Idaho Constituent Campaign Contributions Initiative (2016)

Constituent Campaign Contributions Initiative
Election date November 8, 2016
Topic Campaign finance
Status Not on the ballot
Type State statute	Origin Citizens

Voting on elections and campaigns
Ballot measures
By state
By year
Not on ballot
Local Local voting laws Elections and campaigns Local term limits

The Constituent Campaign Contributions Initiative was not put on the November 8, 2016, ballot in Idaho as an initiated state statute.

The measure would have required that political candidates could receive campaign contributions only from constituents of his or her office. It would also have allowed:

• unlimited contributions to candidates by constituents or the candidates themselves
• constituents and non-constituents to contribute unlimited amounts to state party committees or political action committees

Text of measure

Short ballot title

The short ballot title was as follows:

“

An initiative allowing candidates to accept campaign contributions only from individuals who are constituents of the candidate's office.

”

Long ballot title

The long ballot title was as follows:

“

An initiative regulating campaign contributions for candidates for office by: (1) amending Idaho code section 67-6610 to require those who contribute to a candidate or who earmark contributions to a political committee for a candidate to be a constituent of the candidate's office and to forbid political treasurers from accepting other contributions. (2) amending section 67-6610a: (a) to allow unlimited contributions to candidates or to authorized candidate committees by candidates themselves and by constituents, (b) to allow unlimited contributions to political action committees and state party committees by constituents, (c) to allow unlimited non-constituent contributions (including corporate contributions) to political action committees and state party committees, but forbidding contributions earmarked for a candidate, (d) to limit contributions to authorized candidate committees from a political action committee or other political organization to contributions from constituents earmarked for the candidate, (e) to apply the same [campaign] contribution law to primary and general elections, and (f) to allow county and state central committees to collect and forward constituent contributions. (3) amending section 67-6614 to prohibit contributions by constituents under fictitious names and contributions and expenditures by non-constituents.

”

Full text

The full text of the measure was as follows:

