FORTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE

FIRST SESSION, 2009

March 17, 2009

Mr. Speaker:

    Your VOTERS AND ELECTIONS COMMITTEE, to whom has been referred

SENATE RULES COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

 SENATE BILL 116, 262, 346 & 521 as amended

has had it under consideration and reports same with recommendation that it DO PASS, amended as follows:

     1. On page 1, strike lines 21 through 25 and strike pages 2 and 3 in their entirety and insert in lieu thereof the following:

          "A. The following contributions by the following persons are prohibited:

                (1) from a person, not including a political committee, to a:

                     (a) candidate for nonstatewide office, including the candidate's campaign committee, in an amount that will cause that person's total contributions to the candidate to exceed two thousand three hundred dollars ($2,300) during the primary election or two thousand three hundred dollars ($2,300) during the general election;

                     (b) candidate for statewide office, including the candidate's campaign committee, in an amount that will cause that person's total contributions to the candidate to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) during the primary election or five thousand dollars ($5,000) during the general election; or

                     (c) political committee in an amount that will cause that person's total contributions to the political committee to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) during a primary election or five thousand dollars ($5,000) during a general election; and

                (2) from a political committee to:

                     (a) a candidate for office, including the candidate's campaign committee, in an amount that will cause the political committee's total contributions to the candidate to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) during the primary election or five thousand dollars ($5,000) during the general election; or 

                     (b) another political committee in an amount that will cause that political committee's total contributions to the political committee to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) during a primary election or five thousand dollars ($5,000) during a general election.

          B. All contributions made by a person, either directly or indirectly, including contributions that are in any way earmarked or otherwise directed through another person to a candidate, shall be treated as contributions from the person to that candidate.

          C. A person shall not knowingly accept or solicit a contribution, directly or indirectly, including a contribution earmarked or otherwise directed or coordinated through another person, that violates the contribution limits provided for in this section. 

          D. On the day after each general election, the contribution amounts provided in Subsection A of this section shall be increased by the percentage of the preceding two calendar year's increase of the consumer price index for all urban consumers, United States city average for all items, published by the United States department of labor. The amount of the increase shall be rounded to the nearest multiple of one hundred dollars ($100). The secretary of state shall publish by October 1 before each general election the adjusted contribution limits that shall take effect the day after the following general election.

          E. All contributions in excess of the limits imposed by the provisions of this section shall be deposited in the public election fund upon a finding by the secretary of state that the contribution limits have been exceeded.

          F. The limitation on contributions to a candidate provided for in Subsection A of this section shall not apply to a candidate's own contribution from the candidate's personal funds to the candidate's own campaign.

          G. For the purposes of this section:

                (1) "primary election" means the period beginning on the day after the general election for the applicable office and ending on the day of the primary for that office; and

                (2) "general election" means the period beginning on the day after the primary for the applicable office and ending on the day of the general election for that office."".

     2. On page 3, after line 25, insert the following section to read:

     "Section 2. Section 1-19-26 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1979, Chapter 360, Section 2, as amended) is amended to read:

     "1-19-26. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Campaign Reporting Act:

          A. "advertising campaign" means an advertisement or series of advertisements used for a political purpose and disseminated to the public either in print, by radio or television broadcast or by any other electronic means, including telephonic communications, and may include direct or bulk mailings of printed materials;

          B. "anonymous contribution" means a contribution the contributor of which is unknown to the candidate or [his] the candidate's agent or the political committee or its agent who accepts the contribution;

          C. "bank account" means an account in a financial institution located in New Mexico;

          D. "campaign committee" means two or more persons authorized by a candidate to raise, collect or expend contributions on the candidate's behalf for the purpose of electing [him] the candidate to office;

          E. "candidate" means an individual who seeks or considers an office in an election covered by the Campaign Reporting Act, including a public official, who either has filed a declaration of candidacy or nominating petition or:

                (1) for a non-statewide office, has received contributions or made expenditures of one thousand dollars ($1,000) or more or authorized another person or campaign committee to receive contributions or make expenditures of one thousand dollars ($1,000) or more for the purpose of seeking election to the office; or

                (2) for a statewide office, has received contributions or made expenditures of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) or more or authorized another person or campaign committee to receive contributions or make expenditures of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) or more for the purpose of seeking election to the office or for candidacy exploration purposes in the years prior to the year of the election;

          F. "contribution" means a gift, subscription, loan, advance or deposit of money or other thing of value, including the estimated value of an in-kind contribution, that is made or received for a political purpose, including payment of a debt incurred in an election campaign, but "contribution" does not include the value of services provided without compensation or unreimbursed travel or other personal expenses of individuals who volunteer a portion or all of their time on behalf of a candidate or political committee, nor does it include the administrative or solicitation expenses of a political committee that are paid by an organization that sponsors the committee;

          G. "deliver" or "delivery" means to deliver by certified or registered mail, telecopier, electronic transmission or facsimile or by personal service;

          H. "election" means any primary, general or statewide special election in New Mexico and includes county and judicial retention elections but excludes municipal, school board and special district elections;

          I. "election year" means an even-numbered year in which an election covered by the Campaign Reporting Act is held;

          J. "expenditure" means a payment, transfer or distribution or obligation or promise to pay, transfer or distribute any money or other thing of value for a political purpose, including payment of a debt incurred in an election campaign or pre-primary convention, but does not include the administrative or solicitation expenses of a political committee that are paid by an organization that sponsors the committee;

          K. "person" means an individual or entity;

          L. "political committee" means two or more persons, other than members of a candidate's immediate family or campaign committee or a husband and wife who make a contribution out of a joint account, who are selected, appointed, chosen, associated, organized or operated primarily for a political purpose; and "political committee" includes:

                (1) political parties, political action committees or similar organizations composed of employees or members of any corporation, labor organization, trade or professional association or any other similar group that raises, collects, expends or contributes money or any other thing of value for a political purpose;

                (2) a single individual [who by his] whose actions [represents] represent that [he] the individual is a political committee; and

                (3) a person or an organization of two or more persons that within one calendar year expends funds in excess of five hundred dollars ($500) to conduct an advertising campaign for a political purpose;

          M. "political purpose" means influencing or attempting to influence an election or pre-primary convention, including a constitutional amendment or other question submitted to the voters;

          N. "prescribed form" means a form or electronic format prepared and prescribed by the secretary of state;

          O. "proper filing officer" means either the secretary of state or the county clerk as provided in Section 1-19-27 NMSA 1978;

          P. "public official" means a person elected to an office in an election covered by the Campaign Reporting Act or a person appointed to an office that is subject to an election covered by that act;

          Q. "reporting individual" means every public official, candidate or treasurer of a campaign committee and every treasurer of a political committee; and

          R. "statement of exception" or "statement" means the prescribed form subscribed and sworn to by a candidate to indicate that the candidate does not intend to raise or expend the minimum amount required for the filing of a report of expenditures and contributions as provided in Section 1-19-33 NMSA 1978."".

     3. Renumber the succeeding sections accordingly.,

and thence referred to the JUDICIARY COMMITTEE.