A bill

 

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING SECTION 8-13-1308, RELATING TO THE FILING OF CERTIFIED CAMPAIGN REPORTS BY CANDIDATES AND COMMITTEES, SO AS TO REQUIRE CANDIDATES AND COMMITTEES TO FILE CAMPAIGN BANK ACCOUNT STATEMENTS FOR THE PREVIOUS QUARTER'S CAMPAIGN REPORT CONTEMPORANEOUSLY WITH THEIR CAMPAIGN DISCLOSURES.

 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

 

SECTION 1.  Section 8-13-1308 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

 

    Section 8-13-1308. (A) Upon the receipt or expenditure of campaign contributions or the making of independent expenditures totaling an accumulated aggregate of five hundred dollars or more, a candidate or committee required to file a statement of organization pursuant to Section 8-13-1304(A) must file an initial certified campaign report within ten days of these initial receipts or expenditures. However, a candidate who does not receive or expend campaign contributions totaling an accumulated aggregate of five hundred dollars or more must file an initial certified campaign report fifteen days before an election.

    (B) Following the filing of an initial certified campaign report, additional certified campaign reports must be filed within ten days following the end of each calendar quarter in which contributions are received or expenditures are made, whether before or after an election until the campaign account undergoes final disbursement pursuant to the provisions of Section 8-13-1370.

    (C) Campaign reports filed by a candidate must be certified by the candidate.  Campaign reports filed by a committee must be certified by a duly authorized officer of the committee.

    (D)(1) At least fifteen days before an election, a certified campaign report must be filed showing contributions of more than one hundred dollars and expenditures to or by the candidate or committee for the period ending twenty days before the election. The candidate or committee must maintain a current list during the period before the election commencing at the beginning of the calendar quarter of the election of all contributions of more than one hundred dollars and expenditures. The list must be open to public inspection upon request.

       (2) A committee immediately shall file a campaign report listing expenditures if it makes an independent expenditure or an incurred expenditure within the calendar quarter in which the election is conducted or twenty days before the election, whichever period of time is greater, in excess of:

           (a) ten thousand dollars in the case of a candidate for statewide office;  or

           (b) two thousand dollars in the case of a candidate for any other office.

       (3) In the event of a runoff election, candidates or committees are not required to file another campaign report in addition to the reports already required under this section.  However, records must remain open to public inspection upon request between the election and the runoff.

    (E) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (B) and (D), if a pre-election campaign report provided for in subsection (D) is required to be filed within thirty days of the end of the prior quarter, a candidate or committee must combine the quarterly report provided for in subsection (B) and the pre-election report and file the combined report subject to the provisions of subsection (D) no later than fifteen days before the election.

    (F) Certified campaign reports detailing campaign contributions and expenditures must contain:

       (1) the total of contributions accepted by the candidate or committee;

       (2) the name and address of each person making a contribution of more than one hundred dollars and the amount and date of receipt of each contribution;

       (3) the total expenditures made by or on behalf of the candidate or committee;

       (4) the name and address of each person to whom an expenditure is made from campaign funds, including the date, amount, purpose, and beneficiary of the expenditure.

    (G) Notwithstanding any other reporting requirements in this chapter, a political party, legislative caucus committee, and a party committee must file a certified campaign report upon the receipt of anything of value which totals in the aggregate five hundred dollars or more. For purposes of this section, "anything of value" includes contributions received which may be used for the payment of operation expenses of a political party, legislative caucus committee, or a party committee. A political party also must comply with the reporting requirements of subsections (B), (C), and (F) of Section 8-13-1308 in the same manner as a candidate or committee.

    (H) A committee that solicits contributions pursuant to Section 8-13-1331 must certify compliance with that section on a form prescribed by the State Ethics Commission.

    (I) In addition to the campaign disclosure required by this section, a candidate or committee must also file copies of his or its campaign bank account statements applicable to his or its previous quarterly campaign disclosure report with the appropriate supervisory office at the same time. The campaign bank account statements are not subject to public disclosure and may only be retained by the appropriate supervisory office for the period of time necessary to conduct any audit or verification of the member or officer's applicable campaign disclosure report, after which time the statements must be destroyed.

 

SECTION 2.  This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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