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In addition to the requirements of this Chapter and State law, any committee that is raising or spending funds to support or oppose a measure during the circulation of the measure shall file supplemental campaign statements with the Ethics Commission under this Section. Such committees shall file supplemental campaign statements on the 5th and 20th day of every month in which a measure is circulating in the City and County for signatures, and on the 5th day of the month following the end of the circulation period if necessary to disclosure contributions received or expenditures made during the signature-gathering period. Each such statement shall disclose contributions received and expenditures made between the end of the reporting period for the last campaign statement filed by the committee and the period ending five calendar days prior to the date of filing.
(Added by Ord. 228-06, File No. 060501, App. 9/14/2006; Ord. 234-09, File. No. 090989, App. 11/20/2009)
(a) LIMITS ON CONTRIBUTIONS TO CANDIDATES. No person other than a candidate shall make, and no campaign treasurer for a candidate committee shall solicit or accept, any contribution which will cause the total amount contributed by such person to such candidate committee in an election to exceed $500.
(b) PROHIBITION ON CONTRIBUTIONS FROM CORPORATIONS. No corporation, limited liability company, or limited liability partnership organized pursuant to the laws of the State of California, the United States, or any other state, territory, or foreign country, whether for profit or not, shall make a contribution to a candidate committee, provided that nothing in this subsection (b) shall prohibit such a corporation, limited liability company, or limited liability partnership from establishing, administering, and soliciting contributions to a separate segregated fund to be utilized for political purposes by the corporation, limited liability company, or limited liability partnership, provided that the separate segregated fund complies with the requirements of Federal law including Sections 432(e) and 441b of Title 2 of the United States Code and any subsequent amendments to those Sections.
(c) EARMARKING. No person may make a contribution to a committee on the condition or with the agreement that it will be contributed to any particular candidate or committee to circumvent the limits established by subsections (a) and (b).
(d) PROHIBITION ON CONTRIBUTIONS FOR OFFICIAL ACTION. No candidate may, directly or by means of an agent, give, offer, promise to give, withhold, or offer or promise to withhold his or her vote or influence, or promise to take or refrain from taking official action with respect to any proposed or pending matter in consideration of, or upon condition that, any other person make or refrain from making a contribution.
(e) AGGREGATION OF AFFILIATED ENTITY CONTRIBUTIONS.
(1) General Rule. For purposes of the contribution limits imposed by this Section 1.114 and Section 1.120, the contributions of an entity whose contributions are directed and controlled by any individual shall be aggregated with contributions made by that individual and any other entity whose contributions are directed and controlled by the same individual.
(2) Multiple Entity Contributions Controlled by the Same Persons. If two or more entities make contributions that are directed and controlled by a majority of the same persons, the contributions of those entities shall be aggregated.
(3) Majority-Owned Entities. Contributions made by entities that are majority-owned by any person shall be aggregated with the contributions of the majority owner and all other entities majority-owned by that person, unless those entities act independently in their decisions to make contributions.
(4) Definition. For purposes of this Section 1.114, the term “entity” means any person other than an individual and “majority-owned” means a direct or indirect ownership of more than 50%.
(f) FORFEITURE OF UNLAWFUL CONTRIBUTIONS. In addition to any other penalty, each committee that receives a contribution which exceeds the limits imposed by this Section 1.114 or which does not comply with the requirements of this Section shall pay promptly the amount received or deposited in excess of the permitted amount to the City and County of San Francisco by delivering the payment to the Ethics Commission for deposit in the General Fund of the City and County; provided that the Ethics Commission may provide for the waiver or reduction of the forfeiture.
(g) RECEIPT OF CONTRIBUTIONS. A contribution to a candidate committee or committee making expenditures to support or oppose a candidate shall not be considered received if it is not cashed, negotiated, or deposited, and in addition is returned to the donor before the closing date of the campaign statement on which the contribution would otherwise be reported, except that a contribution to a candidate committee or committee making expenditures to support or oppose a candidate made before an election at which the candidate is to be voted on but after the closing date of the last campaign statement required to be filed before the election shall not be considered to be deemed received if it is not cashed, negotiated, or deposited, and is returned to the contributor within 48 hours of receipt. For all committees not addressed by this Section 1.114, the determination of when contributions are considered to be received shall be made in accordance with the California Political Reform Act.
