SB 294 — AN ACT CONCERNING QUALIFYING CONTRIBUTIONS UNDER THE CITIZENS' ELECTION PROGRAM.

General Assembly ProposedCommittee Bill No.

9484987 Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION AND ELECTIONS Introduced by:

SEN.(GAE) AN ACT CONCERNING QUALIFYING CONTRIBUTIONS UNDER THE CITIZENS' ELECTION PROGRAM.

FORMICA, 20th Dist.

AN ACT CONCERNING QUALIFYING CONTRIBUTIONS UNDER THE CITIZENS' ELECTION PROGRAM.

ThatSection section1. 9-704 of the general statutes be amended to require that, if the treasurer of a candidate committee submits a contribution as part of an application for a grant under the Citizens' Election Program and the State Elections Enforcement Commission accordingly deems such contribution not to be a qualifying contribution, said commission shall return such contribution to such committee and such treasurer shall in turn refund such contribution to the contributor.

StatementSubsection (e) of Purpose:section 9-704 of the general statutes is repealed andthefollowing issubstituted inlieuthereof(EffectiveOctober 1, 2021):

To(e) require(1) thatThe thefollowing Stateshall Electionsnot Enforcementbe Commissiondeemed return to abe campaignqualifying treasurercontributions anyunder contributionsubsection that(a) doesof notthis qualifysection towardand receivingshall, ain grantaccordance underwith the Citizens'provisions Electionof Programsubdivision so(2) thatof suchthis subsection, be returned by the treasurer mayof returnthe suchcandidate contributioncommittee to the contributor.contributor:

[or transmitted to the State Elections Enforcement Commission for deposit in the Citizens' Election Fund:] [(1)] (A) A contribution from a principal of a state contractor or prospective state contractor;

[(2)] (B) A contribution of less than five dollars, and a contribution of five dollars or more from an individual who does not provide the full name and complete address of the individual;

9484987 1 of 14 [(3)] (C) A contribution under subdivision (1) or (2) of subsection (a) of this section from an individual who does not reside in the state, in excess of the applicable limit on contributions from out-of-state individuals in subsection (a) of this section;

and [(4)](D)Acontributionmadebyayouthwhoislessthantwelveyears of age.

(2) In the case of a contribution described in subdivision (1) of this subsection submitted by the treasurer of the candidate committee to the State Elections Enforcement Commission as part of an application for a grant under the Citizens' Election Program, which contribution the commission accordingly deems not to be a qualifying contribution, pursuant to subsection (d) of section 9-706, as amended by this act, the treasurer shall refund such contribution to the contributor upon its return to the committee in accordance with said subsection.

Sec.

2.

Subsection (d) of section 9-706 of the general statutes is repealed andthefollowing issubstituted inlieuthereof(EffectiveOctober 1, 2021):

(d) In accordance with the provisions of subsection (g) of this section, the commission shall review the application [,] and determine whether (1) the candidate committee for the applicant has received the required qualifyingcontributions,(2)inthecaseofanapplicationforagrantfrom the fund for a primary campaign, the applicant has met the applicable conditionunder subsection(a)ofthis sectionfor applying for suchgrant and complied with the provisions of subsections (b) and (c) of this section, (3) in the case of an application for a grant from the fund for a general election campaign, the applicant has met the applicable condition under subsection (a) of this section for applying for such moneys and complied with the provisions of subsections (b) and (c) of this section, and (4) in the case of an application by a minor party or petitioning party candidate for a grant from the fund for a general election campaign, the applicant qualifies as an eligible minor party candidate or an eligible petitioning party candidate, whichever is applicable.

For each contribution received by the candidate committee LCO No.

4987 2 of 4 of an applicant that the commission deems not to be a qualifying contribution, the commission shall (A) advise such applicant of such determination and cite the applicable reason under subsection (e) of section 9-704, as amended by this act, for such determination, and (B) return such contribution to the committee.

If the commission approves an application, the commission shall determine the amount of the grant payable tothecandidate committee for theapplicant pursuant to section 9-705 from the fund, and notify the State Comptroller and the candidate of such candidate committee, of such amount.

If the timing of the commission's approval of the grant in relation to the Secretary of the State's determination of ballot status is such that the commission cannot determine whether the qualified candidate committee is entitled to the applicable full initial grant for the primary or election or the applicable partial grant for the primary or election, as the case may be, the commission shall approve the lesser applicable partial initial grant.

The commission shall then authorize the payment of the remaining portion of the applicable grant after the commission has knowledge of the circumstances regarding the ballot status of the opposing candidates in such primary or election.

Not later than two business days following notification by the commission, the State Comptroller shall draw an order on the State Treasurer for payment of any such approved amount to the qualified candidate committee from the fund.

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:

Section 1 October 1, 2021 9-704(e) Sec.

2 October 1, 2021 9-706(d) Statement of Purpose:

To require that the State Elections Enforcement Commission return to a campaign treasurer any contribution that does not qualify toward receiving a grant under the Citizens' Election Program so that such treasurer may return such contribution to the contributor.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets.

Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.] LCO No.

4987 3 of 4 Co-Sponsors:

SEN.

FORMICA, 20th Dist.;

REP.

FISHBEIN, 90th Dist.

REP.

MASTROFRANCESCO, 80th Dist.;

SEN.

SAMPSON, 16th Dist.

S.B.

294 LCO No.