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TO AMEND SECTION 8-13-1300, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO DEFINITIONS APPLICABLE TO SOUTH CAROLINA CAMPAIGN PRACTICES, SO AS TO REVISE THE DEFINITIONS OF "COMMITTEE", "CONTRIBUTION", "NONCANDIDATE COMMITTEE", AND "BALLOT MEASURE COMMITTEE".
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Section 8-13-1300(6), (7), (23), and (32) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(6) 'Committee' means an association, a club, an organization, or a group of persons, including a party committee, a legislative caucus committee, or a noncandidate committee, which, to influence the outcome of an elective office, has as its major purpose the nomination, election, or defeat of one or more candidates and receives contributions or makes expenditures in excess of five hundred dollars in the aggregate during an election cycle. It also means a person who, to influence the outcome of an elective office, has the major purpose to support or oppose the nomination, election, or defeat of one or more candidates and makes:
(a) contributions aggregating at least twenty-five thousand dollars during an election cycle to or at the request of a candidate or a committee, or a combination of them; or
(b) independent expenditures aggregating five hundred dollars or more during an election cycle for the election or defeat of a candidate.
'Committee' includes a party committee, a legislative caucus committee, a noncandidate committee, or a committee that is not a campaign committee for a candidate but that is organized for the purpose of influencing an election.
(7) 'Contribution' means a gift, subscription, loan, guarantee upon which collection is made, forgiveness of a loan, an advance, in-kind contribution or expenditure, a deposit of money, or anything of value made to a candidate or committee to influence an election;, or payment or compensation for the personal service of another person which is rendered for any purpose to a candidate or committee without charge to influence an election, whether any of the above are made or offered directly or indirectly. 'Contribution' does not include (a) volunteer personal services on behalf of a candidate or committee for which the volunteer or any person acting on behalf of or instead of the volunteer receives no compensation either in cash or in-kind, directly or indirectly, from any source; or (b) a gift, subscription, loan, guarantee upon which collection is made, forgiveness of a loan, an advance, in-kind contribution or expenditure, a deposit of money, or anything of value made to a committee, other than a candidate committee, and is used to pay for communications made not more than forty-five days before the election to influence the outcome of an elective office as defined in Section 8-13-1300(31)(c). These funds must be deposited in an account separate from a campaign account as required in Section 8-13-1312.
(23) 'Noncandidate committee' means a committee that is not a campaign committee for a candidate but is organized to influence an election or to support or oppose a candidate or public official has as its major purpose the nomination, election, or defeat of one or more candidates, which receives contributions or makes expenditures in excess of five hundred dollars in the aggregate during an election cycle. 'Noncandidate committee' does not include political action committees that contribute solely to federal campaigns.
(32) 'Ballot measure committee' means:
(a) an association, club, an organization, or a group of persons which, to influence the outcome of a ballot measure, whose major purpose is to promote or defeat a ballot measure and receives contributions or makes expenditures in excess of two thousand five hundred dollars in the aggregate during an election cycle;
(b) a person, other than an individual, who, to influence the outcome of a ballot measure, makes contributions aggregating at least fifty thousand dollars during an election cycle to or at the request of a ballot measure committee; or
(c) a person, other than an individual, who, to influence the outcome of a ballot measure, makes independent expenditures aggregating two thousand five hundred dollars or more during an election cycle."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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