121.150 Campaign contribution restrictions and expenditure limitations.
1,897 words·~9 min read·
/ky/chapter-121/121-150A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
(1)No contribution shall be made or received, directly or indirectly, other than an
independent expenditure, to support inauguration activities or to support or defeat a
candidate, slate of candidates, constitutional amendment, or public question which
will appear on the ballot in an election, except through the duly appointed campaign
manager, or campaign treasurer of the candidate, slate of candidates, or registered
committee. Any person making an independent expenditure, shall report these
expenditures when the expenditures by that person exceed five hundred dollars
($500) in the aggregate in any one
(1)election, on a form provided or using a
format approved by the registry and shall sign a statement on the form, under
penalty of perjury, that the expenditure was an actual independent expenditure and
that there was no prior communication with the campaign on whose behalf it was
made.
(2)Except as provided in KRS 121.180(10), the solicitation from and contributions by
campaign committees, independent expenditure-only committees, caucus campaign
committees, political issues committees, permanent committees, and party
executive committees to any religious, charitable, civic, eleemosynary, or other
causes or organizations established primarily for the public good is expressly
prohibited; except that it shall not be construed as a violation of this section for a
candidate or a slate of candidates to contribute to religious, civic, or charitable
groups.
(3)No candidate, slate of candidates, committee, or contributing organization, nor
anyone acting on their behalf, shall accept any anonymous contribution in excess of
one hundred dollars ($100), and all anonymous contributions in excess of one
hundred dollars ($100) shall be returned to the donor, if the donor can be
determined. If no donor is found, the contribution shall escheat to the state. No
candidate, slate of candidates, committee, or contributing organization, nor anyone
acting on their behalf shall accept anonymous contributions in excess of two
thousand dollars ($2,000) in the aggregate in any one
(1)election. Anonymous
contributions in excess of two thousand dollars ($2,000) in the aggregate which are
received in any one
(1)election shall escheat to the state.
(4)No candidate, slate of candidates, committee, or contributing organization, nor
anyone on their behalf, shall accept a cash contribution in excess of one hundred
dollars ($100) in the aggregate from each contributor in any one
(1)election. No
candidate, slate of candidates, committee, or contributing organization, nor anyone
on their behalf, shall accept a cashier's check or money order in excess of the
maximum cash contribution limit unless the instrument clearly identifies both the
payor and the payee. A contribution made by cashier's check or money order which
identifies both the payor and payee shall be treated as a contribution made by check
for purposes of the contribution limits contained in this section. No person shall
make a cash contribution in excess of one hundred dollars ($100) in the aggregate
in any one
(1)election to a candidate, slate of candidates, committee, or
contributing organization, nor anyone on their behalf.
(5)No candidate, slate of candidates, committee, contributing organization, nor anyone
on their behalf, shall accept any contribution in excess of one hundred dollars
($100) from any person who shall not become eighteen
(18)years of age on or
before the day of the next general election.
(6)Except as provided in subsection
(22)of this section, no candidate, slate of
candidates, campaign committee, nor anyone acting on their behalf, shall accept a
contribution of more than two thousand dollars ($2,000) as indexed for inflation
every odd-numbered year using the preceding year's percent increase in the non-
seasonally adjusted annual average Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers
(CPI-U), U.S. City Average, All Items, for that year as published by the United
States Bureau of Labor Statistics and rounded to the nearest hundred dollars, from
any person, permanent committee, or contributing organization in any one
election. No person, permanent committee, or contributing organization shall
contribute more than two thousand dollars ($2,000) as indexed for inflation every
odd-numbered year using the preceding year's percent increase in the non-
seasonally adjusted annual average Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers
(CPI-U), U.S. City Average, All Items, as published by the United States Bureau of
Labor Statistics and rounded to the nearest hundred dollars, to any one
candidate, campaign committee, nor anyone acting on their behalf, in any one
election.
(7)Permanent committees or contributing organizations affiliated by bylaw structure or
by registration, as determined by the Registry of Election Finance, shall be
considered as one
(1)committee for purposes of applying the contribution limits of
subsection
(6)of this section.
(8)No permanent committee shall contribute funds to another permanent committee for
the purpose of circumventing contribution limits of subsection
(6)of this section. A
permanent committee or independent expenditure-only committee may make
unlimited contributions to an independent expenditure-only committee, or as
allowed by federal law to a federally registered political committee, provided that if
a contribution is earmarked for a particular independent expenditure, the person
making the independent expenditure shall disclose the contribution when reporting
the independent expenditure pursuant to subsection
(1)of this section.
(9)No person shall contribute funds to a permanent committee, political issues
committee, or contributing organization for the purpose of circumventing the
contribution limits of subsection
(6)of this section.
