Arkansas Administrative Code › Agency 153 - Arkansas Ethics Commission › Rule 153.00.15-006 - Rules on Campaign Finance and Disclosure

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, June, 2024
§ 200
Definitions
(a) "Approved political action committee"
		  means any person who receives contributions from one or more persons in order
		  to make contributions to candidates, ballot question committees, legislative
		  question committees, political parties, county political party committees, or
		  other political action committees; does not accept any contribution or
		  cumulative contributions in excess of five thousand dollars ($5,000) from any
		  person in any calendar year; and has registered pursuant to Ark. Code Ann.
		  §
								7-6-215
		  prior to making contributions. "Approved political action committee" does not
		  include political parties, county political party committees, the candidate's
		  own campaign committee, exploratory committees, or ballot question committees
		  or legislative question committees.1
(b) "Candidate" means any individual who has
		  knowingly and willingly taken affirmative action, including solicitation of
		  funds, for the purpose of seeking nomination for or election to any public
		  office.2
(c) "Contribution" means, whether direct or
		  indirect, advances, deposits, or transfers of funds, contracts, or obligations,
		  whether or not legally enforceable, payments, gifts, subscriptions,
		  assessments, payment for services, dues, advancements, forbearance, loans,
		  pledge or promise of money or anything of value, whether or not legally
		  enforceable, to a candidate, committee, or holder of elective office, made for
		  the purpose of influencing the nomination or election of any candidate;
"Contribution" includes the purchase of tickets for events such
			 as dinners, luncheons, rallies, and similar fund-raising events; the granting
			 of discounts or rebates by television stations, radio stations, and newspapers
			 not extended on an equal basis to all candidates for the same office; and any
			 payments for the services of any person serving as an agent of a candidate or
			 committee by a person other than the candidate or committee or persons whose
			 expenditures the candidates or committee must report under these rules. The
			 term "contribution" further includes any transfer of anything of value received
			 by a committee from another committee; "Contribution" shall not include
			 noncompensated, nonreimbursed, volunteer personal services or
			 travel.3
"Contribution and expenditure" shall not include activity
			 sponsored and funded by a political party that meets the definition of
			 "political party" under Ark. Code Ann. §
									7-1-101 or the
			 requirements of Ark. Code Ann. §
									7-7-205
			 to promote its candidates or nominees through events such as dinners,
			 luncheons, rallies, or similar gatherings and shall not include nonpartisan
			 activity designed to encourage individuals to register to vote or to vote or
			 any communication by any membership organization to its members or stockholders
			 if the membership organization or corporation is not organized primarily for
			 the purpose of influencing the nomination for election or election of any
			 candidate.4
(d) "Carryover funds" means the amount of
		  campaign funds retained from the last election by the candidate for future use
		  but not to exceed the annual salary, excluding expense allowances, set by
		  Arkansas law for the office sought. "Carryover funds" does not include campaign
		  signs, campaign literature, and other printed materials that were:
(i) purchased by the campaign;
(ii) reported on the appropriate contribution
		  and expenditure report for the campaign at the time of the purchase; and
(iii) retained for use in a future
		  campaign by the same candidate.5
(e) "County political party
		  committee" means a person that is organized at the county level for the purpose
		  of supporting its affiliate party and making contributions; is recognized by an
		  organized political party, as defined in Ark. Code Ann. §
								7-1-101, as being
		  affiliated with that political party; receives contributions from one (1) or
		  more persons in order to make contributions to candidates, ballot question
		  committees, legislative question committees, political parties, political
		  action committees, or other county political party committees; does not accept
		  any contribution or cumulative contributions in excess of five thousand dollars
		  ($5,000) from any person in any calendar year; and registers pursuant to Ark.
		  Code Ann. §
								7-6-226
		  prior to making contributions.6
(f) "Election" means each election to be held
		  to nominate or elect a candidate to any public office, including school
		  elections. For the purposes of these rules, a preferential primary election, a
		  runoff election, a special election, and a general election shall each
		  constitute a separate election.7
(g) "Expenditure" means a purchase, payment,
		  distribution, gift, loan, or advance of money or anything of value, and a
		  contract, promise, or agreement to make an expenditure, made for the purpose of
		  influencing the nomination or election of any
		  candidate.8 "Contribution and expenditure" shall not
		  include activity sponsored and funded by a political party that meets the
		  definition of "political party" under Ark. Code Ann. §
								7-1-101 or the
		  requirements of Ark. Code Ann. §
								7-7-205
		  to promote its candidates or nominees through events such as dinners,
		  luncheons, rallies, or similar gatherings and shall not include nonpartisan
		  activity designed to encourage individuals to register to vote or to vote or
		  any communication by any membership organization to its members or stockholders
		  if the membership organization or corporation is not organized primarily for
		  the purpose of influencing the nomination for election or election of any
		  candidate.9
(h) "Exploratory committee" means a person
		  who receives contributions which are held to be transferred to the campaign of
		  a single candidate in an election.
"Exploratory committee" shall not include:
(1) a political party that meets the
		  definition of a political party under Ark. Code Ann. §
									7-1-101 or the
		  requirements of Ark. Code Ann. §
									7-7-205;
		  or
(2) the candidate's own
		  campaign committee.10 For a more detailed
		  description of an "exploratory committee" and its duties,
see
§§ 251-252 herein.
(i) "Fair market value" means the price the
		  good or service would bring between a willing seller and a willing buyer in the
		  open market after negotiations.
See
Minerva Enterprises, Inc.
		  v. Howlett, 308 Ark. 291, 824 S.W.2d 377 (1992).
