Colorado § 1-45-108 - Disclosure - definitions - repeal.

§ 1-45-108. Disclosure - definitions - repeal.

(1) (a) (I) Subject to subsection (1.5) of this section, all candidate committees, political committees, issue committees, small donor committees, and political parties shall report to the appropriate officer their contributions received, including the name and address of each person who has contributed twenty dollars or more; expenditures made, and obligations entered into by the committee or party.

(II) Subject to subsection (1.5) of this section, in the case of contributions made to a candidate committee, political committee, issue committee, and political party, the disclosure required by this section shall also include the occupation and employer of each person who has made a contribution of one hundred dollars or more to such committee or party.

(III) Any person who expends one thousand dollars or more per calendar year on electioneering communications or regular biennial school electioneering communications shall report to the secretary of state, in accordance with the disclosure required by this section, the amount expended on the communications and the name and address of any person that contributes more than two hundred fifty dollars per year to the person expending one thousand dollars or more on the communications. If the person making a contribution of more than two hundred fifty dollars is a natural person, the disclosure required by this section must also include the person's occupation and employer. Electioneering communication reports must include the name of the candidate or candidates unambiguously referred to in the electioneering communication or regular biennial school electioneering communication. In accordance with section 1-45-103 (9), an electioneering communication includes any communication that satisfies all other requirements set forth in section 2 (7) of article XXVIII of the state constitution but that is broadcast, printed, mailed, delivered, or distributed between the primary election and the general election.

(IV) In the case of a limited liability company, the disclosure required by this section shall include, in addition to any other information required to be disclosed, each contribution from the limited liability company regardless of the dollar amount of the contribution.

(V) Any disbursement not otherwise defined as an expenditure may be reported to the appropriate officer.

(VI) Any person, after expending five thousand dollars in aggregate in a calendar year on direct ballot issue or ballot question expenditures, shall, for each additional expenditure of one thousand dollars or more, report to the secretary of state in accordance with the disclosure required by this section: The amount of the expenditure, the purpose for which the expenditure was made, the date of the expenditure, name and address of the payee, and the ballot question or ballot issue supported or opposed. Such a report must be filed with the secretary of state no later than forty-eight hours after the direct ballot issue or ballot question expenditure was made.

(b) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2003, p. 2158, § 3, effective June 3, 2003.)

(c) A candidate committee in a special district election is not required to file reports under this section until the committee has received contributions or made expenditures exceeding two hundred dollars in the aggregate during the election cycle.

(d) For purposes of this section, a political party shall be treated as a separate entity at the state, county, district, and local levels.

(e) A candidate's candidate committee may reimburse the candidate for expenditures the candidate has made on behalf of the candidate committee. Any such expenditures may be reimbursed at any time. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any expenditure reimbursed to the candidate by the candidate's candidate committee within the election cycle during which the expenditure is made shall be treated only as an expenditure and not as a contribution to and an expenditure by the candidate's candidate committee. Notwithstanding the date on which any such expenditure is reimbursed, the expenditure shall be reported at the time it is made in accordance with the requirements of this section.

(1.5) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in light of the opinion of the United States court of appeals for the tenth circuit in the case of Coalition for Secular Government v. Williams, no. 14-1469 (10th circuit March 2, 2016), that affirmed the order of the federal district court in the case of Coalition for Secular Gov't v. Gessler, case no. 12 CV 1708, the disclosure requirements specified in subsection (1)(a)(I) or (1)(a)(II) of this section and the reporting requirements specified in subsection (3.3) or (6) of this section shall not apply to a small-scale issue committee. A small-scale issue committee shall disclose or file reports about the contributions or expenditures it has made or received or otherwise register as an issue committee in connection with accepting or making such contributions or expenditures in accordance with the following alternative requirements:

(a) A small-scale issue committee that accepts or makes contributions or expenditures in an aggregate amount during any applicable election cycle that does not exceed two hundred dollars is not required to disclose or file reports about the contributions or expenditures it has made or received or otherwise register as an issue committee in connection with accepting or making such contributions or expenditures.