“

Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Idaho. Section 1. That section 67-6610, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby amended to read as follows: 67-6610. CONTRIBUTION IN EXCESS OF FIFTY DOLLARS. CONTRIBUTION VERIFICATION. (a) Any person who contributes more than fifty dollars ($50.00) (including one or more smaller contributions which aggregate more than fifty dollars ($50.00) in any one calendar year) to a candidate or political committee shall accompany the contribution with a statement of his full name and complete address. Any person who contributes to a candidate or a political committee earmarked for a candidate must be a constituent of the office being sought. To be accepted, all contributions made to or for a candidate shall be accompanied with a full statement of the contributor's full name and complete address which provides verification of constituency. (b) If a political treasurer is offered or receives a payment or contribution of more than fifty dollars ($50.00), or which together with prior contributions from the same person during that calendar year exceeds fifty dollars ($50.00), and there is no statement of the full name and complete address of the person making the contribution, the contribution shall be returned to the contributor if his identity can be ascertained. If the contributor's identity cannot be ascertained, the contribution shall be transmitted immediately by the political treasurer who received it to the state controller for deposit in the public school fund. 67-6610A. LIMITATIONS ON CONTRIBUTIONS. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, aggregate contributions for a primary election or a general election made by a corporation, political committee, other recognized legal entity or an individual, other than the candidate, to a candidate for the state legislature, and political committees organized on the candidate's behalf shall be limited to an amount not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) for the primary election and an amount not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) for the general election. Aggregate contributions for a primary election or a general election by a corporation, political committee, other recognized legal entity or an individual, other than the candidate, to a candidate for statewide office and political committees organized on the candidate's behalf shall be limited to an amount not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) for the primary election and an amount not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) for the general election. Aggregate contributions made by a candidate to the candidate's own election is without limit. Aggregate contributions made by a constituent to a candidate or an authorized candidate committee is without limit and must be accompanied by a statement of the contributor's full name and complete address. Aggregate contributions made by a constituent to a PAC or State Party Committee is without limit. Aggregate contributions made by a non-constituent is permissible only to a PAC or a State Party Committee and is without limit but cannot be earmarked for the candidate. Aggregate contributions made by a corporation or other recognized Legal Entity is permissible only to a PAC or a State Party Committee and is without limit but cannot be earmarked for the candidate. Contributions to an authorized candidate committee from a PAC (Political Action Committee) or any other political organization is limited to contributions from a constituent earmarked for the candidate accompanied by a statement of the contributor's full name and complete address. (2) Aggregate contributions for a primary election or for a general election made by a county central committee or by the state central committee of the political parties qualified under section 34-501, Idaho Code, to a candidate for the state legislature, and political committees organized on the candidate's behalf shall be limited to an amount not to exceed two thousand dollars ($2,000) for the primary election and an amount not to exceed two thousand dollars ($2,000) for the general election. Aggregate contributions for the primary election or the general election by the state central committee of the political parties qualified under section 34-501, Idaho Code, to a candidate for statewide office and political committees organized on the candidate's behalf shall be limited to an amount not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for the primary election and an amount not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for the general election. Aggregate contributions for a primary election or for a general election to a candidate is limited to contributions from constituents without limits and can be collected and forwarded by a county central committee or by the state central committee of the political parties qualified under section 34-501, Idaho Code. (3) For purposes of this section "statewide office" shall mean an office in state government which shall appear on the primary or general election ballot throughout the state. (4) Recall elections, for purposes of this section, shall be treated the same as general elections for contribution limits. (5) Contributions other than money or its equivalent are deemed to have a monetary value equivalent to the fair market value of the contribution. Services or property or rights furnished at less than their fair market value for the purpose of assisting any candidate or political committee are deemed a contribution. A contribution of this kind shall be reported as an in-kind contribution at its fair market value and counts toward any applicable contribution limit of the contributor. Contributions shall not include the personal services of volunteers. (6) The contribution limits for the state legislature shall apply to judicial district offices, city offices and county offices regulated by this chapter. (7) For the purposes of contribution limits, the following apply: (a) A contribution by a political committee with funds that have all been contributed by one (1) person who exercises exclusive control over the distribution of the funds of the political committee is a contribution by the controlling person. (b) All contributions made by a person or political committee whose contribution or expenditure activity is financed, maintained or controlled by a trade association, labor union or collective bargaining organization shall be considered a contribution from such trade association, labor union or collective bargaining organization. (c) Two (2) or more entities are treated as a single entity if the entities: (i) Share the majority of members on their board of directors: (ii) Share two (2) or more officers; (iii) Are owned or controlled by the same majority shareholder or shareholders or persons; (iv) Are in a parent-subsidiary relationship; or (v) Have bylaws so stating. (87) The provisions of this section are hereby declared to be severable and if any provision of this section or the application of such provision to any person or circumstance is declared invalid for any reason, such declaration shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this section. 67-6614. IDENTIFICATION OF SOURCE OF CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES. No contribution shall be made and no expenditure shall be incurred, directly or indirectly by a constituent, in a fictitious name, anonymously, or by one (1) person through an agent, relative, or other person in such a manner as to conceal the identity of the source of the contribution. No contribution shall be made and no expenditure shall be incurred, directly or indirectly by a non-constituent.

”

Support

Idaho resident Bob Perry submitted the petition and was leading support for the initiative.

Arguments in favor

Bob Perry argued:

“

Government is, in reality, representatives and their related constituents. Anything that abridges that, changes it in any way, would be unconstitutional in my opinion. ... I’m sitting there watching TV one day and bang, it hit me in the head: Unabridged. That was the key word That is our government. It needs to be unabridged, and we have ruined it. ... Everybody I talked to said this is really simple and it’s right. Had we followed this as a rule in our government, we would not be in the mess we’re in today.

”

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Idaho

Supporters had to gather 47,623 valid signatures by April 30, 2016, to qualify the initiative for the ballot. Supporters did not gather enough signatures to qualify the initiative for the ballot.

The number of signatures required is equal to 6 percent of the registered voters as of the last general election in each of at least 18 legislative districts. Since there was a general election in November 2014, the signature requirements for initiatives in 2016 were determined by 2014 results.

See also

Suggest a link

• 2016 ballot measures
• Idaho 2016 ballot measures
• Laws governing the initiative process in Idaho

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