HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2092        FILED ON: 1/15/2015

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 541

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Garrett J. Bradley

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act further regulating disclosure requirements for expenditures made to support or oppose candidates by certain committees.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2092        FILED ON: 1/15/2015

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 541

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Eighty-Ninth General Court
(2015-2016)

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An Act further regulating disclosure requirements for expenditures made to support or oppose candidates by certain committees.

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 18 of chapter 55 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking clause (8) in lines 217-225 and inserting the following its place:-  (8) the full name and address, listed alphabetically, of each person to whom an expenditure is made, in the reporting period, except for those identified in clause (10) and which shall be reported therein, in an amount or value in excess of fifty dollars, the amount and value, date and purpose of each such expenditure and the total of all such expenditures listed, and in the case of a political party committee organized in accordance with chapter 52 or a political committee supporting more than one candidate, the name and address, the elective office held, if any, and office sought by each candidate on whose behalf such expenditure was made;

SECTION 2.  Section 19 of chapter 55 of the General Laws, as amended by Chapter 210 of the Acts of 2014, is amended by striking the last sentence of the first paragraph in clause (c) and inserting the following in its place:- (c) Except as otherwise provided in this section, all payments for campaign purposes made by or for the benefit of a candidate or by the treasurer of a political committee which are in excess of $100 shall be made only from funds on deposit in the depository through checks drawn on the depository and indicating that the checks are drawn on the campaign account of the candidate or the political committee involved. All checks drawn on the campaign account shall be payable either to the order of a named payee, not the candidate or treasurer, or, if the check is for not more than $100, may be payable to the candidate or treasurer. The memo line of the check shall be used by the political committee issuing the check to indicate the specific purpose of the expenditure.  A PAC or political party committee making an expenditure to support or oppose a candidate must identify the candidate on the check.

SECTION 3.  Section 19 of chapter 55 of the General Laws, as amended by Chapter 210 of the Acts of 2014, is further amended by inserting a new clause (g), providing as follows: (g) A political action committee or state party committee must, within seven days of its depository bank disclosing an expenditure made by the committee to support or oppose a candidate, review the bank’s report and if the report does not identify the candidate supported or opposed, append the bank’s report to disclose the name of the candidate and whether the expenditure supported or opposed the candidate.