(b) (I) A small-scale issue committee that accepts or makes contributions or expenditures in an aggregate amount during any applicable election cycle of between two hundred dollars and five thousand dollars shall register with the appropriate officer within ten business days of the date on which the aggregate amount of contributions or expenditures exceeds two hundred dollars. The registration required by this subsection (1.5)(b)(I) must include a statement listing:

(A) The committee's full name, spelling out any acronyms used in the name;

(B) The name of a natural person authorized to act as a registered agent of the committee;

(C) A street address for the principal place of business of the committee;

(D) The purpose or nature of interest of the committee; and

(E) The name of the financial institution in which, in a separate account bearing the name of the committee, all contributions received by the committee are deposited.

(II) A small-scale issue committee described in subsection (1.5)(b)(I) of this section is not required to make any disclosure about any contributions or expenditures it has made or received.

(c) (I) At such time as an issue committee that began as a small-scale issue committee accepts or makes contributions or expenditures in an aggregate amount during any applicable election cycle that exceeds five thousand dollars, the committee shall report to the appropriate officer, for each particular contribution or expenditure accepted or made, the name and address of each person who has made such contribution and the amount of each specific contribution and expenditure accepted or made by the committee.

(II) At such time as any issue committee that began as a small-scale issue committee accepts or makes contributions or expenditures in an aggregate amount during any applicable election cycle that exceeds five thousand dollars, the committee shall make disclosure of any contributions or expenditures it accepts or makes on or after the date on which such aggregate amount exceeds five thousand dollars in compliance with all applicable requirements under this article 45 pertaining to the disclosure by an issue committee of its contributions or expenditures accepted or made.

(III) Within fifteen days of a small-scale issue committee becoming subject to the applicable requirements governing an issue committee under this article 45, the committee through its registered agent shall report this change in the committee's status to the secretary of state.

(2) (a) (I) Except as provided in subsections (2)(a)(V), (2)(a)(VI), (2.1), (2.5), (2.7), and (6) of this section, such reports that are required to be filed with the secretary of state must be filed:

(A) Quarterly in off-election years no later than the fifteenth calendar day following the end of the applicable quarter;

(B) On the first Monday in May and on each Monday every two weeks thereafter before the primary election;

(C) On the first day of each month beginning the sixth full month before the major election; except that no monthly report shall be required on the first day of the month in which the major election, major political party vacancy election conducted pursuant to section 1-12-203 (1.5), or county commissioner vacancy election is held;

(D) On the first Monday in September and on each Monday every two weeks thereafter before the major election, major political party vacancy election conducted pursuant to section 1-12-203 (1.5), or county commissioner vacancy election;

(E) Thirty-five days after a major election in election years or after a major political party vacancy election; and

(F) Fourteen days before and thirty days after a special legislative election or county commissioner vacancy election held in an off-election year.

(II) Such reports that are required to be filed with the municipal clerk for municipalities with a population of less than one thousand and such reports required to be filed pursuant to section 1-45-109 (1)(a)(II) and (1)(c) must be filed on the twenty-first day and on the Friday before and thirty-five days after the primary election, where applicable, and the major election in election years and annually in off-election years on the first day of the month in which the anniversary of the major election occurs.

(II.5) Such reports that are required to be filed with the municipal clerk for municipalities that have a population of one thousand or more must be filed no later than sixty days, thirty days, and fifteen days before, and thirty days after the major election in election years and annually in off-election years on the first day of the month in which the anniversary of the major election occurs; except that, for a runoff election reports must be filed no later than fifteen days before and fifteen days after the runoff election.

(III) For purposes of this section, "election year" means every even-numbered year for political parties and political committees and each year in which the particular candidate committee's candidate, or issue committee's issue, appears on the ballot, including a regular biennial school election; and "major election" means the election that decides an issue committee's issue, the election that elects a person to the public office sought by the candidate committee's candidate, and a regular biennial school election.

(IV) If the reporting day falls on a weekend or legal holiday, the report shall be filed by the close of the next business day.

(V) Any political committee, small donor committee, independent expenditure committee, or political organization that is participating in a regular biennial school election shall file its disclosure reports in accordance with the filing schedule specified in sub-subparagraphs (C) to (E) of subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (a) as of the date the committee or organization, as applicable, makes an expenditure or undertakes spending in connection with that election.

(VI) Such reports that are required to be filed with the secretary of state for contributions received and expenditures made related to vacancy contenders must be filed on the Monday of each week during the election cycle for the vacancy committee selection process used to fill a vacancy in the general assembly pursuant to section 1-12-203.

