1) Assets
A)
Reference: This definition of assets interprets or applies to Code Sections 9-5
and 9-11.
B) An asset is an item of
property, other than cash or services, of any kind, tangible or intangible,
that has either a fair market or salvage value in excess of $150. For reporting
purposes, a loan made by a political committee that has not been repaid or
forgiven shall be considered as an asset held as an investment.
2) Candidate
A) Reference: This subsection (b)(2)
interprets or applies to Code Section 9-1.3.
B) "Candidate", as that term is defined in
Code Section 9-1.3, shall include, but not be limited to:
i) A person who circulates or authorizes the
circulation of nominating petitions on the candidate's behalf for public
office;
ii) An individual who
receives contributions or makes expenditures or gives consent for any other
person to receive contributions or make expenditures for the purpose of
bringing about the candidate's nomination for election or re-election to any
office;
iii) Any judicial incumbent
who qualifies for retention.
3) Contributions and Anything of Value
A) Reference: This subsection (b)(3)
interprets or applies Code Sections 9-1.4, 9-1.5, 9-1.8, 9-1.12, 9-1.14 and
9-1.15.
B) The term "anything of
value", as used in Code Sections 9-1.4, 9-1.5 and 9-1.12, means any item,
thing, service or goods, regardless of whether valued in monetary terms
according to ascertainable market value.
C) "Anything of value" that does not have an
ascertainable market value may be reported by describing the item, thing,
service or goods contributed; however, nothing in this subsection (b)(3)
relieves a committee or a contributor of the duty to provide as accurate an
assessment of value as possible.
D)
Interest, other investment income, earnings or proceeds, and refunds and
returns shall not be reported as a contribution, but shall be reported as a
receipt according to this subsection (b)(3). For purposes of reporting campaign
receipts and expenses, income from investments shall be included as receipts
during the reporting period they are actually received. The gross purchase
price of each investment shall be reported as an expenditure at time of
purchase. Net proceeds from the sale of an investment shall be reported as a
receipt. During the period investments are held, they shall be identified by
name and quantity of security or instrument on each quarterly report during the
period. The value of each instrument as of the day the reporting period closes
shall be included for each asset held as an investment.
E) In addition to the items expressly
excluded in the Election Code, the terms "anything of value" and "contribution"
shall not be deemed to include:
i) Any
unreimbursed payments for travel or living expenses related to travel made by
an individual who volunteers services on behalf of a political committee,
including a candidate political committee;
ii) Any news story, commentary, endorsement
or editorial of any broadcasting station, newspaper, magazine or other
periodical publication;
iii) Any
publication by a membership association or corporation to its officers,
employees, members, stockholders, or members of the immediate families of these
persons, so long as the membership association or corporation is not organized
primarily for the purpose of influencing the nomination for election, election,
or retention of any candidate, or supporting or opposing any question or
questions of public policy;
iv) The
occasional use of real property of a person or whoever, as defined in Code
Section 9-1.6, and as defined in Section
100.10(b)(4),
for the purpose of conveying information to officers, employees, members or
stockholders of an association or a corporation, and the immediate families of
these persons, including but not limited to the use of the premises for the
purpose of a candidate communicating directly with officers, employees, members
or stockholders and the immediate families of these persons;
v) Unrealized appreciation or loss of value
of investments during the period they are held.
F) A loan of money from a bank, credit union,
or other financial institution to a candidate or public official, or the
candidate's or public official's political committee, shall not be listed as a
contribution from that institution, but shall instead be listed on the
committee's disclosure filings as a contribution from the person or persons
endorsing the loan. Security for a loan, if provided by a person other than the
candidate or the candidate political committee, does qualify as a contribution
and shall be reported as having come from the person who provided it and shall
be subject to contribution limits. A loan of money from a bank, credit union or
other financial institution to a committee other than a candidate political
committee shall not be considered a contribution from that institution, and
shall not be subject to the contribution limits if the guarantor for the loan
is the committee itself or if the loan agreement is signed by an authorized
officer of the committee acting on the committee's behalf. These loans shall be
reported on disclosure filings by listing the committee as endorser and also
listing the financial institution from which the loan is obtained.