(j) "Family" means an individual's spouse,
		  children of that individual or his or her spouse, or brothers, sisters, or
		  parents of the individual or his or her spouse.
(k) "Financial institution" means any
		  commercial bank, savings and loan, mutual savings bank or savings bank, credit
		  union, insurance company, brokerage house, or any corporation that is in the
		  business of lending money and that is subject to state or federal
		  regulation.11
(l) "Guarantor" means a person who makes a
		  guaranty for a debt, the liability for which does not begin until the principal
		  debtor is in default.
(m) "In-kind
		  contribution" means a contribution of goods, services, or any other thing of
		  value, or its use, other than money and includes an agreement made or other
		  obligation incurred, whether legally enforceable or not, to make such a
		  contribution in the future. The term does not include direct campaign
		  contributions. For a more detailed discussion of in-kind contributions,
see
§ 205 of these rules.
(n) "Independent expenditure" means any
		  expenditure which is not a contribution and expressly advocates the election or
		  defeat of a clearly identified candidate for office; is made without
		  arrangement, cooperation, or consultation between any candidate or any
		  authorized committee or agent of the candidate and the person making the
		  expenditure or any authorized agent of that person; and is not made in concert
		  with or at the request or suggestion of any candidate or any authorized
		  committee or agent of the candidate.12
(o) "Independent expenditure committee" means
		  any person who receives contributions from one (1) or more persons in order to
		  make an independent expenditure and is registered pursuant to Ark. Code Ann.
		  §
								7-6-227
		  prior to making expenditures.13
(p) "Individual" means a human
		  being.
(q) "Legislative caucus
		  committee" means a person that is composed exclusively of members of the
		  General Assembly, that elects or appoints officers and recognizes identified
		  legislators as members of the organization, and that exists for research and
		  other support of policy development and interests that the membership hold in
		  common. A "legislative caucus committee" includes, but is not limited to, a
		  political party caucus of the General Assembly, the Senate, or the House of
		  Representatives. An organization whose only nonlegislator members are the
		  Lieutenant Governor or the Governor is a "legislative caucus committee" under
		  these rules.14
(r) "Nonpartisan candidate" means a candidate
		  for the office of Justice of the Supreme Court, Judge of the Court of Appeals,
		  circuit judge, district judge, or prosecuting attorney. "Nonpartisan candidate"
		  does not include a candidate for nonpartisan municipal
		  office.15
(s) "Person" means any individual,
		  proprietorship, firm, partnership, joint venture, syndicate, labor union,
		  business trust, company, corporation, association, committee, or any other
		  organization or group of persons acting in concert. It shall also include a
		  political party that meets the definition of "political party" under Ark. Code
		  Ann. §
								7-1-101 or the
		  requirements of Ark. Code Ann. §
								7-7-205,
		  county political party committees, and legislative caucus
		  committees.16
(t) "Political party" means any group of
		  voters which, at the last-preceding general election, polled for its candidate
		  for Governor in the state or nominees for presidential electors at least three
		  percent (3%) of the entire vote cast for the office; or which has filed a
		  petition with the Secretary of State containing at the time of filing the
		  signatures of at least ten thousand (10,000) registered voters in the State of
		  Arkansas, declaring the intention of organizing a political party, the name of
		  which shall be stated in the declaration, and of participating in the next
		  general election, and which has been declared a new political party by the
		  Secretary of State.
When any political party fails to obtain three percent (3%) of
			 the total votes cast at an election for the Office of Governor or nominees for
			 presidential electors, it shall cease to be a political
			 party.17
(u) "Prohibited political action committee"
		  means any person who receives contributions from one or more persons in order
		  to make contributions to candidates, ballot question committees, legislative
		  question committees, political parties, county political party committees, or
		  other political action committees but who does not meet the requirements of an
		  approved political action committee. "Prohibited political action committee"
		  shall not include a political party that meets the definition of "political
		  party" under Ark. Code Ann. §
								7-1-101 or the
		  requirements of Ark. Code Ann. §
								7-7-205,
		  the candidate's own campaign committee, a county political party committee, an
		  exploratory committee, or a ballot or legislative question
		  committee.18
(v) "Public office" means any office created
		  by or under authority of the laws of the State of Arkansas, or of a subdivision
		  thereof, that is filled by the voters, except a federal
		  office.19
(w) "Surplus campaign funds" means any
		  balance of campaign funds over expenses incurred as of the day of the election
		  except for:
(A) Carryover funds; and
(B) Any funds required to repay loans made by
		  the candidate from his or her personal funds to the campaign or to repay loans
		  made by financial institutions to the candidate and applied to the campaign.
"Surplus campaign funds" does not include campaign signs,
			 campaign literature, and other printed materials that were:
(i) purchased by the campaign;
(ii) reported on the appropriate contribution
		  and expenditure report for the campaign at the time of the purchase; and
(iii) retained for use in a future
		  campaign by the same candidate.20
(x) "Written
		  instrument" means a check on which the contributor is directly liable or which
		  is written on a personal account, trust account, partnership account, business
		  account, or other account that contains the contributor's funds. In the case of
		  a contribution by credit card or debit card, "written instrument" includes
		  without limitation:
(i) A paper record signed
		  by the cardholder, provided that the paper record contains the following
		  information for the cardholder at the time of making the contribution:
(a) Valid name;
(b) Complete address;
(c) Place of business;
(d) Employer; and
(e) Occupation; or
(ii) In the case of a contribution made
		  through the internet, an electronic record created and transmitted by the
		  cardholder, provided that the electronic record contains the following
		  information for the cardholder at the time of making the contribution:
(a) Valid name;
(b) Complete address;
(c) Place of business;
(d) Employer; and
(e) Occupation.21