenience.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 39 of chapter 3 of the General Laws, as appearing in section 1 of chapter 43 of the acts of 1994, is hereby amended by striking out the definition of "Legislative agent" and inserting in place thereof the following definition:-

"Legislative agent", any person who for compensation or reward does any act to promote, oppose, or influence legislation, or to promote, oppose, or influence the governor's approval or veto thereof or to influence the decision of any member of the Executive branch where such decision concerns legislation or the adoption, defeat, or postponement of a standard, rate, rule or regulation pursuant thereto. The term "legislative agent" shall include a person who, as any part of his regular and usual employment and not simply incidental thereto, attempts to promote, oppose or influence legislation or the governor's approval or veto thereof, whether or not any compensation in addition to the salary for such employment is received for such services.

SECTION 2. Said section 39 of said chapter 3 is hereby further amended by striking out the definition of "Legislative agent", as amended by section 1 of this act, and inserting in place thereof the following definition:-

"Legislative agent", a person who for compensation or reward does any act to promote, oppose or influence legislation, or to promote, oppose or influence the governor's approval or veto thereof. The term "legislative agent" shall include a person who, as part of his regular and usual employment and not simply incidental thereto, attempts to promote, oppose or influence legislation, or the governor's approval or veto thereof, whether or not any compensation in addition to the salary for such employment is received for such services; provided, however, that for purposes of this definition a person shall be presumed to engage in activity covered by this definition in a manner that is only incidental to his regular and usual employment if he spends less than five percent of his working hours on any matter covered by this definition during a calendar year.

SECTION 3. Section 43 of said chapter 3, as appearing in section 1 of chapter 43 of the acts of 1994, is hereby amended by striking out the last paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to the contrary, no executive or legislative agent shall knowingly offer or knowingly give to any public official or public employee, as defined in section one of chapter two hundred and sixty-eight B, or to a member of such person's immediate family any gift, as defined in said section one of said chapter two hundred and sixty-eight B, of any kind or nature, nor knowingly pay for any meal, beverage, or other item to be consumed by such public official or employee, whether or not such gift or meal, beverage or other item to be consumed is offered, given or paid for in the course of such agent's business or in connection with a personal or social event, provided, however, that an executive or legislative agent shall not be prohibited from offering or giving to a public official or public employee who is a member of his immediate family or a relative within the third degree of consanguinity or of such agent's spouse or the spouse of any such relative any such gift or meal, beverage or other item to be consumed.

SECTION 4. Section 1 of chapter 55 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out the definition of "Political action committee", inserted by section 13 of chapter 43 of the acts of 1994 and inserting in place thereof the following definition:-

"Political action committee", a political committee which is not a candidate's committee, a political party committee nor a ballot question committee; provided, however, that a political committee which only receives contributions from individuals in an amount or value of one hundred dollars or less in any calendar year, which has been in existence for six months or more and which contributes to five or more candidates shall not be a political action committee; provided, further, that said one hundred dollar amount shall be indexed biennially for inflation by the director, who, not later than December thirty-first of each odd numbered year, shall calculate and publish such index amount, using the federal consumer price index for the Boston statistical area.

SECTION 5. Said section 1 of said chapter 55 is hereby further amended by striking out the definition of "Political party committee", inserted by section 14 of said chapter 43 and inserting in place thereof the following definition:-

"Political party committee", a political committee organized in accordance with chapter fifty-two on behalf of a political party, as defined in section one of chapter fifty, whether elected or non-elected.

SECTION 6. Section 2 of said chapter 55 is hereby amended by striking out the third paragraph, inserted by section 18 of said chapter 43 of the acts of 1994, and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

In addition to the information otherwise required by this section, a candidate shall keep and preserve accounts including the occupation and employer or employers of each person who has made a contribution in an amount or value of two hundred dollars or more in any one calendar year, and such information for each contribution of less than two hundred dollars, if the aggregate of all contributions received from such contributor within any one calendar year is two hundred dollars or more; provided, however, that a candidate shall satisfy such requirement of including said occupation and employer by requesting a contributor's occupation and employer at the time a contribution is solicited and making one additional written request. A candidate shall be allowed to keep any such contribution if such candidate has complied with the provisions of this paragraph.