G) Independent expenditures are not
contributions, as that term is defined in Code Section 9-1.4. Independent
expenditures are those made for the purpose of electioneering communication, as
that term is defined in Code Section 9-1.14, or that expressly advocates the
election, nomination or defeat of a public official or candidate or for or
against any question of public policy to be submitted to the voters and that is
not made in cooperation, concert or consultation with, or at the request or
suggestion of, the public official or candidate. Communications that expressly
advocate the election, nomination or defeat of a public official or candidate
or for or against any question of public policy to be submitted to the voters
are those that unequivocally state in the communication that the public
official or candidate ought to be elected, nominated or defeated or the
question of public policy ought to be approved or defeated. These
communications typically contain the terms "vote for", "elect" or, in the case
of expressly advocating the defeat of a candidate, "vote against", "vote no",
"defeat", etc.
H) "Clearly
identifiable candidate" means the candidate's name (first name and surname) but
does not necessarily have to include the candidate's middle name or middle
initial. A clearly identifiable candidate can also be one that is described in
such a way as to exclude any other candidate so as to leave no doubt in the
mind of the person being communicated to as to whom the communication is
referring. For example: "The Democratic Party's candidate for Mayor",
"Congressman Jones", or "the former Republican candidate for Congressman who
was defeated at the most recent General Election". A clearly identifiable
candidate can also be described by use of a photograph or other visual image or
likeness.
I) A communication by a
corporation, a limited liability company, or an association to its members or
stockholders and executive or administrative personnel, or the immediate
families of these persons, is not a contribution. For purposes of this Part, a
corporation is one that is registered with the Business Services Division of
the Illinois Secretary of State or is similarly registered with any other state
in compliance with that state's laws or that operates as or holds itself out as
a corporation so that it would be required to register with the Illinois
Secretary of State, regardless if it has taken affirmative action to so
register. For purposes of this Part, an association is defined broadly to
include any group of persons or entities that have a common purpose and that
have an organizational structure with an existing membership roster and
governing by-laws or other similar rules. An association includes those that
are both for-profit and not-for-profit (however the entity does not necessarily
have to be organized under the laws of this or any other state) and includes a
labor union as that term is defined in subsection (a).
J) A voter registration campaign or other Get
Out The Vote (GOTV) activity is not deemed to be "anything of value" or a
"contribution", so long as the campaign or activity makes no mention of any
clearly identified candidate, public question, political party, group or
combination of these entities.
4) Person or Whoever
A) Reference: This subsection (b)(4)
interprets or applies Code Section 9-1.6.
B) The terms "other organizations" and
"groups of persons" as defined in Code Section 9-1.6 shall include, but not be
limited to, all corporations, labor unions, trade associations or other such
groups, religious organizations, fraternal societies, luncheon and dinner
organizations, etc.
5)
Political Committee
A) Reference: This
subsection (b)(5) interprets or applies Code Sections 9-1.8 and
9-1.9.
B) A person or whoever, as
defined in Code Section 9-1.6 and in subsection (b)(4) of this Section, does
not qualify as a political committee pursuant to Article 9 of the Election Code
by simply making a contribution from that person's personal income or profits,
regardless of the amount of the donations. If an entity, other than a natural
person, makes an independent expenditure or expenditures in aggregate within a
12 month period in excess of $3,000 supporting or opposing public officials or
candidates, then the entity qualifies as a political committee.
C) If a person solicits or receives funds for
political purposes and meets the criteria of one of the committee types listed
in subsection (b)(5)(D) during any 12-month period, that person would become a
political committee and would have to comply with all provisions of Article 9.
The provisions of this subsection (b)(5) shall not apply to those persons who
accept contributions from at least 5 individuals as provided in Code Section
9-6.
