(a) All contributions made by political campaign committees controlled by a political party on the national, state, or local level or by a caucus of such political party established by members of either house of the general assembly shall be considered to have been made by a single committee. Such contributions shall not, in the aggregate, exceed:

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 2-10-306

  • Candidate: means an individual who has made a formal announcement of candidacy or who is qualified under the law of this state to seek nomination for election or elections to public office, or has received contributions or made expenditures except for incidental expenditures to determine if one shall be a candidate, or has given consent for a campaign committee to receive contributions or make expenditures with a view to bringing about the individual's nomination for election or election to state public office. See Tennessee Code 2-10-102
  • 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.
  • Contribution: means any advance, conveyance, deposit, distribution, transfer of funds, loan, loan guaranty, personal funds of a candidate, payment, digital currency, gift, or subscription of money or like thing of value, and any contract, agreement, promise or other obligation, whether or not legally enforceable, made for the purpose of influencing a measure or nomination for election or the election of any person for public office or for the purpose of defraying any expenses of an officeholder incurred in connection with the performance of the officeholder's duties, responsibilities, or constituent services. See Tennessee Code 2-10-102
  • Election: means any general, special or primary election or run-off election, held to approve or disapprove a measure or nominate or elect a candidate for public office. See Tennessee Code 2-10-102
  • Expenditure: means a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value made for the purpose of influencing a measure or the nomination for election or election of any person to public office. See Tennessee Code 2-10-102
  • Public office: means any state public office or local public office filled by the voters. See Tennessee Code 2-10-102
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) Two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) per election to any candidate in a statewide election;
(2) Forty thousand dollars ($40,000) per election to any candidate for the senate; and
(3) Twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) per election to any candidate for any other state or local public office.
(b) For purposes of this section, “contributions” does not include:

(1) Payment of the costs of preparation, display or mailing or other distribution with respect to printed slate cards, sample ballots, or other printed listings of three (3) or more candidates who are opposed for election. This exemption does not apply to costs incurred with respect to the preparation and display of listings made on broadcasting stations or in newspapers, magazines and similar types of general public political advertising such as billboards;
(2) Payment of the costs of voter registration and get-out-the-vote activities conducted by party committees, unless the payments are made on behalf of a clearly identified candidate and the payment can be directly attributed to that candidate;
(3) Expenditures for rent, personnel, overhead, general administrative, fundraising, and other day-to-day costs of party committees, unless the expenditures are made on behalf of a clearly identified candidate and the expenditure can be directly attributed to that candidate; or
(4) Expenditures for education campaign seminars and for training of campaign workers, unless the expenditures are made on behalf of a clearly identified candidate and the expenditure can be directly attributed to that candidate.
(c)

(1) Each contribution limit established in subsection (a) shall be adjusted to reflect the percentage of change in the average consumer price index (all items-city average), as published by the United States department of labor, bureau of labor statistics, for the period of January 1, 1996, through December 31, 2010. Each such adjustment shall be rounded to the nearest multiple of one hundred dollars ($100). The registry of election finance shall publish each such adjusted amount on its website.
(2) On January 1, 2013, and every two (2) years thereafter, each contribution limit established in subsection (a), as adjusted pursuant to subdivision (c)(1), shall be further adjusted to reflect the percentage of change in the average consumer price index (all items-city average), as published by the United States department of labor, bureau of labor statistics, for the two-year period immediately preceding. Each such adjustment under this subdivision (c)(2) shall be rounded to the nearest multiple of one hundred dollars ($100). The registry of election finance shall publish each such adjusted amount on its website.
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