(b) The reports required by this section shall also include the balance of funds at the beginning of the reporting period, the total of contributions received, the total of expenditures made during the reporting period, and the name and address of the financial institution used by the committee or party.

(c) All reports filed with the secretary of state pursuant to this subsection (2) shall be for the reporting periods established pursuant to rules promulgated by the secretary of state in accordance with article 4 of title 24, C.R.S.

(d) A candidate committee for a former officeholder or a person not elected to office that has no change in the balance of funds maintained by such committee, receives no contributions, makes no expenditures, and enters into no obligations during a reporting period shall not be required to file a report under this section for such period.

(e) The reporting period for all reports required to be filed with the municipal clerk and such reports required to be filed pursuant to section 1-45-109 (1)(a)(II) and (1)(c) shall close five calendar days prior to the effective date of filing.

(2.1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2.2) of this section, in the case of a regular biennial school election or a special school election, a candidate committee for school district director shall file reports that are required to be filed with the secretary of state according to the filing schedule specified in subsections (2)(a)(I)(A), (2)(a)(I)(C), (2)(a)(I)(D), and (2)(a)(I)(E) of this section.

(2.2) In connection with a recall election of a school district director, reports of contributions and expenditures must be filed in accordance with the deadlines that are specified in subsection (6) of this section.

(2.3) Repealed.

(2.5) (a) Except as provided in subsection (2.5)(b) of this section, and in addition to any report required to be filed with the secretary of state or municipal clerk under this section, all candidate committees, issue committees, and political parties must file a report with the secretary of state of any contribution of one thousand dollars or more at any time within thirty days preceding the date of the primary election, general election, regular biennial school election, or special school election, as applicable. This report must be filed with the secretary of state no later than twenty-four hours after the receipt of said contribution.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (2.5)(a) of this section, the following committees need not file the reports described in subsection (2.5)(a) of this section in the following instances:

(I) An issue committee need not report a contribution of one thousand dollars or more preceding a primary election;

(II) A committee for a candidate not on the ballot need not report a contribution of one thousand dollars or more during the off-election year;

(III) A candidate or candidate committee for school board need not report a contribution of one thousand dollars or more during the off-election year; and

(IV) A political party during the off-election year.

(2.7) Any candidate or candidate committee supporting any candidate, including an incumbent, in a recall election, shall file reports of contributions and expenditures with the appropriate officer fourteen and seven days before the recall election and thirty days after the recall election.

(3) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (3.5) of this section, all candidate committees, political committees, small donor committees, and political parties shall register with the appropriate officer before accepting or making any contributions. Registration shall include a statement listing:

(a) The organization's full name, spelling out any acronyms used therein;

(b) A natural person authorized to act as a registered agent;

(c) A street or mailing address and telephone number for the principal place of operations;

(d) All affiliated candidates and committees;

(e) The purpose or nature of interest of the committee or party.

(f) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2010, (SB 10-041), ch. 151, p. 522, § 2, effective July 1, 2010.)

(3.3) Subject to subsections (1.5) and (7) of this section, each issue committee shall register with the appropriate officer within ten calendar days of accepting or making contributions or expenditures in excess of two hundred dollars to support or oppose any ballot issue or ballot question or upon receipt of the notice from the secretary of state pursuant to section 1-40-113 (1)(b). If required to register under the requirements of this subsection (3.3), the registration of the issue committee must include a statement containing the items listed in paragraphs (a) to (e) of subsection (3) of this section in connection with other committees and a political party.

(3.5) Any political committee that has registered with the federal election commission may file with the appropriate officer a copy of the registration filed with the federal election commission and, insofar as such registration contains substantially the same information required by subsection (3) of this section, the political committee shall be considered to have registered with the appropriate officer for purposes of subsection (3) of this section and, therefore, shall be authorized to accept or make contributions as permitted by law. Any political committee that satisfies the requirements of this subsection (3.5) shall be subject to all other legal requirements pertaining to contributions and disclosure that are applicable to political committees.

(4) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2010, (SB 10-041), ch. 151, p. 522, § 2, effective July 1, 2010.)

