(A) A public utility may not include in its operating expenses a contribution or expenditure to influence an election or to operate a political action committee.

(B) A person may not solicit from a candidate, committee, political party, or other person, money or other property as a condition or consideration for an endorsement, article, or other communication in the news media promoting or opposing a candidate, committee, or political party.

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Terms Used In South Carolina Code 8-13-1344

  • Candidate: means : (a) a person who seeks appointment, nomination for election, or election to a statewide or local office, or authorizes or knowingly permits the collection or disbursement of money for the promotion of his candidacy or election; (b) a person who is exploring whether or not to seek election at the state or local level; or (c) a person on whose behalf write-in votes are solicited if the person has knowledge of such solicitation. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
  • Committee: includes a party committee, a legislative caucus committee, a noncandidate committee, or a committee that is not a campaign committee for a candidate but that is organized for the purpose of influencing an election. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
  • communication: means (i) any paid advertisement or purchased program time broadcast over television or radio; (ii) any paid message conveyed through telephone banks, direct mail, or electronic mail; or (iii) any paid advertisement that costs more than five thousand dollars that is conveyed through a communication medium other than those set forth in subsections (i) or (ii) of this paragraph. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
  • Contribution: means a gift, subscription, loan, guarantee upon which collection is made, forgiveness of a loan, an advance, in-kind contribution or expenditure, a deposit of money, or anything of value made to a candidate or committee to influence an election; or payment or compensation for the personal service of another person which is rendered for any purpose to a candidate or committee without charge, whether any of the above are made or offered directly or indirectly. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
  • Election: means :

    (a) a general, special, primary, or runoff election;

    (b) a convention or caucus of a political party held to nominate a candidate; or

    (c) the election of delegates to a constitutional convention for proposing amendments to the Constitution of the United States or the Constitution of this State. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
  • Expenditure: means a purchase, payment, loan, forgiveness of a loan, an advance, in-kind contribution or expenditure, a deposit, transfer of funds, gift of money, or anything of value for any purpose. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
  • Immediate family: means :

    (a) a child residing in a candidate's, public official's, public member's, or public employee's household;

    (b) a spouse of a candidate, public official, public member, or public employee; or

    (c) an individual claimed by the candidate, public official, public member, or public employee or the candidate's, public official's, public member's, or public employee's spouse as a dependent for income tax purposes. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
  • Person: means an individual, a proprietorship, firm, partnership, joint venture, joint stock company, syndicate, business trust, an estate, a company, committee, an association, a corporation, club, labor organization, or any other organization or group of persons acting in concert. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
  • Political party: means an association, a committee, or an organization which nominates a candidate whose name appears on the election ballot as the candidate of that association, committee, or organization. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300

(C) An employer may not provide an advantage or disadvantage to an employee concerning the employee’s employment or conditions of employment based on the employee’s contribution, promise to contribute, or failure to contribute to a candidate, committee, or political party.

(D) A person may not, directly or indirectly, reimburse a person, except for the person’s immediate family, for a contribution to a candidate, committee, or political party.