SECTION 7. Section 9 of said chapter 55, as appearing in the 1992 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the first paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

No individual, candidate or political committee, or person acting on behalf of said individual, candidate, or political committee, shall accept a contribution of money from any one person or political committee if the aggregate amount contributed in a calendar year exceeds fifty dollars except by check. For the purposes of the preceding sentence the word "check" shall mean a check on which the contributor is directly liable or which is written on a personal, escrow, trust, partnership, business or other account which represents or contains the contributor's funds and shall not mean a certified check, cashier's check, treasurer's check, registered check, money order, traveler's check or other similar negotiable instrument. No individual, candidate, political committee, or person acting on behalf of said individual, candidate, or political committee, shall make an expenditure for an amount exceeding fifty dollars except by check.

SECTION 8. Said chapter 55 is hereby further amended by striking out section 10A, inserted by section 29 of said chapter 43 of the acts of 1994, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 10A. (a) Contributions made by a person to or on behalf of a particular candidate, including contributions made through an intermediary or conduit, shall be treated as contributions from such person to such candidate.

(b) Contributions made to a candidate, such candidate's agent, such candidate's committee or such candidate's committee's agent, through an intermediary or conduit shall also be treated as contributions from the intermediary or conduit to the candidate, if the intermediary or conduit is:

(1) a political action committee, or an officer, employee or other agent of such political committee;

(2) a legislative or executive agent registered pursuant to section forty-one of chapter three, or a lobbying group or organization registered pursuant to section forty-four of chapter three, or an officer, employee, or agent of such legislative or executive agent or lobbying group or organization acting in its behalf; or

(3) any person charged with the responsibility of delivering individual contributions from a group of officers or employees or a combination thereof of a corporation who have pooled such contributions.

(c) For purposes of this section, the following words shall, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, have the following meanings:-

(1) "Contributions made through an intermediary or conduit", shall mean:

(i) contributions delivered, whether in person or by mail, to a particular candidate or such candidate's authorized committee or agent; and

(ii) contributions to a particular candidate, such candidate's authorized committee, such candidate's agent, or such candidate's committee's agent, in a manner that identifies in writing the person who arranged the making of the contributions.

(2) "Acting in its behalf", shall include using the name or resources of a person described in paragraph (b).

(d) Nothing in this section shall prohibit:

(1) a bona fide joint fund-raising effort conducted solely for the purpose of sponsorship of a fund-raising reception, dinner, or other event, in accordance with rules prescribed by the director by:

(i) two or more state or local committees of a political party acting on their own behalf; or

(ii) a special committee formed by one or more candidates and one or more state or local committees of a political party on their own behalf; or

(2) a fund-raising effort for the benefit of a candidate that is conducted by another candidate acting in his individual capacity.

(e) In all cases where contributions are made by a person either to or on behalf of a particular candidate through an intermediary or conduit as described in paragraph (b), the intermediary or conduit shall report in writing the original source and the intended recipient of such contribution along with other information required by this chapter to the director and to the intended recipient. A candidate or political committee that fails to receive such notice in writing, or equivalent actual notice of a violation of this section, shall not be civilly or criminally liable for any such violation, except to the extent of returning the excess of any contribution made in violation of this section.

(f) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to permit a contribution which would otherwise violate the provisions of section ten.

(g) The limitations of this section regarding contributions made through an intermediary or conduit shall not apply when each contribution is one hundred dollars or less; provided, however, that said one hundred dollar amount shall be indexed biennially for inflation by the director, who, not later than December thirty-first of each odd numbered year, shall calculate and publish such indexed amount, using the federal consumer price index for the Boston statistical area.

SECTION 9. Section 18 of said chapter 55, as appearing in the 1992 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 16, 21, 30, 40, 54, 100, 101, 115, 122, 134 and 265 the word "tenth", each time it appears, and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following word:- twentieth.

SECTION 10. Said section 18 of said chapter 55, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word "candidate", in line 25, the second time it appears, the following words:- required to designate a depository by section nineteen or a candidate.