(5) The registration and reporting requirements of this section shall not apply to that part of the organizational structure of a political party which is responsible for only the day-to-day operations of such political party at the national level if copies of the reports required to be filed with the Federal Election Commission pursuant to the "Federal Election Commission Act of 1971", as amended, are filed with the secretary of state and include the information required by this section.

(6) Subject to subsection (1.5) of this section, any issue committee whose purpose is the recall of any elected official shall register with the appropriate officer within ten calendar days of accepting or making contributions or expenditures in excess of two hundred dollars to support or oppose the recall. Reports of contributions and expenditures shall be filed with the appropriate officer within fifteen days of the filing of the committee registration and every thirty days thereafter until the date of the recall election has been established and then fourteen days and seven days before the recall election and thirty days following the recall election.

(7) (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and subject to subsection (7)(b) of this section, a matter is considered a ballot issue or a ballot question for the purpose of determining whether an issue committee has been formally established, thereby necessitating compliance with any disclosure and reporting requirements of this article 45 and article XXVIII of the state constitution, at the earliest of the following:

(I) A title for the matter has been designated and fixed in accordance with law and any motion for rehearing has been heard;

(II) The matter has been referred to the voters by the general assembly, as evidenced when the measure is passed by the general assembly, or the governing body of any political subdivision of the state with authorization to refer matters to the voters;

(III) In the case of a citizen referendum petition, the matter has been submitted for format approval in accordance with law;

(IV) A petition concerning the matter has been circulated and signed by at least one person; except that, where a matter becomes a ballot issue or ballot question upon such signing, any person opposing the matter shall not be considered to be an issue committee for purposes of this article and article XXVIII of the state constitution until one such person knows or has reason to know of the circulation; or

(V) A signed petition has been submitted to the appropriate officer in accordance with law.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subsection (7), where a matter concerns a municipal annexation brought pursuant to article 12 of title 31, C.R.S., the matter shall not be considered to be a ballot issue or ballot question for the purpose of determining whether an issue committee has been formally established, thereby necessitating compliance with any disclosure and reporting requirements of this article and article XXVIII of the state constitution, unless and until the first notice of the annexation election has been published in accordance with the requirements of section 31-12-112 (6), C.R.S.

(8) (a) Any expenditure or spending on a covered communication that is controlled by or coordinated with a candidate or candidate's agent or a political party is considered both a contribution by the maker of the expenditure or spending, and an expenditure by the candidate committee.

(b) For purposes of this subsection (8), "covered communication" includes:

(I) A communication that expressly advocates for the election or defeat of a candidate;

(II) An electioneering communication as defined in section 2 (7) of article XXVIII of the state constitution and section 1-45-103 (9), or regular biennial electioneering communication as defined in section 1-45-103 (15.5); and

(III) A communication by a political organization that influences or attempts to influence the selection, nomination, election, or appointment of a candidate to public office.

