SB 1153

Current law allows unlimited campaign contributions to certain entities, such as political action committees, legislative campaign committees, and political parties, but prohibits a political action committee from contributing more than $12,000 in any calendar year to a political party or legislative campaign committee. This bill limits the contributions that an individual may make to a political party or legislative campaign committee to the amounts that an individual may make to a candidate committee, as provided under the bill. The bill also limits the contributions that a political party or legislative campaign committee may make to a candidate committee to the amounts that an individual may make to a candidate committee, as provided under the bill. In addition, the bill limits the contributions that a candidate committee may make to a political party or legislative campaign committee to the amounts that the candidate committee may make under current law to another candidate committee but retains the unlimited contributions under current law for contributions that a candidate makes to the candidate’s candidate committee from the candidate’s personal funds.

The bill also decreases the individual and candidate committee contribution limit from $20,000 to $10,000 for contributions made to candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, attorney general, state superintendent, or justice of the supreme court and reduces by half the limits that apply to political action committee contributions to candidates. The limits under the bill are the same, generally, as those that applied to political action committee contributions prior to 2016.

Finally, current law allows a political party or legislative campaign committee to establish a segregated fund to use for general purposes but not for making contributions to a candidate committee or for making disbursements for express advocacy. Persons other than a political action committee, corporation, cooperative, labor organization, or American Indian tribe may make unlimited contributions to the segregated fund. A political action committee, corporation, cooperative, labor organization, or American Indian tribe may make a contribution to the fund in amounts not to exceed $12,000 in the aggregate in a calendar year. The bill eliminates the provision allowing a political party or legislative campaign committee to establish such a fund.