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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 1751
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE MILLER.
5214H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o repeal section 130.031, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections relating to
elections, with penalty provisions.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 130.031, RSMo, is repealed and two new sections enacted in lieu
2 thereof, to be known as sections 1 15.008 and 130.031, to read as follows:
1 15.008. Notwithstanding any other prov ision of law to the contrary , all
2 candidates for public office in elections governed under the pr ovisions of this chapter
3 shall declar e a political party affiliation. A candidate shall declar e only a political party
4 affiliation that matches the candidate's voter regist ration record . The political party
5 affiliation shall appear on the ballot next to the candidate's name. Candidates shall also
6 be requ ired to notify the Missouri ethics commission of the candidate's party affiliation
7 at the time of the declaration of candidacy . Nothing in this section shall be construed to
8 pr event candidates fr om declaring or r egistering as independent. The pr ovisions of this
9 section shall apply only to candidates whose party affiliation is that of a party that, at
10 the time of declaration, is a political party r ecognized by the state of Missouri.
130.031. 1. No contribution of cash in an amount of more than one hundred dollars
2 shall be made by or accepted from any single contributor for any election by a continuing
3 committee, a campaign committee, a political party committee, an exploratory committee or a
4 candidate committee.
5 2. Each expenditure of more than fifty dollars, except an in-kind expenditure, shall be
6 made by check signed by the committee treasurer , deputy treasurer , or candidate or by other
7 electronic means authorized by the treasurer , deputy treasurer , or candidate and drawn on the
EXPLANA TION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is
intended to be omitted from the law . Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language.
8 committee's depository or credit card in the name of the committee and authorized by the
9 treasurer , deputy treasurer , or candidate. A single expenditure of cash shall not exceed fifty
10 dollars, and the aggregate of all expenditures of cash during a calendar year shall not exceed
11 the lesser of five thousand dollars or ten percent of all expenditures made by the committee
12 during that calendar year .
13 3. No contribution shall be made or accepted and no expenditure shall be made or
14 incurred, directly or indirectly , in a fictitious name, in the name of another person, or by or
15 through another person in such a manner as to conceal the identity of the actual source of the
16 contribution or the actual recipient and purpose of the expenditure. Any person who receives
17 contributions for a committee shall disclose to that committee's treasurer , deputy treasurer or
18 candidate the recipient's own name and address and the name and address of the actual source
19 of each contribution such person has received for that committee. Any person who makes
20 expenditures for a committee shall disclose to that committee's treasurer , deputy treasurer or
21 candidate such person's own name and address, the name and address of each person to whom
22 an expenditure has been made and the amount and purpose of the expenditures the person has
23 made for that committee.
24 4. No anonymous contribution of more than twenty-five dollars shall be made by any
25 person, and no anonymous contribution of more than twenty-five dollars shall be accepted by
26 any candidate or committee. If any anonymous contribution of more than twenty-five dollars
27 is received, it shall be returned immediately to the contributor , if the contributor's identity can
28 be ascertained, and if the contributor's identity cannot be ascertained, the candidate,
29 committee treasurer or deputy treasurer shall immediately transmit that portion of the
30 contribution which exceeds twenty-five dollars to the state treasurer and it shall escheat to the
31 state.
32 5. The maximum aggregate amount of anonymous contributions which shall be
33 accepted in any calendar year by any committee shall be the greater of five hundred dollars or
34 one percent of the aggregate amount of all contributions received by that committee in the
35 same calendar year . If any anonymous contribution is received which causes the aggregate
36 total of anonymous contributions to exceed the foregoing limitation, it shall be returned
37 immediately to the contributor , if the contributor's identity can be ascertained, and, if the
38 contributor's identity cannot be ascertained, the committee treasurer , deputy treasurer or
39 candidate shall immediately transmit the anonymous contribution to the state treasurer to
40 escheat to the state.
41 6. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection 5 of this section, contributions from
42 individuals whose names and addresses cannot be ascertained which are received from a
43 fund-raising activity or event, such as defined in section 130.01 1, shall not be deemed
44 anonymous contributions, provided the following conditions are met:
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45 (1) There are twenty-five or more contributing participants in the activity or event;
46 (2) The candidate, committee treasurer , deputy treasurer or the person responsible for
47 conducting the activity or event makes an announcement that it is illegal for anyone to make
48 or receive a contribution in excess of one hundred dollars unless the contribution is
49 accompanied by the name and address of the contributor;
50 (3) The person responsible for conducting the activity or event does not knowingly
51 accept payment from any single person of more than one hundred dollars unless the name and
52 address of the person making such payment is obtained and recorded pursuant to the record-
53 keeping requirements of section 130.036;
54 (4) A statement describing the event shall be prepared by the candidate or the
55 treasurer of the committee for whom the funds were raised or by the person responsible for
56 conducting the activity or event and attached to the disclosure report of contributions and
57 expenditures required by section 130.041. The following information to be listed in the
58 statement is in addition to, not in lieu of, the requirements elsewhere in this chapter relating to
59 the recording and reporting of contributions and expenditures:
60 (a) The name and mailing address of the person or persons responsible for conducting
61 the event or activity and the name and address of the candidate or committee for whom the
62 funds were raised;
63 (b) The date on which the event occurred;
64 (c) The name and address of the location where the event occurred and the
65 approximate number of participants in the event;
66 (d) A brief description of the type of event and the fund-raising methods used;
67 (e) The gross receipts from the event and a listing of the expenditures incident to the
68 event;
69 (f) The total dollar amount of contributions received from the event from participants
70 whose names and addresses were not obtained with such contributions and an explanation of
71 why it was not possible to obtain the names and addresses of such participants;
72 (g) The total dollar amount of contributions received from contributing participants in
73 the event who are identified by name and address in the records required to be maintained
74 pursuant to section 130.036.