Source: Initiated 96: Entire article R&RE, effective upon proclamation of the Governor, January 15, 1997. L. 98: (1), (2)(a), and IP(3) amended, p. 223, § 2, effective April 10; (2)(c) added, p. 951, § 3, effective May 27. L. 99: (2)(a) amended and (2)(c)(V) and (2)(c)(VI) added, p. 1391, §§ 14, 15, effective June 4. L. 2000: (2)(a) and (2)(c) amended and (2)(d), (2.3), and (2.5) added, pp. 124, 125, §§ 5, 6, effective March 15; (1) amended, p. 1725, § 2, effective June 1; (2)(e) added, p. 791, § 2, effective August 2. L. 2001: (3)(f) added, p. 808, § 1, effective August 8; (2.3) amended, p. 1111, § 2, effective September 1. L. 2002: IP(2)(a)(I) and (6) amended and (2.7) added, p. 198, § 2, effective April 3; (1)(c) added, p. 1640, § 33, effective June 7. L. 2003: (1)(a), (1)(b), (2.3)(a), (2.5), IP(3), and (3)(f) amended and (1)(d) added, p. 2158, § 3, effective June 3. L. 2004: (1)(e) and (3.5) added and IP(3) amended, p. 864, §§ 2, 3, effective May 21. L. 2007: IP(2)(a)(I) amended, p. 2017, § 2, effective June 1; IP(2)(a)(I) and (2)(a)(I)(B) amended, p. 1299, § 2, effective July 1. L. 2008: (1)(a)(IV) added, p. 441, § 2, effective April 14. L. 2009: (2)(a)(II), (2)(e), and (2.5) amended, (HB 09-1357), ch. 361, p. 1871, § 1, effective July 1; IP(3) and (3)(f) amended and (3.3) and (7) added, (HB 09-1153), ch. 174, p. 774, § 2, effective September 1. L. 2010: (1)(a)(III), (3)(f), (3.3), (4), and (6) amended, (SB 10-041), ch. 151, p. 522, § 2, effective July 1; (3.3) amended, (HB 10-1370), ch. 270, p. 1241, § 5, effective January 1, 2011. L. 2012: (2)(a)(I)(B) amended, (SB 12-014), ch. 1, p. 1, § 1, effective January 30; (1)(c) amended, (HB 12-1269), ch. 83, p. 274, § 1, effective August 8. L. 2016: (1)(a)(I), (1)(a)(II), (3.3), and (6) amended and (1.5) added, (SB 16-186), ch. 269, p. 1114, § 2, effective June 10; (1)(a)(III), IP(2)(a)(I), (2)(a)(III), and (2.5) amended and (2)(a)(V) added, (HB 16-1282), ch. 267, p. 1106, § 3; effective August 10. L. 2018: (1)(a)(III), (2.5), IP(7)(a), and (7)(a)(I) amended and (1)(a)(V) added, (HB 18-1047), ch. 155, p. 1093, § 4, effective April 23. L. 2019: (1)(a)(III) amended, (SB 19-068), ch. 69, p. 250, § 2, effective August 2; (1.5) R&RE and (8) added, (HB 19-1318), ch. 328, p. 3044, § 4, effective August 2. L. 2022: IP(2)(a)(I) and (2.5)(a) amended and (2.1) and (2.2) added, (HB 22-1060), ch. 99, p. 473, § 3, effective July 1; IP(2)(a)(I), (2)(a)(I)(E), (2)(a)(II), (2.5)(b)(II), and (2.5)(b)(III) amended and (2.5)(b)(IV) added, (HB 22-1156), ch. 108, p. 495, § 1, effective August 10; (1)(a)(VI) added, (SB 22-237), ch. 400, p. 2852, § 2, effective September 1. L. 2023: (7)(a)(II) amended, (SB 23-276), ch. 399, p. 2396, § 50, effective June 6; (2)(a)(II) amended and (2)(a)(II.5) added, (HB 23-1245), ch. 417, p. 2467, § 2, effective January 1, 2024. L. 2025: (2)(a)(I)(C), (2)(a)(I)(D), and (2)(a)(I)(F) amended, (HB 25-1319), ch. 272, p. 1409, § 6, effective May 28; IP(2)(a)(I), (2)(a)(I)(C), (2)(a)(I)(D), and (2)(a)(I)(E) amended and (2)(a)(VI) added, (HB 25-1315), ch. 180, p. 775, § 7, effective August 6. L. 2026: (3)(c) amended, (HB 26-1422), ch. 331, p. 1932, § 8, effective June 2.

Editor's note: (1) This section is similar to former § 1-45-108 as it existed prior to 1996.

(2) The numbering of this section originated in an initiated measure. As a result of an amendment to this section by House Bill 00-1194, subsections (2)(a)(I) and (2)(a)(II) as they existed prior to March 15, 2000, were renumbered on revision as (2)(a)(III) and (2)(a)(IV).

(3) Subsection (2.3)(b) provided for the repeal of subsection (2.3), effective January 1, 2007. (See L. 2001, p. 1111.)

(4) Amendments to subsection (3.3) by Senate Bill 10-041 and House Bill 10-1370 were harmonized.

(5) Prior to the reenactment of subsection (1.5) on August 2, 2019, subsection (1.5)(d) provided for the repeal of subsection (1.5), effective June 30, 2019. (See. L. 2016, p. 1114.)

(6) Amendments to subsection IP(2)(a)(I) by HB 22-1060 and HB 22-1156 were harmonized.

(7) Amendments to subsections (2)(a)(I)(C) and (2)(a)(I)(D) by HB 25-1319 and HB 25-1315 were harmonized.