D) Political committees shall
include candidate political committees, political party committees, political
action committees, ballot initiative committees, independent expenditure
committees and limited activity committees, as those terms are defined in Code
Section 9-1.8. Candidates who form a new political party under Code Section
10-2 may collectively form a political party committee to support their
candidacy or each candidate may individually form a candidate political
committee. Groups of candidates may collectively form a political action
committee to support their candidacies, or each candidate may individually form
a candidate political committee. In no case may a candidate form both a
candidate political committee and a political action committee to support the
candidate's own candidacy. Candidates who exercise the option of forming a
political action committee may not include the names of any of the candidates
in the name of the political action committee. A political action committee
must, however, include the name of the office that the candidates are seeking
and the name of the political subdivision or unit of local government to which
the office pertains. In all cases except political party committees, political
committees are limited to those that accept contributions or make expenditures
or independent expenditures in an aggregate amount exceeding $5,000 on behalf
of or in opposition to candidates, or, in the case of a ballot initiative
committee, in support of or opposition to questions of public policy.
i) Political Party Committees referred to in
Code Section 9-1.8(c) include "legislative caucus committees" and are defined
as caucuses that are established by either 5 or more members of the same caucus
in the Senate or 10 or more members of the same caucus in the House of
Representatives. These committees shall include any caucus declared by its
membership to be a caucus. If the number of caucus members of a given caucus
committee decreases below the designated threshold (5 Senate/10 House members),
the caucus committee shall become a political action committee, as that term is
defined in Code Section 9-1.8, and be subject to the contribution limits
pertaining to political action committees established in Code Section 9-8.5(d),
unless the caucus committee either fills the vacancy or dissolves within 5
business days after the date the vacancy occurred.
ii) A committee formed by a ward or township
committeeman of a political party shall be designated as a political party
committee. Pursuant to Code Section 7-8(b), only ward committeemen in the City
of Chicago and township committeemen in Cook County qualify for this
designation. Nothing in this subsection (b)(5)(D)(ii) shall be construed to
limit the ability of a ward or township committeeman to form a candidate
political committee in support of their own candidacy.
iii) For purposes of Code Section 9-1.9, a
judicial candidate running for retention subsequent to their first retention
candidacy following the candidate's election shall be subject to the election
cycle established in Code Section 9-1.9(3), except that the period shall begin
on January 1 following the candidate's retention (as opposed to their election)
and extending to the day the candidate files their next declaration to seek
retention and the period beginning after that day and extending to December 31
following the candidate's retention election. This judicial retention election
cycle is subject to the fundraising restrictions contained in Canon 7 of Rule
67 of the Rules of the Illinois Supreme Court (committees established to
support judicial candidates may not solicit contributions more than 1 year
preceding the election in which the candidate is seeking judicial office or
retention, and no later than 90 days following the election).
iv) Any corporation, labor organization or
association that acts as a conduit in facilitating the delivery of dues, levies
or similar assessments to a political action committee as provided in Code
Section 9-8.5(i) shall not, solely as a result of this activity, be considered
to be a political action committee within the meaning of the disclosure and
regulation requirements of Article 9 of the Code.
v) These election cycles apply regardless of
whether the candidate only appears on either the consolidated primary ballot or
the consolidated election ballot. For purposes of Code Section 9-1.9(4), the
election cycle for a candidate political committee organized to support a
candidate to be nominated or elected at a consolidated primary election or
elected at a consolidated election, or municipal or runoff election in cities
of 1,000,000 or more population occurring on the date of the regularly
scheduled consolidated primary or consolidated election, shall run from:
* the period beginning July 1 following the consolidated
election for which the candidate seeks election and ending on the day of the
next consolidated primary election for that office; or
* the period beginning the day after the consolidated primary
election for the office to which the candidate seeks nomination or election and
through June 30 following the consolidated election held that
year.
vi) If a candidate
political committee established for multiple offices elected at different
elections changes its election cycle pursuant to Code Section 9-2(b), the
committee shall be subject to the new election cycle established under Code
Section 9-1.9 and to the contribution limits for the new election cycle
contained in Code Section 9-8.5(b). Contributions received by the committee
prior to the date of the establishment of the new election cycle will be
counted towards the contribution limit for each contributor, with the following
exception: the contributions shall not be considered to have been received in
excess of contribution limits if the limit was exceeded solely because of the
establishment of the new election cycle. However, for the remainder of the new
election cycle, the committee would be considered to have received the maximum
allowable contribution from that contributor for that election cycle and would
be prohibited from receiving any additional contributions from that contributor
during the remainder of the new election cycle.
vii) The election cycles for a limited
activity committee are identical to those for the candidate political committee
from which the limited activity committee was converted under Code Section
9-3.5, based on the office most recently sought by the candidate.
