CHAPTER 346
FORMERLY
SENATE BILL NO. 186
AS AMENDED BY
SENATE AMENDMENT NO. 1
AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 15 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO CONTRIBUTIONS BY ENTITIES TO POLITICAL COMMITTEES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:
Section 1. Amend Title 15, § 8012(e) of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:
§ 8012 Contribution limits generally.
(e) Any person other than an individual or a political committee which makes a contribution to a political committee shall notify such political committee in writing of the full names and mailing addresses of:
(1) All persons who, directly or otherwise, own a legal or equitable interest of 50% or greater (whether in the form of stock ownership, percentage of partnership interest, liability for the debts of the entity, entitlement to the profits from the other entity or other indicia of interest) in such corporation, partnership or other entity, or that no such persons exist; and
(2) A responsible party, if such contribution would cause the aggregate amount of contributions by such entity during the election period to exceed $1,200 $100.
The political committee may rely on such notification, and should the notification provided by the representative of the entity be inaccurate or misleading, the person or persons responsible for the notification, and not the political committee which received the contribution, shall be liable therefor. A ratable portion of the contribution by the corporation, partnership or other entity shall be deemed to be a contribution under this chapter to the political committee by each such person who owns a 50% or greater interest in the entity, shall be included within the limit imposed by this section on individual contributions, and shall be so included in the reports filed by the candidate committee with the Commissioner under § 8030 of this title.
The Commissioner shall adopt by regulation a uniform summary of the law relating to the reporting of contributions pursuant to this subsection, with illustrative examples of how such law applies in specific cases. Such summary shall be posted on Elections Commissioner’s web site, and shall be provided by a political committee to any person requesting same that has made a contribution to such political committee pursuant to this subsection.
Section 2. Amend Title 15, § 8030 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:
§ 8030 Reports of political committees.
(d) Each report under this section shall disclose all of the following information, for the entire reporting period:
(2) Full name and mailing address of each person who has made contributions to such political committee (including the purchase of tickets for events such as dinners, luncheons, rallies and similar fund-raising events, whether or not the tickets were used by the person who paid for them) during the election period in an aggregate amount or value in excess of $100, the total of all contributions from such person during the election period, and the amount and date of all contributions from such person during the reporting period. If the person who made the contribution is not an individual, and the total amount of contributions by such person during the election period exceeds $1,200, then the report shall also include the name and address of one responsible party for such person;
Section 4. If any provision of this Act or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the Act which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application; and, to that end, the provisions of this Act are declared to be severable.
Section 5. This Act shall become effective on January 1, 2015.
Approved July 22, 2014