(Added by Ord. 71-00, File No. 000358, App. 4/28/2000; amended by Proposition O, 11/7/2000; Ord. 141-03, File No. 030034, App. 6/27/2003; Ord. 3-06, File No. 051439, App. 1/20/2006; Ord. 126-06, File No. 060033, Eff. 6/23/2006; Ord. 228-06, File No. 060501, App. 9/14/2006; Ord. 234-09, File. No. 090989, App. 11/20/2009; Ord. 102-15
, File No. 150294, App. 6/25/2015, Eff. 7/25/2015; Ord. 129-18, File No. 180280, App. 5/30/2018, Eff. 6/30/2018, Oper. 1/1/2019; Proposition F, 11/5/2019, Eff. 12/20/2019)
(a) CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION REQUIRED. If the cumulative amount of contributions received from a contributor is $100 or more, the committee shall not deposit any contribution that causes the total amount contributed by a person to equal or exceed $100 unless the committee has the following information: the contributor’s full name; the contributor’s street address; the contributor’s occupation; and the name of the contributor’s employer or, if the contributor is self-employed, the name of the contributor’s business.
(1) A committee will be deemed not to have had the required contributor information at the time the contribution was deposited if the required contributor information is not reported on the first campaign statement on which the contribution is required to be reported.
(2) If a committee collects the information required under this subsection (a) on a form signed by the contributor stating that the contributor has not made a prohibited source contribution, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the committee has not accepted a prohibited source contribution.
(b) DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO BALLOT MEASURE COMMITTEES AND COMMITTEES MAKING INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES.
(1) In addition to the requirements in subsection (a), any person making contributions that total $5,000 or more in a single calendar year at the behest of a City elective officer, to a ballot measure committee or committee making independent expenditures must disclose to the committee receiving the contribution the office and the name of the City elective officer who requested the contribution.
(2) Committees receiving contributions subject to subsection (b)(1) must report the names of the City elective officers who requested those contributions at the same time that the committees are required to file campaign statements with the Ethics Commission disclosing the contributions.
(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection (b), no committee shall be required to make the disclosure required in subsection (b)(2) for any contribution that constitutes a contribution to the City elective officer at whose behest the contribution was made.
(4) Exception for public appeals. No person or committee shall be required to make any disclosures required under this subsection (b) for any contribution, if the contribution was made solely in response to a public appeal.
(c) ASSUMED NAME CONTRIBUTIONS.
(1) No contribution may be made, directly or indirectly, by any person or combination of persons, in a name other than the name by which they are identified for legal purposes, or in the name of another person or combination of persons.
(2) No person may make a contribution to a candidate or committee in his, her, or its name when using any payment received from another person on the condition that it be contributed to a specific candidate or committee.
(d) FORFEITURE OF UNLAWFUL CONTRIBUTIONS. In addition to any other penalty, each committee that receives a contribution which does not comply with the requirements of this Section 1.114.5 shall pay promptly the amount received or deposited to the City and County of San Francisco by delivering the payment to the Ethics Commission for deposit in the General Fund of the City and County; provided that the Ethics Commission may provide for the waiver or reduction of the forfeiture.
(Added by Ord. 129-18, File No. 180280, App. 5/30/2018, Eff. 6/30/2018, Oper. 1/1/2019)
(a) General. An expenditure is not considered independent and shall be treated as a contribution from the person making the expenditure to the candidate on whose behalf, or for whose benefit the expenditure is made, if the expenditure funds a communication that expressly advocate the nomination, election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate and is made under the following circumstance:
(1) The expenditure is made at the request, suggestion, or direction of, or in cooperation, consultation, concert or coordination with, the candidate on whose behalf, or for whose benefit, the expenditure is made; or
(2) The communication funded by the expenditure is created, produced or disseminated:
(A) After the candidate has made or participated in making any decision regarding the content, timing, location, mode, intended audience, volume of distribution, or frequency of placement of the communication; or
(B) After discussion between the creator, producer or distributor of a communication, or the person paying for that communication, and the candidate or committee regarding the content, timing, location, mode, intended audience, volume of distribution or frequency of placement of that communication, the result of which is agreement on any of these topics.
(b) Rebuttable Presumption of Coordination. In addition to Subsection (a) of this section, there shall be a presumption that an expenditure funding a communication that expressly advocates the nomination, election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate is not independent of the candidate on whose behalf or for whose benefit the expenditure is made, when:
(1) It is based on information about the candidate or committee's campaign needs or plans provided to the spender by the candidate;
(2) It is made by or through any agent of the candidate in the course of the agent's involvement in the current campaign;
(3) The spender retains the services of a person, including a campaign consultant, who provides, or has provided, the candidate with professional services related to campaign or fund raising strategy for that same election;
(4) The communication replicates, reproduces, republishes or disseminates, in whole or in substantial part, a communication designed, produced, paid for or distributed by the candidate; or
(5) In the same election that the expenditure is made, the spender or spender's agent is serving or served in an executive or policymaking role for the candidate's campaign or participated in strategy or policy making discussions with the candidate's campaign relating to the candidate's pursuit of election to office and the candidate is pursuing the same office as a candidate whose nomination or election the expenditure is intended to influence.