E) If an entity forming a
political action committee under Code Section 9-2(d) is not a clearly
identifiable trust, partnership, committee, association, corporation or other
organization, but rather a group of persons lacking any formal organizational
structure, the name of the political committee shall include the name (first
and last) of the person or persons responsible for its formation or its
continuing operation. This Section shall not apply to established party
candidates who collectively form a political action committee to support their
candidacies pursuant to subsection (b)(5)(D).
F) The name of a ballot initiative committee
must include a brief description of the question or questions and whether the
committee is organized to support or oppose the question or questions. The name
shall not exceed 70 characters (based on U.S. Post Office restrictions
applicable to mailing labels) and shall include keywords that would provide a
reasonable person with a general understanding of the subject matter of the
question or questions and whether the committee was formed to support or oppose
the question or questions.
G) A
candidate political committee of a former officeholder or supporting a now
deceased candidate or officeholder may, subject to the applicable contribution
limits, maintain the committee as a candidate political committee, close the
committee and dispose of any remaining funds as indicated on its D-1 Statement
of Organization, or convert the committee to a political action committee by
filing an amended D-1 Statement of Organization amending the committee type, as
well as the name, purpose of the committee, and any other information that has
changed.
H) A political committee
that converts to a new committee type as defined in Code Section 9-1.8 is
limited in the amount of funds that it may retain under the new committee type
designation to the contribution limits in Code Section 9-8.5. The applicable
limit shall be determined by the amount of funds allowed to be contributed from
the original committee type to the new committee type. If the committee has a
fund balance that exceeds the normal contribution limit from the original
committee type to the new committee type, it must first dispose of the excess
funds before making the conversion. A candidate political committee changing
the candidate it is supporting shall be considered to be transferring funds
from one candidate political committee to another, and shall be limited in the
amount of funds it may retain to the contribution limits between two candidate
political committees. If the committee has a fund balance that exceeds that
limit, it must first dispose of the excess funds before making the conversion.
A candidate political committee that owes outstanding fines is prohibited from
changing its committee type or the candidate supported by the committee until
the fines are paid in full.
I) A
candidate or officer of a candidate political committee who notifies the Board
of their intention to convert a candidate political committee to a limited
activity committee under Code Section 9-3.5 must complete the transition within
60 days after their confirmation to an affected office, as required by Section
3A-50(b) of the Illinois Governmental Ethics Act [5 ILCS 420
].
6) Statement of
Organization
A) Reference: This subsection
(b)(6) interprets Code Section 9-3.
B) A committee officer must, in filling out
the Form D-1, use the name that appears on that officer's birth certificate,
baptismal record, voter's registration card, statement of candidacy or
nominating petition, or any other name by which the officer is commonly known
in the community in which the officer resides. Aliases created for the purpose
of filing under Article 9 of the Election Code may not be used.
C) The prohibitions contained in Code Section
9-3(d)(iii) and (d-5)(iii) against making contributions from a ballot
initiative committee or an independent expenditure committee to a candidate or
candidates for nomination for election, election or retention to public office
shall not include refunds of contributions to the candidate so long as the
refund does not exceed the amount the candidate originally contributed. Nothing
in Code Section 9-3(d)(i) prohibits an independent expenditure committee from
making expenditures on its own behalf for the customary and reasonable expenses
of operating a political committee, provided that the expenditures are not made
in connection, consultation or concert with, or at the request or suggestion
of, any other political committee, public official or candidate, or the agent
or agents of the committee, public official or candidate.
D) For the purpose of this subsection (b)(6),
the term "person" contained in the definition of "sponsoring entity" shall not
include a political committee. The term "sponsoring entity" is defined in
Section 100.170.
E) A complaint for willfully filing a false
or incomplete Statement of Organization shall be subject to the provisions of
Code Sections 9-20 and 9-21.