(10)No person shall contribute more than two thousand dollars ($2,000)as indexed for
inflation every odd-numbered year using the preceding year's percent increase in
the non-seasonally adjusted annual average Consumer Price Index for all Urban
Consumers (CPI-U), U.S. City Average, All Items, for that year as published by the
United States Bureau of Labor Statistics and rounded to the nearest hundred dollars,
to a permanent committee or contributing organization in any one
(1)year.
(a)No person shall contribute more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) to the
state executive committee of a political party in any one
(1)year. The
contribution limit in this paragraph shall not apply to a contribution
designated exclusively for a state executive committee's building fund account
established under KRS 121.172.
(b)No person shall contribute more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) to a
subdivision or affiliate of a state political party in any one
(1)year.
(c)No person shall contribute more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) to a
caucus campaign committee in any one
(1)year.
(12)No person shall make a payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit, or gift of
money to another person to contribute to a candidate, a slate of candidates,
committee, contributing organization, or anyone on their behalf. No candidate, slate
of candidates, committee, contributing organization, nor anyone on their behalf
shall accept a contribution made by one
(1)person who has received a payment,
distribution, loan, advance, deposit, or gift of money from another person to
contribute to a candidate, a slate of candidates, committee, contributing
organization, or anyone on their behalf.
(13)Subject to the provisions of subsection
(17)of this section, no candidate or slate of
candidates for nomination to any state, county, city, or district office, nor their
campaign committees, nor anyone on their behalf, shall solicit or accept
contributions for primary election expenses after the date of the primary. No person
other than the candidate or slate of candidates shall contribute for primary election
expenses after the date of the primary.
(14)Subject to the provisions of subsection
(17)of this section, no candidate or slate of
candidates for any state, county, city, or district office at a regular election, nor their
campaign committees, nor anyone on their behalf, shall solicit or accept
contributions for regular election expenses after the date of the regular election. No
person other than the candidate or slate of candidates shall contribute for regular
election expenses after the date of the regular election.
(15)Subject to the provisions of subsection
(17)of this section, no candidate or slate of
candidates for nomination or election to any state, county, city, or district office,
nor their campaign committees, nor anyone on their behalf, shall solicit or accept
contributions for special election expenses after the date of the special election. No
person other than the candidate or slate of candidates shall contribute for special
election expenses after the date of the special election.
(16)The provisions of subsections
(13)and
(14)of this section shall apply only to those
candidates in a primary or regular election which shall be conducted subsequent to
January 1, 1989. The provisions of subsection
(15)of this section shall apply only
to those candidates or slates of candidates in a special election which shall be
conducted subsequent to January 1, 1993.
(17)A candidate, slate of candidates, or a campaign committee may solicit and accept
contributions after the date of a primary election, regular election, or special
election to defray necessary expenses that arise after the date of the election
associated with election contests, recounts, and recanvasses of a specific election,
complaints regarding alleged campaign finance violations that are filed with the
registry pertaining to a specific election, or other legal actions pertaining to a
specific election to which a candidate, slate of candidates, or campaign committee
is a party, and for repayment of debts and obligations owed by the campaign or
previous campaign for the same office. Reports of contributions received and
expenditures made after the date of the specific election shall be made in
accordance with KRS 121.180.
(18)No candidate, slate of candidates, committee, except a political issues committee,
independent expenditure-only committee, or contributing organization, nor anyone
on their behalf, shall knowingly accept a contribution from a corporation, directly
or indirectly, except to the extent that the contribution is designated to a state
executive committee's building fund account established under KRS 121.172.
(19)Nothing in this section shall be construed to restrict the ability of a corporation to
administer its permanent committee insofar as its actions can be deemed not to
influence an election as prohibited by KRS 121.025.
(20)No candidate, slate of candidates, or committee, nor anyone on their behalf, shall
solicit a contribution of money or services from a state employee, whether or not
the employee is covered by the classified service provisions of KRS Chapter 18A.
However, it shall not be a violation of this subsection for a state employee to
receive a solicitation directed to him as a registered voter in an identified precinct as
part of an overall plan to contact voters not identified as state employees.
(21)No candidate or slate of candidates for any office in this state shall accept a
contribution, including an in-kind contribution, which is made from funds in a
federal campaign account. No person shall make a contribution, including an in-
kind contribution, from funds in a federal campaign account to any candidate or
slate of candidates for any office in this state.
(22)It shall be permissible for a married couple to make a contribution with one
check that reflects the combined individual contribution limits of each individual
spouse per election, as set forth in subsection
(6)of this section, for all elections in
a calendar year and the following shall be required to be written on the check:
(a)The signatures of both spouses on the signature line of the check; and
(b)The designation of each contribution amount and the election or elections to
which they apply shall be memorialized on the memo line of the check.