Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws > Chapter 17-25 - Rhode Island Campaign Contributions and Expenditures Reporting

• Accounts payable: means credit extended to a candidate or political committee, for campaign expenditures; provided that, the credit extended is in the ordinary course of the vendor's business, and the terms are substantially similar, in risk and amount, to extensions of credit to nonpolitical customers. See Rhode Island General Laws 17-25-3
• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• Business entity: means any corporation, whether for profit or not for profit, domestic corporation or foreign corporation, as defined in Rhode Island General Laws 17-25-3
• Candidate: means any individual who undertakes any action, whether preliminary or final, which is necessary under the law to qualify for nomination for election or election to public office, and/or any individual who receives a contribution or makes an expenditure, or gives his or her consent for any other person to receive a contribution or make an expenditure, with a view to bringing about his or her nomination or election to any public office, whether or not the specific public office for which he or she will seek nomination or election is known at the time the contribution is received or the expenditure is made and whether or not he or she has announced his or her candidacy or filed a declaration of candidacy at that time. See Rhode Island General Laws 17-25-3
• Charity: An agency, institution, or organization in existence and operating for the benefit of an indefinite number of persons and conducted for educational, religious, scientific, medical, or other beneficent purposes.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• donation: means all transfers of money, credit or debit card transactions, on-line or electronic payment systems such as "pay pal" paid personal services, or other thing of value to or by any person, business entity, or political action committee. See Rhode Island General Laws 17-25-3
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• donor: means a person, business entity, or political action committee that makes a donation. See Rhode Island General Laws 17-25-3
• Earmarked: means a designation, instruction, or encumbrance, whether direct or indirect, express or implied, oral or written, that results in all or any part of a contribution or expenditure being made to, or expended on behalf of, a clearly identified candidate or a candidate's authorized committee. See Rhode Island General Laws 17-25-3
• Election: means any primary, general, or special election or town meeting for any public office of the state, municipality, or district, or for the determination of any question submitted to the voters of the state, municipality, or district. See Rhode Island General Laws 17-25-3
• Election cycle: means the twenty-four month (24) period commencing on January 1 of odd number years and ending on December 31 of even number years; provided, with respect to the public financing of election campaigns of general officers under §§ 17-25-19, 17-25-20, and 17-25-25, "election cycle" means the forty-eight month (48) period commencing on January 1 of odd numbered years and ending December 31 of even numbered years. See Rhode Island General Laws 17-25-3
• Escheat: Reversion of real or personal property to the state when 1) a person dies without leaving a will and has no heirs, or 2) when the property (such as a bank account) has been inactive for a certain period of time. ^{Source: OCC}
• Executive session: A portion of the Senate's daily session in which it considers executive business.
• Exempt nonprofit: means any organization described in § 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code that spends an aggregate annual amount of no more than ten percent (10%) of its annual expenses or no more than fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000), whichever is less, on independent expenditures, electioneering communications, and covered transfers as defined herein and certifies the same to the board of elections seven (7) days before and after a primary election and seven (7) days before and after a general or special election. See Rhode Island General Laws 17-25-3
• expenditures: include all transfers of money, credit or debit card transactions, on-line or electronic payment systems such as "pay pal" paid personal services, or other thing of value to or by any candidate, committee of a political party, or political action committee or ballot question advocate. See Rhode Island General Laws 17-25-3
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• in writing: include printing, engraving, lithographing, and photo-lithographing, and all other representations of words in letters of the usual form. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-16
• Independent expenditure: means an expenditure that, when taken as a whole, expressly advocates the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate, or the passage or defeat of a referendum, or amounts to the functional equivalent of such express advocacy, and is in no way coordinated, as set forth in § 17-25-23, with any candidate's campaign, authorized candidate committee, or political party committee. See Rhode Island General Laws 17-25-3
• intermediary: means any person who receives and forwards an earmarked contribution to a candidate or a candidate's authorized committee, except as otherwise limited in this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 17-25-3
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• oath: includes affirmation; the word "sworn" includes affirmed; and the word "engaged" includes either sworn or affirmed. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-11
• Other thing of value: means any item of tangible real or personal property of a fair-market value in excess of one hundred dollars ($100). See Rhode Island General Laws 17-25-3
• Paid personal services: means personal services of every kind and nature, the cost or consideration for which is paid or provided by someone other than the committee or candidate for whom the services are rendered, but shall not include personal services provided without compensation by persons volunteering their time. See Rhode Island General Laws 17-25-3
• Person: means an individual, partnership, committee, association, corporation, union, charity, and/or any other organization. See Rhode Island General Laws 17-25-3
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Political action committee: means any group of two (2) or more persons that accepts any contributions to be used for advocating the election or defeat of any candidate or candidates. See Rhode Island General Laws 17-25-3
• Political party offices: means any state, city, town, ward, or representative or senatorial district committee office of a political party or delegate to a political party convention, or any similar office. See Rhode Island General Laws 17-25-3
• Public office: means any state, municipal, school, or district office or other position that is filled by popular election, except political party offices. See Rhode Island General Laws 17-25-3
• referendum: means the same as the definition set forth in § 17-5-1. See Rhode Island General Laws 17-25-3
• Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• State: means state of Rhode Island. See Rhode Island General Laws 17-25-3
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• town: may be construed to include city; the words "town council" include city council; the words "town clerk" include city clerk; the words "ward clerk" include clerk of election district; the words "town treasurer" include city treasurer; and the words "town sergeant" include city sergeant. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-9
• United States: include the several states and the territories of the United States. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-8
• usual and normal charge for goods: means the price of those goods in the market from which they ordinarily would have been purchased at the time of the contribution. See Rhode Island General Laws 17-25-3