SECTION 11. Said section 18 of said chapter 55 is hereby further amended by striking out the thirteenth paragraph, inserted by section 32 of chapter 43 of the acts of 1994, and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

In addition, each report required to be filed under the provisions of this section shall also include the occupation and name of employer or employers for each person whose contribution or contributions in the aggregate equals or exceeds the sum of two hundred dollars within any one calendar year; provided, however, that no candidate or political committee shall be required to include such occupation and employer if, upon compliance with the requirements of section two concerning the inclusion of such occupation and employer, said candidate or political committee has not been able to obtain such information.

SECTION 12. Said section 18 of said chapter 55, as appearing in the 1992 Official Edition, is hereby further amended by striking out the last paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

The provisions of this section requiring city, town and ward committees established under the provisions of chapter fifty-two to file reports shall not apply to any city, town or ward committee which has not received contributions or made expenditures in excess of one hundred dollars during any reporting period, nor incurred liabilities or acquired or disposed of assets in excess of one hundred dollars during any reporting period.

SECTION 13. Subsection (a) of section 19 of said chapter 55 is hereby amended by striking out, in line 5, the words ", mayor or other citywide office in a city with a total population, as determined by the most recent decennial federal census, of one hundred thousand or more persons", inserted by section 34 of chapter 43 of the acts of 1994, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- , mayor or other citywide office except for the office of school committee in a city with a total population, as determined by the most recent decennial federal census, of one hundred thousand or more persons.

SECTION 14. Said section 19 of said chapter 55, as appearing in the 1992 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "year", in line 43, the following words:- and, if such contribution is in an amount or value of two hundred dollars or more in the calendar year, such person's occupation and name of employer or employers.

SECTION 15. Subsection (e) of said section 19 of said chapter 55, as appearing in chapter 239 of the acts of 1993, is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- The cashier or treasurer of the bank, selected by any candidate or committee as above provided, shall file with the director and, if a candidate for nomination or election to the office of mayor or other citywide office except for school committee, shall also file a copy with the city clerk (1) during the last six months of an election year by the fifth day and twentieth day of each month while such account is in existence, and (2) during the first six months of an election year and during non-election years by the fifth day of each month while such account is in existence and has received deposits greater than two hundred and fifty dollars or made withdrawals greater than two hundred and fifty dollars during the preceding month but in any case no less than semiannually on the fifth day of January and July while such account is in existence, the following information, a statement of the balance as of the preceding first day or fifteenth day of the month or as of the last report filed pursuant to this paragraph, whichever is applicable, together with a summary of all of the deposit slips presented to the bank since the last such statement with any deposit of monies to the campaign account of such candidate or committee, listing the names alphabetically and other data as to all donors as it appeared on the deposit slip, and a list of all the checks presented to the bank since the last such statement upon which any funds were withdrawn from any such account with the names and addresses of the payees and the amount of each check, and the purposes for which the money was paid as thereon indicated.

SECTION 16. Section 48 of chapter 43 of the acts of 1994 is hereby amended by striking out the first paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

There is hereby established a special commission to consist of three members of the senate, one of whom shall be the chairman of the joint committee on election laws or his designee who shall serve as co-chairman, one of whom shall be the chairman of the senate committee on ways and means or his designee, and one of whom shall be the senate minority leader or his designee, and three members of the house of representatives, one of whom shall be the chairman of the joint committee on election laws or his designee who shall serve as co-chairman, one of whom shall be the chairman of the house committee on ways and means or his designee, and one of whom shall be the house minority leader or his designee, the governor or his designee, the state secretary or his designee, the attorney general or his designee, the state treasurer or his designee, the commissioner of revenue or his designee, the comptroller or his designee, the director of campaign and political finance or his designee, and six persons to be appointed by the governor, for the purpose of making an investigation and study relative to additional or full public financing of political campaigns.

SECTION 17. Notwithstanding the provisions of chapter forty-three of the acts of nineteen hundred and ninety-four or any other general or special law to the contrary, any provisions of law regulating the registration or activities of executive agents shall not be effective until July first, nineteen hundred and ninety-five.

SECTION 18. Section two of this act shall take effect on July first, nineteen hundred and ninety-five and the remainder of this act shall take effect as of January first, nineteen hundred and ninety-five.