75 7. No candidate or committee in this state shall accept contributions from any out-of-
76 state committee unless the out-of-state committee from whom the contributions are received
77 has filed a statement of or ganization pursuant to section 130.021 or has filed the reports
78 required by sections 130.049 and 130.050, whichever is applicable to that committee.
79 8. (1) Any person publishing, circulating, or distributing any printed matter relative
80 to any candidate for public of fice or any ballot measure shall on the face of the printed matter
81 identify in a clear and conspicuous manner the person who paid for the printed matter with the
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82 words "Paid for by" followed by the proper identification of the sponsor pursuant to this
83 section. For the purposes of this section, "printed matter" shall be defined to include any
84 pamphlet, circular , handbill, sample ballot, advertisement, including advertisements in any
85 newspaper , [ or ] other periodical, or on the internet; sign, including signs for display on
86 motor vehicles[ , ] ; or other imprinted or lettered material; but printed matter is defined to
87 exclude materials printed and purchased prior to May 20, 1982, if the candidate or committee
88 can document that delivery took place prior to May 20, 1982; any sign personally printed and
89 constructed by an individual without compensation from any other person and displayed at
90 that individual's place of residence or on that individual's personal motor vehicle; any items of
91 personal use given away or sold, such as campaign buttons, pins, pens, pencils, book matches,
92 campaign jewelry , or clothing, which is paid for by a candidate or committee which supports
93 a candidate or supports or opposes a ballot measure and which is obvious in its identification
94 with a specific candidate or committee and is reported as required by this chapter; and any
95 news story , commentary , or editorial printed by a regularly published newspaper or other
96 periodical without char ge to a candidate, committee or any other person.
97 [ (1) ] (a) In regard to any printed matter paid for by a candidate from the candidate's
98 personal funds, it shall be suff icient identification to print the first and last name by which the
99 candidate is known.
100 [ (2) ] (b) In regard to any printed matter paid for by a committee, it shall be suf ficient
101 identification to print the name of the committee as required to be registered by subsection 5
102 of section 130.021 and the name and title of the committee treasurer who was serving when
103 the printed matter was paid for .
104 [ (3) ] (c) In regard to any printed matter paid for by a corporation or other business
105 entity , labor or ganization, or any other or ganization not defined to be a committee by
106 subdivision (7) of section 130.01 1 and not or ganized especially for influencing one or more
107 elections, it shall be suf ficient identification to print the name of the entity , the name of the
108 principal of ficer of the entity , by whatever title known, and the mailing address of the entity ,
109 or if the entity has no mailing address, the mailing address of the principal of ficer .
110 [ (4) ] (d) In regard to any printed matter paid for by an individual or individuals, it
111 shall be suff icient identification to print the name of the individual or individuals and the
112 respective mailing address or addresses, except that if more than five individuals join in
113 paying for printed matter it shall be suff icient identification to print the words "For a list of
114 other sponsors contact:" followed by the name and address of one such individual responsible
115 for causing the matter to be printed, and the individual identified shall maintain a record of
116 the names and amounts paid by other individuals and shall make such record available for
117 review upon the request of any person. No person shall accept for publication or printing nor
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118 shall such work be completed until the printed matter is properly identified as required by this
119 subsection.
120 (2) Printed matter shall be distributed only in the English language unless the
121 English and non-English translations appear side by side. The translations shall be
122 substantively identical, as determined by a translator with a level B1 certification
123 according to the Common Eur opean Framework of Refer ence for Languages or a
124 successor organization. Notwithstanding the penalties otherwise pr ovided by this
125 chapter , a second or subsequent violation of this subdivision shall be a class E felony .
126 9. (1) Any broadcast station transmitting any matter relative to any candidate for
127 public office or ballot measure as defined by this chapter shall identify the sponsor of such
128 matter as required by federal law . Br oadcast matter shall be defined to include
129 transmission via internet.
130 (2) Br oadcast matter shall be transmitted only in the English language, except
131 that non-English br oadcast matter may be transmitted if no mor e than thirty seconds of
132 non-English is immediately followed by an English translation. The translations shall
133 be substantively identical, as determined by a translator with a level B1 certification
134 according to the Common Eur opean Framework of Refer ence for Languages or a
135 successor organization. Notwithstanding the penalties otherwise pr ovided by this
136 chapter , a second or subsequent violation of this subdivision shall be a class E felony .
137 10. The provisions of subsection 8 or 9 of this section shall not apply to candidates for
138 elective federal office, provided that persons causing matter to be printed or broadcast
139 concerning such candidacies shall comply with the requirements of federal law for
140 identification of the sponsor or sponsors. Except as pro hibited by federal law , the
141 r equir ements of subdivision (2) of subsection 8 of this section and subdivision (2) of
142 subsection 9 of this section shall apply to federal candidates.
143 1 1. It shall be a violation of this chapter for any person required to be identified as
144 paying for printed matter pursuant to subsection 8 of this section or paying for broadcast
145 matter pursuant to subsection 9 of this section to refuse to provide the information required or
146 to purposely provide false, misleading, or incomplete information.
147 12. It shall be a violation of this chapter for any committee to of fer chances to win
148 prizes or money to persons to encourage such persons to endorse, send election material by
149 mail, deliver election material in person or contact persons at their homes; except that, the
150 provisions of this subsection shall not be construed to prohibit hiring and paying a campaign
151 staf f.
✔
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