Connecticut General Statutes 9-618 – Contributions made or received by political committees organized for ongoing political activities
(a) A political committee organized for ongoing political activities may make unlimited contributions to, or for the benefit of, any national committee of a political party; or a committee of a candidate for federal or out-of-state office. Except as provided in subdivision (3) of subsection (d) of this section, no such political committee shall make a contribution or contributions in excess of two thousand dollars to another political committee in any calendar year. No political committee organized for ongoing political activities shall make a contribution in excess of three hundred seventy-five dollars to an exploratory committee. If such an ongoing committee is established by an organization or a business entity, its contributions shall be subject to the limits imposed by sections 9-613 to 9-615, inclusive. A political committee organized for ongoing political activities may make contributions to a charitable organization which is a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, as from time to time amended, or make memorial contributions.
Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 9-618
- 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
- Caucus: From the Algonquian Indian language, a caucus meant "to meet together." An informal organization of members of the legislature that exists to discuss issues of mutual concern and possibly to perform legislative research and policy planning for its members. There are regional, political or ideological, ethnic, and economic-based caucuses.
- 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
- Election: means any electors' meeting at which the electors choose public officials by use of voting tabulators or by paper ballots as provided in section 9-272. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
- Entity: includes any tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or any subsequent corresponding internal revenue code of the United States, as amended from time to time, and any tax-exempt political organization organized under Section 527 of said code. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
- Exploratory committee: means a committee established by a candidate for a single primary or election (A) to determine whether to seek nomination or election to (i) the General Assembly, (ii) a state office, as defined in subsection (e) of section 9-610, or (iii) any other public office, and (B) if applicable, to aid or promote such candidate's candidacy for nomination to the General Assembly or any such state office. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
- Federal account: means a depository account that is subject to the disclosure and contribution limits provided under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended from time to time. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
- Legislative caucus committee: means a committee established under subdivision (2) of subsection (e) of section 9-605 by the majority of the members of a political party who are also state representatives or state senators. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
- Legislative leadership committee: means a committee established under subdivision (3) of subsection (e) of section 9-605 by a leader of the General Assembly. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
- Municipality: means any city, borough or town within the state. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-1
- National committee: means the organization which according to the bylaws of a political party is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the party at the national level. See Connecticut General Statutes 9-601
- 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
- Probate: Proving a will
- 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) No political committee organized for ongoing political purposes, except a legislative caucus committee or legislative leadership committee, shall make a contribution or contributions to, for the benefit of, or pursuant to the authorization or request of, a candidate or a committee supporting or opposing any candidate’s campaign for nomination at a primary, or any candidate’s campaign for election, to the office of: (1) Governor, in excess of five thousand dollars; (2) Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of the State, Treasurer, Comptroller or Attorney General, in excess of three thousand dollars; (3) chief executive officer of a town, city or borough, in excess of one thousand five hundred dollars; (4) state senator or probate judge, in excess of one thousand five hundred dollars; (5) state representative, in excess of seven hundred fifty dollars; or (6) any other office of a municipality not previously included in this subsection, in excess of three hundred seventy-five dollars. The limits imposed by this subsection shall apply separately to primaries and elections.
(c) No political committee organized for ongoing political purposes, except a legislative caucus committee or legislative leadership committee, shall make a contribution or contributions in a calendar year to, or for the benefit of (1) the state central committee of a political party, in excess of seven thousand five hundred dollars; or (2) a town committee of a political party, in excess of one thousand five hundred dollars.
(d) (1) No legislative caucus committee or legislative leadership committee shall make a contribution or contributions to, for the benefit of, or pursuant to the authorization or request of, a candidate or a committee supporting or opposing any candidate’s campaign for nomination at a primary, or any candidate’s campaign for election, to the office of: (A) State senator, in excess of ten thousand dollars; or (B) state representative, in excess of five thousand dollars. The limits imposed by this subdivision shall apply separately to primaries and elections. No legislative caucus committee or legislative leadership committee shall make a contribution or contributions to, for the benefit of, or pursuant to the authorization or request of, a candidate or a committee supporting or opposing any candidate’s campaign for nomination at a primary, or any candidate’s campaign for election, to any office not included in this subdivision. Subject to the provisions of this subdivision, a legislative caucus committee or legislative leadership committee may pay or reimburse another legislative caucus committee or legislative leadership committee for its pro rata share of certain expenses in accordance with subdivision (2) of subsection (b) of section 9-610.
(2) No legislative caucus committee or legislative leadership committee shall make a contribution or contributions in any calendar year to, or for the benefit of, the state central committee of a political party, in excess of ten thousand dollars.
(3) No legislative caucus committee or legislative leadership committee shall make a contribution or contributions to, or for the benefit of, any committee except as provided in this subsection.
(e) A political committee organized for ongoing political activities may receive contributions from the federal account of a national committee of a political party, but may not receive contributions from any other account of a national committee of a political party or from a committee of a candidate for federal or out-of-state office.