Cross references: For the legislative declaration in the 2010 act amending subsection (3.3), see section 1 of chapter 270, Session Laws of Colorado 2010.

ANNOTATION

Law reviews. For article, "Campaign Finance and 527 Organizations: Keeping Big Money in Politics", see 34 Colo. Law. 71 (July 2005).

Act is neither unconstitutionally vague nor unconstitutionally overbroad. As to candidate's vagueness argument, court finds that act provides sufficient notice to persons of ordinary intelligence that expenditures, regardless of the source of the funds, must be reported. As to candidate's arguments that act is unconstitutionally overbroad and inhibits basic first amendment freedoms, court finds that, construed to preserve its constitutionality, the act does not inhibit a candidate's expenditures of personal funds so long as those expenditures are made through a candidate committee and reported in accordance with this section. Hlavec v. Davidson, 64 P.3d 881 (Colo. App. 2002).

The disclosure requirements contained in this section do not violate the right to engage in anonymous speech and association. Disclosure of the contributors to ballot measures may constitutionally be required under the standards specified in Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 (1976). Challengers to disclosure requirements must show a reasonable probability that the compelled disclosure of contributors' names would subject them to threats, harassment, or reprisals from either government officials or private parties. Indep. Inst. v. Coffman, 209 P.3d 1130 (Colo. App. 2008).

Registration and disclosure requirements are unconstitutional as applied to ballot-initiative committee. There is virtually no proper governmental interest in imposing disclosure requirements on ballot-initiative committees that raise and expend minimal money, and limited interest cannot justify the burden that disclosure requirements impose on such a committee. Sampson v. Buescher, 625 F.3d 1247 (10th Cir. 2010); Coal. for Secular Gov't v. Williams, 815 F.3d 1267 (10th Cir. 2016).

The financial burden of state regulation on ballot initiative committee member's freedom of association approaches or exceeds the value of their financial contributions to their political effort; and the governmental interest in imposing those regulations is minimal, if not nonexistent, in light of the small size of the contributions. Therefore it is unconstitutional to impose that burden on the committee members. Sampson v. Buescher, 625 F.3d 1247 (10th Cir. 2010); Coal. for Secular Gov't v. Williams, 815 F.3d 1267 (10th Cir. 2016).

The reporting requirements of subsection (1)(a)(I) are not unconstitutional as applied to a political committee. The United States supreme court has consistently upheld disclosure and reporting requirements for political committees that exist primarily to influence elections. It makes no difference that the contributions were not used to directly influence an election — any contribution to a political committee that has the major purpose of influencing an election is deemed to be campaign related and thus justifies the burden of disclosure and reporting. Camp. Integ. Watchdog v. All. for Safe, 2018 CO 7, 409 P.3d 357.

The $200 contribution and expenditure threshold for issue committees under § 2(10)(a)(II) of article XXVIII and the retrospective reporting requirements for issue committees under subsection (1)(a)(I) of this section were not facially invalidated by the tenth circuit's holding in Sampson v. Buescher, 625 F.3d 1247 (10th Cir. 2010). The secretary of state promulgated 8 Colo. Code Regs. 1505-6, § 4.1 (rule 4.1), in response to Sampson. Because rule 4.1's $5,000 threshold and its retrospective reporting exemption clearly conflict with the still-valid constitutional and statutory provisions, rule 4.1 is unlawful and set aside. The secretary of state exceeded his authority in promulgating the rule. Gessler v. CO Common Cause & Ethics Watch, 2014 CO 44, 327 P.3d 232.

Although in promulgating rule 4.27 (later codified as rule 4.1), the secretary was attempting to clarify the registration and reporting requirements in light of Sampson, Sampson did not facially invalidate any provision of the campaign finance law, and, to the extent Sampson impacts the future application of campaign finance laws on issue committees in a similar factual context, rule 4.27 exceeds the scope of Sampson. Colo. Common Cause v. Gessler, 2012 COA 147, 410 P.3d 451, aff'd, 2014 CO 44, 327 P.3d 232.

Under subsection (1)(a), candidate committees must disclose all expenditures and obligations, even if no contributions are received. Thus, if a candidate runs without a separate committee and finances the campaign from personal funds, the candidate is a candidate committee and must disclose expenditures and obligations as required by subsection (1)(a). Nothing in subsection (1)(a) indicates that expenditures must be reported only if drawn on outside contributions. Hlavec v. Davidson, 64 P.3d 881 (Colo. App. 2002).

