2023 Montana Code Annotated › Title 13. Elections › Chapter 37. Control of Campaign Practices › Part 2. Campaign Finance › 13-37-232. Disclosure requirements for incidental committees

13-37-232. Disclosure requirements for incidental committees.
(1) A combination of two or more individuals or a person other than an individual that would otherwise qualify as an incidental committee but that receives less than $250 in contributions or that makes less than $250 in expenditures does not form a political committee and is not required to file as an incidental committee.
(2) The reports required under 13-37-225 through 13-37-227 from incidental committees must disclose the following information concerning contributions to the committee that are designated by the contributor for a specified candidate, ballot issue, or petition for nomination or that are made by the contributor in response to an appeal by the incidental committee for contributions to support incidental committee election activity, including in-kind expenditures, independent expenditures, election communications, or electioneering communications:
(a) except as provided in subsection (5), the full name, mailing address, occupation, and employer, if any, of each person who has made aggregate contributions during the reporting period for a specified candidate, ballot issue, or petition for nomination of $35 or more;
(b) for each person identified under subsection (2)(a), the aggregate amount of contributions made by that person for all reporting periods;
(c) except as provided in subsection (5), each loan received from any person during the reporting period for a specified candidate, ballot issue, or petition for nomination, together with the full names, mailing addresses, occupations, and employers, if any, of the lender and endorsers, if any, and the date and amount of each loan;
(d) the amount and nature of debts and obligations owed to an incidental committee for a specified candidate, ballot issue, or petition for nomination in the form prescribed by the commissioner;
(e) an account of proceeds that total less than $35 per person from mass collections made at fundraising events sponsored by the incidental committee for a specified candidate, ballot issue, or petition for nomination; and
(f) the total sum of all contributions received by or designated for the incidental committee for a specified candidate, ballot issue, or petition for nomination during the reporting period.
(3) The reports required under 13-37-225 through 13-37-227 from incidental committees must disclose the following information concerning expenditures made:
(a) the full name, mailing address, occupation, and principal place of business, if any, of each person to whom expenditures have been made during the reporting period, including the amount, date, and purpose of each expenditure and the total amount of expenditures made to each person;
(b) the full name, mailing address, occupation, and principal place of business, if any, of each person to whom an expenditure for personal services, salaries, and reimbursed expenses has been made during the reporting period, including the amount, date, and purpose of that expenditure and the total amount of expenditures made to each person;
(c) the total sum of expenditures made during the reporting period;
(d) the name and address of each political committee or candidate to which the reporting committee made any transfer of funds together with the amount and dates of all transfers;
(e) the name of any person to whom a loan was made during the reporting period, including the full name, mailing address, occupation, and principal place of business, if any, of that person, and the full names, mailing addresses, occupations, and principal places of business, if any, of the endorsers, if any, and the date and amount of each loan;
(f) the amount and nature of debts and obligations owed by a political committee in the form prescribed by the commissioner; and
(g) other information that may be required by the commissioner to fully disclose the disposition of funds used to make expenditures.
(4) Reports of expenditures made to a consultant, advertising agency, polling firm, or other person that performs services for or on behalf of an incidental committee must be itemized and described in sufficient detail to disclose the specific services performed by the entity to which payment or reimbursement was made.
(5) An incidental committee shall report an expenditure within 30 days of making the expenditure unless the expenditure is made during the time period described in 13-37-226(2)(d).
(6) An incidental committee shall request the occupation and employer of a contributor or person who provided a loan to the incidental committee. If the contributor or person who provided a loan does not provide the requested information, the incidental committee is only required to report what is provided.
(7) An incidental committee that does not receive contributions for a specified candidate, ballot issue, or petition for nomination and that does not solicit contributions for incidental committee election activity, including in-kind expenditures, independent expenditures, election communications, or electioneering communications, is required to report only its expenditures.
History: En. Sec. 14, Ch. 259, L. 2015; amd. Sec. 6, Ch. 571, L. 2021; amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 682, L. 2023.