Campaign finance; prohibited personal use of campaign funds, civil penalty. (HB1617)

Introduced By

Del. Mark Cole (R-Fredericksburg) with support from 10 copatrons, whose average partisan position is:

Those copatrons are Del. Buddy Fowler (R-Ashland), Del. Scott Garrett (R-Lynchburg), Del. Gordon Helsel (R-Poquoson), Del. Tim Hugo (R-Centreville), Del. Riley Ingram (R-Hopewell), Del. Steve Landes (R-Weyers Cave), Del. Dave LaRock (R-Loudoun), Del. Joe McNamara (R-Roanoke), Del. Roxann Robinson (R-Chesterfield), Del. Bob Thomas (R-Stafford)

Progress

Introduced
Passed Committee
Passed House
Passed Senate
Signed by Governor
Became Law

Description

Campaign finance; prohibited personal use of campaign funds; civil penalty. Adds a definition of "personal use of campaign funds" and prohibits the use of contributions, or conversion of items acquired using contributions, to a candidate or campaign committee for a strictly personal purpose with no intended, reasonable, or foreseeable benefit to the candidate's campaign or public office. Complaints of alleged violations may be made to the State Board of Elections (the State Board) by any person who contributed to the candidate or candidate's campaign committee. The subject of the complaint has 30 days to either (i) reimburse the campaign committee the complained-of amount or (ii) provide to the State Board documentation or other evidence that the use of the campaign funds had an intended, reasonable, or foreseeable benefit to the campaign or the candidate's public office. If the subject of the complaint provides such documentation or other evidence, the State Board shall review the response made by the subject of the complaint and determine whether the use of campaign funds had any intended, reasonable, or foreseeable benefit to the campaign or the candidate's public office. The State Board shall assess a civil penalty, in an amount not to exceed $250, against a complaining party who is found to have filed a frivolous complaint. The bill amends the Freedom of Information Act to allow closed meetings for the State Board to review complaints related to the personal use of campaign funds. If the State Board determines that there were no intended, reasonable, or foreseeable benefits and the complained-of amount has not been reimbursed, it shall call a public hearing. If the complaining party declines to participate in the hearing, the complaint shall be dismissed. A person found by a unanimous vote of the State Board to have willfully and knowingly violated the prohibition on personal use of campaign funds must repay to the campaign committee the amount unlawfully converted to the personal use of the candidate or a member of the candidate's immediate family and must return to the complaining party the full amount of the complaining party's contribution to the campaign. The State Board may also assess an additional civil penalty, in an amount not to exceed $250. The person found to be in violation may seek review under the Administrative Process Act. The bill authorizes the Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council (the Council) to issue formal advisory opinions regarding the provisions governing the personal use of campaign funds pursuant to the Campaign Finance Disclosure Act of 2006 (§ 24.2-945 et seq.). A person who has relied on such an opinion in good faith after he provides full disclosure of the facts will not be subject to the penalties outlined in the bill. In addition, the Council will be required to develop and publish guidance on the provisions of the Campaign Finance Disclosure Act that prohibit the personal use of campaign funds. The bill has an effective date of July 1, 2020. Read the Bill »

Outcome

Bill Has Failed

History

DateAction
09/14/2018Committee
09/14/2018Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/09/19 19100359D
09/14/2018Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections
01/12/2019Assigned P & E sub: Subcommittee #3
01/29/2019Impact statement from DPB (HB1617)
01/30/2019House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
01/30/2019Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (7-Y 0-N)
02/01/2019Reported from Privileges and Elections with amendments (22-Y 0-N) (see vote tally)
02/03/2019Read first time
02/04/2019Read second time
02/04/2019Committee amendments agreed to
02/04/2019Engrossed by House as amended HB1617E
02/04/2019Printed as engrossed 19100359D-E
02/05/2019Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (99-Y 0-N)
02/05/2019VOTE: BLOCK VOTE PASSAGE (99-Y 0-N) (see vote tally)
02/06/2019Constitutional reading dispensed
02/06/2019Referred to Committee on Rules
02/08/2019Impact statement from DPB (HB1617E)
02/19/2019Left in Rules

Comments

David Pratt writes:

Why did David Toscano vote against this?

Rob Waters writes:

David Toscano has not voted against this bill, it's still sitting in P&E waiting a vote. However, it should be noted that Delegate Cole's rather lenient $250 fine for abuse of campaign funds for personal use is nothing more than a slap on the wrist for campaigns netting hundreds of thousands of dollars. HB1699 more adequately addresses it with a $1000 maximum penalty and takes away the appeal via the APA.