Public financing of campaigns for the office of justice of the supreme court, making appropriations, and providing penalties. (FE)

A candidate who accepts public financing may also accept "seed money" contributions from electors of this state in amounts of $100 or less, subject to aggregate limitations, and may contribute personal funds in specified amounts during specified periods. In order to qualify for a public financing benefit for the primary, a candidate at the spring primary must have an opponent who qualifies to have his or her name appear on the ballot at the primary, and in order to qualify for a public financing benefit for the spring election, a candidate at the election must have an opponent who qualifies to have his or her name appear on the ballot at the election. A candidate who accepts a public financing benefit may not accept any contributions other than qualifying and seed money contributions and contributions from personal funds within the limitations permitted. Public financing benefits for eligible candidates are $100,000 in the spring primary and $300,000 in the spring election. The benefits are subject to a biennial cost of living adjustment.

The bill imposes a limitation on disbursements (expenditures) by a candidate who accepts a public financing benefit that equals the total public financing benefit allocated to the candidate and the total qualifying and seed money contributions lawfully accepted by the candidate. The bill provides that if a candidate makes disbursements that exceed the total permitted under the bill, the candidate is subject to a forfeiture (civil penalty) of not more than ten times the amount by which his or her disbursements exceed the allocation. In addition, the bill provides that a candidate who accepts contributions in excess of any limitation imposed under the bill is subject to a forfeiture of not more than ten times the amount by which the contributions exceed the applicable limitation. The bill also provides that if any candidate or agent of a candidate knowingly accepts more contributions than the candidate is entitled to receive, or makes disbursements exceeding the total amount of the public financing benefit received by the candidate and the qualifying and seed money contributions lawfully received by the candidate, the candidate or agent may be fined not more than $25,000 or imprisoned for not more than ten years, or both.

Under the bill, any person who, in connection with the receipt or disbursement of a public financing benefit, knowingly provides false information to the Government Accountability Board, or knowingly conceals or withholds information from the board, is subject to the same penalty.

Currently, no public financing is available to finance the campaigns of candidates for the office of justice of the supreme court.

Currently, individuals and committees making political contributions to candidates for the office of justice of the supreme court are subject to limitations on the amount or value of any contribution or contributions that may be made cumulatively to any candidate in a campaign. The limitations are $10,000 in the case of an individual making a contribution to a candidate and $8,625 in the case of a committee making a contribution to a candidate. This bill replaces these limitations with a contribution limitation of $1,000 applicable to an individual or committee making any contribution or contributions cumulatively during a campaign period to any candidate for the office of justice of the supreme court who is eligible to qualify for a public financing benefit but who declines to accept one.

Under the bill, public financing benefits are financed through an individual income tax "checkoff." Every individual filing a state income tax return who has a tax liability or is entitled to a tax refund may direct that $2 of general purpose revenue be transferred to the democracy trust fund. Individuals filing a joint return may separately choose whether to direct that the $2 transfer be made. The designation does not increase an individual's tax liability nor reduce an individual's refund. If the total designations do not generate sufficient general purpose revenues to fully fund the costs of public grants and administration of the democracy trust fund, the bill appropriates additional general purpose revenues to finance those costs.

Because this bill creates a new crime or revises a penalty for an existing crime, the Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties may be requested to prepare a report concerning the proposed penalty and the costs or savings that are likely to result if the bill is enacted.