As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
1. "Affiliate" means an organization that controls, is controlled by, or is under common
control with another organization. For purposes of this definition, control means the
possession, direct or indirect, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the
management and policies of an organization, whether through the ownership of voting
securities, by contract other than a commercial contract for goods or nonmanagement
services, or otherwise. Control is presumed to exist if an organization, directly or
indirectly, owns, controls, holds with the power to vote, or holds proxies representing
fifty percent or more of the voting securities of any other organization.
2. "Association" means any club, association, union, brotherhood, fraternity, organization,
or group of any kind of two or more persons, including labor unions, trade
associations, professional associations, or governmental associations, which is united
for any purpose, business, or object and which assesses any dues, membership fees,
or license fees in any amount, or which maintains a treasury fund in any amount. The
term does not include corporations, cooperative corporations, limited liability
companies, political committees, or political parties.
3. "Conduit" means a person that is not a political party, political committee, or candidate
and which receives a contribution of money and transfers the contribution to a
candidate, political party, or political committee when the contribution is designated
specifically for the candidate, political party, or political committee and the person has
no discretion as to the recipient and the amount transferred. The term includes a
transactional intermediary, including a credit card company or a money transfer service
that pays or transfers money to a candidate on behalf of another person.
4. "Contribution" means a gift, transfer, conveyance, provision, receipt, subscription, loan,
advance, deposit of money, or anything of value, made for the purpose of influencing
the nomination for election, or election, of any person to public office or aiding or
opposing the circulation or passage of a statewide initiative or referendum petition or
measure. The term also means a contract, promise, or agreement, express or implied,
whether or not legally enforceable, to make a contribution for any of the above
purposes. The term includes funds received by a candidate for public office or a
political party or committee which are transferred or signed over to that candidate,
party, or committee from another candidate, party, or political committee or other
source including a conduit. The term "anything of value" includes any good or service
of more than a nominal value. The term "nominal value" means the cost, price, or
worth of the good or service is trivial, token, or of no appreciable value. The term
"contribution" does not include:
a. A loan of money from a bank or other lending institution made in the regular
course of business.
b. Time spent by volunteer campaign or political party workers.
c. Money or anything of value received for commercial transactions, including rents,
advertising, or sponsorships made as a part of a fair market value bargained-for
exchange.
d. Money or anything of value received for anything other than a political purpose.
e. Products or services for which the actual cost or fair market value are reimbursed
by a payment of money.
f. An independent expenditure.
g. The value of advertising paid by a political party, multicandidate political
committee, or caucus which is in support of a candidate.
h. In-kind contributions from a candidate to the candidate's campaign.
5. "Cooperative corporations", "corporations", and "limited liability companies" are as
defined in this code, and for purposes of this chapter "corporations" includes nonprofit
corporations. However, if a political committee, the only purpose of which is accepting
contributions and making expenditures for a political purpose, incorporates for liability
purposes only, the committee is not considered a corporation for the purposes of this
chapter.
6. "Expenditure" means:
a. A gift, transfer, conveyance, provision, loan, advance, payment, distribution,
disbursement, outlay, or deposit of money or anything of value, except a loan of
money from a bank or other lending institution made in the regular course of
business, made for a political purpose or for the purpose of influencing the
passage or defeat of a measure.
b. A contract, promise, or agreement, express or implied, whether or not legally
enforceable, to make any expenditure.
c. The transfer of funds by a political committee to another political committee.
d. An independent expenditure.
7. "Expenditure categories" means the categories into which expenditures must be
grouped for reports under this chapter. The expenditure categories are:
a. Advertising;
b. Campaign loan repayment;
c. Operations;
d. Travel; and
e. Miscellaneous.
8. "Independent expenditure" means an expenditure made for a political purpose or for
the purpose of influencing the passage or defeat of a measure if the expenditure is
made without the express or implied consent, authorization, or cooperation of, and not
in concert with or at the request or suggestion of, any candidate, committee, or political
party.
9. "Patron" means a person who owns equity interest in the form of stock, shares, or
membership or maintains similar financial rights in a cooperative corporation.
10. "Person" means an individual, partnership, political committee, association,
corporation, cooperative corporation, limited liability company, or other organization or
group of persons.
11. "Personal benefit" means a benefit to the candidate or another person which is not for
a political purpose or related to a candidate's responsibilities as a public officeholder,
and any other benefit that would convert a contribution to personal income.
12. "Political committee" means any committee, club, association, or other group of
persons which receives contributions or makes expenditures for political purposes and
includes:
a. A political action committee not connected to another organization and free to
solicit funds from the general public, or derived from a corporation, cooperative
corporation, limited liability company, affiliate, subsidiary, or an association that
solicits or receives contributions from its employees or members or makes
expenditures for political purposes on behalf of its employees or members;
b. A candidate committee established to support an individual candidate seeking
public office which solicits or receives contributions for political purposes;
c. A political organization registered with the federal election commission, which
solicits or receives contributions or makes expenditures for political purposes;
d. A multicandidate political committee, including a caucus, established to support
multiple groups or slates of candidates seeking public office, which solicits or
receives contributions for political purposes; and
e. A measure committee, including an initiative or referendum sponsoring committee
at any stage of its organization, which solicits or receives contributions or makes
expenditures for the purpose of aiding or opposing a measure sought to be voted
upon by the voters of the state, including any activities undertaken for the
purpose of drafting an initiative or referendum petition, seeking approval of the
secretary of state for the circulation of a petition, or seeking approval of the
submitted petitions.
13. "Political party" means any association, committee, or organization which nominates a
candidate for election to any office which may be filled by a vote of the electors of this
state or any of its political subdivisions and whose name appears on the election ballot
as the candidate of such association, committee, or organization.
14. "Political purpose" means any activity undertaken in support of or in opposition to the
election or nomination of a candidate to public office and includes using "vote for",
"oppose", or any similar support or opposition language in any advertisement whether
the activity is undertaken by a candidate, a political committee, a political party, or any
person. In the period thirty days before a primary election and sixty days before a
special or general election, "political purpose" also means any activity in which a
candidate's name, office, district, or any term meaning the same as "incumbent" or
"challenger" is used in support of or in opposition to the election or nomination of a
candidate to public office. The term does not include activities undertaken in the
performance of a duty of a public office or any position taken in any bona fide news
story, commentary, or editorial.
15. "Public office" means every office to which an individual can be elected by vote of the
people under the laws of this state.
16. "Subsidiary" means an affiliate of a corporation under the control of the corporation
directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries.
17. "Ultimate and true source" means the person that knowingly contributed over two
hundred dollars solely to influence a statewide election or an election for the legislative
assembly.