Colorado § 1-45-106 - Unexpended campaign contributions.

§ 1-45-106. Unexpended campaign contributions.

(1) (a) (I) Subject to the requirements of section 3 (3)(e) of article XXVIII of the state constitution, unexpended campaign contributions to a candidate committee may be:

(A) Contributed to a political party;

(B) Contributed to a candidate committee established by the same candidate for a different public office, subject to the limitations set forth in section 3 of article XXVIII of the state constitution, if the candidate committee making such a contribution is affirmatively closed by the candidate no later than ten days after the date such a contribution is made;

(C) Donated to a charitable organization recognized by the internal revenue service;

(D) Returned to the contributors, or retained by the committee for use by the candidate in a subsequent campaign.

(II) Except as authorized by section 1-45-103.7 (6.5) and subsection (1)(b)(VI) of this section, in no event shall contributions to a candidate committee be used for personal purposes not reasonably related to supporting the election of the candidate.

(III) A candidate committee for a former officeholder or a person not elected to office shall expend all of the unexpended campaign contributions retained by such candidate committee, for the purposes specified in this subsection (1), no later than one year from the date such officeholder's term expired or from the date of the election at which such person was a candidate for office, whichever is later.

(b) In addition to any use described in subsection (1)(a) of this section, a person elected to a public office may use unexpended campaign contributions held by the person's candidate committee for any of the following purposes:

(I) Voter registration;

(II) Political issue education, which includes obtaining information from or providing information to the electorate;

(III) Postsecondary educational scholarships;

(IV) To defray reasonable and necessary expenses related to mailings and similar communications to constituents;

(V) Any expenses that are directly related to such person's official duties as an elected official, including, but not limited to, expenses for the purchase or lease of office equipment and supplies, room rental for public meetings, necessary travel and lodging expenses for legislative education such as seminars, conferences, and meetings on legislative issues, and telephone and pager expenses;

(VI) For purposes specified in section 1-45-103.7 (6.5), in connection with the person's official duties as an elected official.

(2) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2000, p. 123, § 4, effective March 15, 2000.)

(3) Unexpended contributions to an issue committee may be donated to any charitable organization recognized by the internal revenue service or returned to the contributor.

(4) This section shall apply to unexpended campaign contributions transferred from a political committee formed prior to January 15, 1997, to a candidate committee registering after January 15, 1997, pursuant to section 1-45-108.

(5) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any unexpended campaign contributions retained by a candidate committee for use in a subsequent election cycle shall be counted and reported as contributions from a political party in any subsequent election in accordance with the requirements of section 3 (3)(e) of article XXVIII of the state constitution.

Source: Initiated 96: Entire article R&RE, effective upon proclamation of the Governor, January 15, 1997. L. 98: (1) amended, p. 955, § 3, effective May 27. L. 2000: (1)(a) and (2) amended, p. 123, § 4, effective March 15. L. 2003: IP(1)(a)(I) amended and (5) added, p. 2157, § 2, effective June 3. L. 2010: (1)(a)(I)(B) amended, (SB 10-041), ch. 151, p. 522, § 1, effective July 1. L. 2019: (1)(a)(II) amended, (SB 19-229), ch. 354, p. 3260, § 2, effective September 1. L. 2023: (1)(a)(II), (1)(a)(III), and IP(1)(b) amended and (1)(b)(VI) added, (SB 23-276), ch. 399, p. 2395, § 48, effective June 6.

Editor's note: This section is similar to § 1-45-109 as it existed prior to 1996.

ANNOTATION

Subsection (2) is constitutional. The state's interest in preventing avoidance of valid contribution limits by use of funds carried over from prior campaigns is both compelling and served by the restriction set forth in subsection (2). This provision is narrowly tailored to accomplish the state's legitimate interest. Citizens for Responsible Gov't State Political Action Comm. v. Buckley, 60 F. Supp. 2d 1066 (D. Colo. 1999).

Candidate's disclosure report not required to report unexpended campaign funds at the end of an election cycle as contributions from a political party. To accomplish the purpose of subsection (5), it is necessary only that a candidate committee report the amount of unexpended campaign funds on hand at the end of an election cycle. To report money already on hand as a fictional, new contribution from an unidentified political party would artificially inflate the amount of funds reportedly available to a candidate committee and would be confusing to those who read the report. Williams v. Teck, 113 P.3d 1255 (Colo. App. 2005).

Candidate committee permitted to use unexpended contributions to pay elected state senator's legal fees. Although legal fees are not specifically mentioned as permissible expenses under subsection (1)(b)(V), the words "including, but not limited to," indicate that the statute merely illustrates the kinds of expenses that may be regarded as directly related to an elected official's duties. Here, the legal fees may properly be characterized as directly related to official duties of elected state senator. The senator's duties include filing periodic reports with the secretary of state, and the fees were reasonably necessary to demonstrate that senator and his or her committee had properly performed this duty. Williams v. Teck, 113 P.3d 1255 (Colo. App. 2005).