Connecticut General Statutes 9-614 – Organizations
(a) Formation of political committee. Method of funding. An organization may make contributions or expenditures, other than those made to promote the success or defeat of a referendum question, only by first forming its own political committee. The political committee shall then be authorized to receive funds exclusively from the organization’s treasury or from voluntary contributions made by its members, but not both, from another political committee or, from a candidate committee distributing a surplus and (1) to make contributions or expenditures to, or for the benefit of, a candidate‘s campaign or a political party, or (2) to make contributions to another political committee. No organization shall form more than one political committee. A political committee shall be deemed to have been established by an organization if the initial contribution to the committee is made by the organization’s treasury or an officer or director of the organization.
Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 9-614
- another: may extend and be applied to communities, companies, corporations, public or private, limited liability companies, societies and associations. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
- Candidate: means an individual who seeks nomination for election or election to public office whether or not such individual is elected, and for the purposes of this chapter and chapter 157, an individual shall be deemed to seek nomination for election or election if such individual has (A) been endorsed by a party or become eligible for a position on the ballot at an election or primary, or (B) solicited or received contributions, other than for a party committee, made expenditures or given such individual's consent to any other person, other than a party committee, to solicit or receive contributions or make expenditures with the intent to bring about such individual's nomination for election or election to any such office. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
- candidate committee: includes candidate committees for participating and nonparticipating candidates, unless the context of a provision clearly indicates otherwise. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
- Committee: means a party committee, political committee or a candidate committee organized, as the case may be, for a single primary, election or referendum, or for ongoing political activities, to aid or promote the success or defeat of any political party, any one or more candidates for public office or the position of town committee member or any referendum question. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
- contribution: means :
(1) Any gift, subscription, loan, advance, payment or deposit of money or anything of value, made to promote the success or defeat of any candidate seeking the nomination for election, or election or for the purpose of aiding or promoting the success or defeat of any referendum question or the success or defeat of any political party. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601a
- Organization: means all labor organizations, (A) as defined in the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, as from time to time amended, or (B) as defined in subdivision (9) of section 31-101, employee organizations as defined in subsection (d) of section 5-270 and subdivision (6) of section 7-467, bargaining representative organizations for teachers, any local, state or national organization, to which a labor organization pays membership or per capita fees, based upon its affiliation or membership, and trade or professional associations which receive their funds exclusively from membership dues, whether organized in or outside of this state, but does not mean a candidate committee, party committee or a political committee. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
- Political committee: means (A) a committee organized by a business entity or organization, (B) persons other than individuals, or two or more individuals organized or acting jointly conducting their activities in or outside the state, (C) an exploratory committee, (D) a committee established by or on behalf of a slate of candidates in a primary for the office of justice of the peace, but does not mean a candidate committee or a party committee, (E) a legislative caucus committee, or (F) a legislative leadership committee. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
- Referendum: means (1) a question or proposal which is submitted to a vote of the electors or voters of a municipality at any regular or special state or municipal election, as defined in this section, (2) a question or proposal which is submitted to a vote of the electors or voters, as the case may be, of a municipality at a meeting of such electors or voters, which meeting is not an election, as defined in subsection (d) of this section, and is not a town meeting, or (3) a question or proposal which is submitted to a vote of the electors or voters, as the case may be, of a municipality at a meeting of such electors or voters pursuant to section 7-7 or pursuant to charter or special act. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
- Treasurer: means the individual appointed by a candidate or by the chairperson of a party committee or a political committee to receive and disburse funds on behalf of the candidate or committee. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
(b) Change in method of funding. A political committee established by an organization may elect to alter the manner in which it is funded if it complies with the requirements of this subsection. The committee chairperson shall notify the repository with which the committee’s most recent statement of organization is filed, in writing, of the committee’s intent to alter its manner of funding. Within fifteen days after the date of receipt of such notification, the treasurer of such political committee shall return any funds remaining in the account of the committee to the organization’s treasury after payment of each outstanding liability. Within seven days after the distribution and payments have been made, the treasurer shall file a statement with the same repository itemizing each such distribution and payment. Upon such filing, the treasurer may receive voluntary contributions from any member of the organization which established such committee subject to the limitations imposed in subsection (b) of section 9-612.
(c) Designation of funding method. The chairperson of each political committee established by an organization on or after July 1, 1985, shall designate the manner in which the committee shall be funded in the committee’s statement of organization.
(d) Independent expenditures. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, an organization, acting alone, may make independent expenditures.