(c) Exceptions. Notwithstanding the foregoing, an expenditure shall not be considered a contribution to a candidate merely because:
(1) The spender interviews a candidate on issues affecting the spender;
(2) The spender has obtained a photograph, biography, position paper, press release, or similar material from the candidate;
(3) The spender has previously made a contribution to the candidate;
(4) The spender makes an expenditure in response to a general, non-specific request for support by a candidate, provided that there is no discussion with the candidate prior to the expenditure relating to details of the expenditures;
(5) The spender has invited the candidate or committee to make an appearance before the spender's members, employees, shareholders, or the families thereof, provided that there is no discussion with the candidate prior to the expenditure relating to details of the expenditure;
(6) The spender informs a candidate that the spender has made an expenditure provided that there is no other exchange of information not otherwise available to the public, relating to the details of the expenditure; or
(7) The expenditure is made at the request or suggestion of the candidate for the benefit of another candidate or committee.
(d) Definition. For purposes of this Section, the terms "candidate" includes an agent of the candidate when the agent is acting within the course and scope of the agency.
(Added by Ord. 228-06, File No. 060501, App. 9/14/2006)
(a) A candidate's loan of personal funds to the candidate's campaign may not exceed at any time more than:
(1) $15,000.00 for a candidate for the Board of Supervisors, Board of Education of the San Francisco Unified School District or the Governing Board of the San Francisco Community College District,
(2) $120,000.00 for a candidate for Mayor, or
(3) $35,000.00 for a candidate for Assessor or Public Defender, City Attorney, Treasurer, District Attorney or Sheriff.
(b) A candidate may not charge interest on any loan the candidate has made to the candidate's campaign.
(c) In addition to any other penalty, loans made by a candidate to the candidate's campaign in excess of the amounts in Subsection (a) shall be deemed a contribution to the campaign and may not be repaid to the candidate.
(d) Whenever the Ethics Commission adjusts the voluntary expenditure ceilings to reflect changes in the California Consumer Price Index, as authorized under Section 1.130, the Commission is authorized to adjust the loan amounts in this Section to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index.
(Added by Proposition O, 11/7/2000; amended by Ord. 141-03, File No. 030034, App. 6/27/2003; Ord. 228-06, File No. 060501, App. 9/14/2006)
(Former Sec. 1.116 added by Ord. 365-94, App. 10/28/94; renumbered by Ord. 71-00, File No. 000358, App. 4/28/2000; repealed by Proposition O, 11/7/2000)
(a) A candidate committee that accepts goods or services on credit shall pay for such accrued expenses in full no later than 180 calendar days after receipt of a bill or invoice and in no event later than 180 calendar days after the last calendar day of the month in which the goods were delivered or the services were rendered, unless it is clear from the circumstances that the failure to pay is reasonably based on a good faith dispute. For purposes of this Subsection, a good faith dispute shall be rebuttably presumed if the candidate committee produces the following:
(1) Evidence that the candidate committee protested the payment of a bill no later than 30 calendar days after the last calendar day of the month in which the goods were delivered or the services were rendered; and
(2) Evidence that the protest was based on the time of delivery, quality or quantity of goods delivered or services rendered or the price of the goods delivered or the services provided.
(b) The provisions of Subsection (a) do not apply to debt owed to a financial institution for an outstanding credit card balance.
(c) Each and every calendar day any accrued expense remains partially or wholly unpaid after the time periods set forth in Subsection (a) constitutes a separate violation.
(Added by Ord. 228-06, File No. 060501, App. 9/14/2006; Ord. 234-09, File. No. 090989, App. 11/20/2009)
(Former Sec. 1.118 added by Ord. 71-00, File No. 000358, App. 4/28/2000; amended by Proposition O, 11/7/2000; repealed by Ord. 3-06, File No. 051439, App. 1/20/2006)
All provisions of this Chapter, unless specified otherwise herein, shall be applicable in any post-election recounts, election contests or other proceedings held pursuant to law. In addition, the following provisions shall be applicable in any such post-election legal proceedings:
(a) No person other than a candidate shall make, and no candidate shall solicit or accept, any contribution which will cause the total amount contributed by such person in post-election legal proceedings to any candidate to exceed, in addition to the contribution limit contained in Sections 1.114, $100.00.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Chapter to the contrary, for the purposes of conducting post-election recounts, election contests or other proceedings held pursuant to law, the delivery of in-kind legal services by lawyers in support of or in opposition to candidates, including in-kind contributions to committees supporting or opposing candidates, shall not be subject to any contribution limitations set forth in this Chapter.
(c) If any person violates this Section, each campaign treasurer who received part or all of the contribution or contributions which constitute the violation shall pay promptly the amount received from such person in excess of the amount permitted by this Section to the City and County Treasurer for deposit in the General Fund of the City and County.
(Added by Ord. 71-00, File No. 000358, App. 4/28/2000; amended by Proposition O, 11/7/2000; Ord. 3-06, File No. 051439, App. 1/20/2006)
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