Current through Register Vol. 24, December 20, 2024
(1) Candidates
shall dispose of surplus campaign funds within 120 days of filing the closing
campaign report required by
13-37-228,
MCA.
(a) The candidate's closing report shall
be filed whenever all debts and obligations are extinguished, the provisions of
ARM
44.11.608
are followed, and no further contributions or expenditures will be received or
made which relate to the campaign.
(b) No closing report needs to be filed
following a primary election campaign if the candidate will advance to the
general election.
(2)
"Surplus campaign funds" are those campaign funds remaining when all debts and
other obligations of the campaign have been paid or settled, pursuant to ARM
44.11.608, no further campaign contributions will be received, and no further
campaign expenditures will be made.
(3) Surplus campaign funds will be considered
to have been "disposed of" on the date payment or donation of the item of
property is made by the candidate or the candidate's committee to a permissible
person, entity, or account.
(4)
The candidate shall be responsible for obtaining a receipt containing the
requisite information from all recipients of any surplus campaign funds or
property. Payment of surplus campaign funds or property shall be evidenced by a
receipt from the recipient containing the following information:
(a) the full name and mailing address of the
recipient;
(b) the date the funds
or property were received;
(c) the
full name of the candidate from whose campaign the funds or property were
received; and
(d) the exact amount
of funds or fair market value of the property received.
(5) Those candidates with surplus campaign
funds shall file a supplement to the closing campaign report, on a form
prescribed by the commissioner, showing the disposition of surplus campaign
funds or property. The report shall be accompanied by copies of all receipts
required by (4).
The supplement shall be filed within 135 days after the
closing report is filed.
(6) A candidate or eligible elected official
shall abide by the prohibitions on the use of surplus campaign funds specified
in
13-37-240,
and
13-37-402,
MCA, ARM
44.11.703, the
provisions of this rule, and the rules in this chapter.
(a) For purposes of the restrictions on the
disposal of surplus campaign funds and personal or real property set forth in
13-37-240,
MCA, "personal benefit" is defined in
13-37-240,
MCA. For the purposes of this definition, a candidate's or an eligible elected
official's "immediate family" includes any individual related or connected to a
candidate or an eligible elected official as specified in
2-2-303,
MCA.
(b) For purposes of the
restrictions on the disposal of surplus campaign funds and personal or real
property set forth in
13-37-240,
MCA, "campaign" means any effort to support or oppose the nomination or
election of a candidate for public office, or to support or oppose passage of a
ballot issue.
(c) A candidate may
not use surplus funds for candidate child-care expenses.
(d) Surplus campaign funds, including surplus
campaign funds deposited in a constituent services account and any interest
accrued as provided in ARM
44.11.710,
may only be disbursed as follows:
(i) return
the funds to the contributors, so long as the refund to contributors will not
violate the personal benefit or campaign contribution provisions of
13-37-240
and
13-37-402,
MCA, ARM 44.11.703, or the rules in this chapter;
(ii) donate the funds and personal or real
property to any organization or entity, so long as the use of the funds and
personal or real property will not violate the personal benefit or campaign
contribution provisions of
13-37-240
and
13-37-402,
MCA, ARM 44.11.703, or the rules in this chapter;
(iii) an elected official other than an
eligible elected official may transfer the funds to an account to serve a
public purpose related to the officeholder's public duties, so long as the
funds will not result in personal benefit or a contribution to a campaign;
(iv) an eligible elected official
may transfer the funds to a constituent services account provided for in Title
13, chapter 37, part 4, MCA, and the rules in this chapter;
(v) an eligible elected official may retain
the personal or real property of the campaign to serve constituents as provided
in Title 13, chapter 37, part 4, MCA, and the rules in this chapter.
(7) A candidate or an
eligible elected official shall not contribute surplus campaign funds to a
political committee. However, nothing in this section shall be construed as
prohibiting the contribution of surplus campaign funds to a political party or
a political party committee, so long as the funds are not earmarked for a
specific campaign.
(8) Upon a
determination that a candidate made a prohibited disposal of surplus campaign
funds, the commissioner may employ any enforcement measures within his or her
jurisdiction.
AUTH:
13-37-114, MCA ;
IMP: 13-37-220,
13-37-240,
13-37-402,
MCA
