Georgia has signed a new law, SB 221, that radically changes how a few select officeholders or party nominees raise money for their campaigns. The law will come into force this summer. Salient features of the legislation are:
- Leadership committees’: a new kind of campaign fundraising vehicle, called a “leadership committee,” has been introduced to facilitate the changes. They can be formed by the governor or lieutenant governor, or “the nominee of a political party for Governor selected in a primary election in the year in which he or she is nominated, or the nominee of a political party for Lieutenant Governor selected in a primary election in the year in which he or she is nominated.”
- A leadership committee may receive contributions from persons who are members or supporters of the leadership committee and expend such funds as permitted by this Code.
- A leadership committee may accept contributions or make expenditures for the purpose of affecting the outcome of any election or advocating for the election or defeat of any candidate, may defray ordinary and necessary expenses incurred in connection with any candidate’s campaign for elective office, and may defray ordinary and necessary expenses incurred in connection with a public officer’s fulfillment or retention of such office
- A leadership committee which accepts contributions or makes expenditures more than $500.00 shall register with the commission within ten days of such accepted contribution or such expenditure and, thereafter, shall file disclosure reports pursuant to the schedule defined for candidates and campaign committees in subsection (c) of Code Section 21-5-34. Such disclosure reports shall be made pursuant to subsection (b) of Code Section 21-5-34.
- A leadership committee shall be a separate legal entity from a candidate’s campaign committee and shall not be considered an independent committee.
*Tanvi Singh, Editorial Assistant has put this story together.