Here, both candidate and the candidate committee made expenditures under the authority of the candidate. Thus, both the candidate and the committee were candidate committees or the candidate was acting through the formed committee. In either instance, the expenditures were subject to the disclosure requirements of subsection (1)(a). Hlavec v. Davidson, 64 P.3d 881 (Colo. App. 2002).

A political committee that has not been terminated is not exempt from mandatory reporting requirements, even if that political committee would qualify for termination. Campaign Integrity Watchdog LLC v. Griswold, 2025 COA 18, 568 P.3d 48.

"Obligations entered into" as used in subsection (1)(a)(I) includes only obligations entered into for making expenditures and does not cover activities by a committee that incur debt. It would be absurd to require reporting of all obligations to spend money regardless of purpose yet require reporting of money actually spent only for a single narrow purpose, express advocacy. Moreover, the Fair Campaign Practices Act ties the meaning of obligation to expenditures when it expressly defines "obligating" to mean an agreement to make, or indirect provision of, an independent expenditure. The definition of "obligating" in § 1-45-103 (12.7) indicates that the legislature intended to treat obligations no more broadly than it did actual spending. Camp. Integ. Watchdog v. All. for Safe, 2018 CO 7, 409 P.3d 357.

Candidate's disclosure report not required to report unexpended campaign funds at the end of an election cycle as contributions from a political party. 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).

Payments to a law firm to defend political committee in a tort suit are a reportable contribution under § 2(5)(a)(II) of article XXVIII of the state constitution. Because the law firm that defended the political committee and the court of appeals were both third parties in relation to the political committee, the payment of filing fees to the court and of legal fees to the law firm were "payment[s] made to a third party". And the payments were "for the benefit" of the political committee because they furthered the committee's legal defense. Because the payments of the political committee's legal expenses were "contributions" to the committee under section 2(5)(a)(II), the committee was required to report them as contributions under subsection (1)(a)(I) of this section. Camp. Integ. Watchdog v. All. for Safe, 2018 CO 7, 409 P.3d 357.

Order by administrative law judge (ALJ) assessing penalty against nonprofit association engaging in political advocacy based upon determination by ALJ that association was a political committee is vacated and case remanded. Under controlling precedent, regulation under campaign finance laws should be tied to groups controlled by candidates or which have a "major purpose" of electing candidates. Here, record does not permit a determination of whether major purpose test satisfied as to association. On remand, ALJ instructed to determine whether association's "major purpose" in 2004 was the nomination or election of candidates. All. for Colorado's Families v. Gilbert, 172 P.3d 964 (Colo. App. 2007).

ALJ had authority to impose appropriate sanction under § 9(2)(a) of article XXVIII of the state constitution for violation of this section. The appropriate officer may either directly sanction the offending party under § 10(2)(b) of article XXVIII or initiate a complaint under § 9(2)(a). Patterson Recall Comm., Inc. v. Patterson, 209 P.3d 1210 (Colo. App. 2009).

Nowhere in this article or in rules promulgated by secretary of state is the filing requirement conditioned upon posting by or receiving electronic transmissions from the county clerk and recorder. Instead, the requirement to disclose and file reports is unconditionally imposed until a committee is terminated. Patterson Recall Comm., Inc. v. Patterson, 209 P.3d 1210 (Colo. App. 2009).

Section 9(2)(a) of article XXVIII of the state constitution authorizes ALJ to render a decision upon a complaint and, if ALJ concludes that a violation has occurred, "such decision shall include any appropriate order, sanction, or relief authorized by this article". Nothing in the article, however, recognizes or grants a defense of "good faith", and an ALJ is not at liberty to engraft any limitation or restriction not specifically provided. Patterson Recall Comm., Inc. v. Patterson, 209 P.3d 1210 (Colo. App. 2009).

While § 9(2)(a) of article XXVIII of the state constitution requires ALJ to include in the decision an appropriate order, sanction, or relief as authorized by the terms of this article, ALJ has discretion to impose no section at all if he or she reasonably concludes one would not be appropriate. Patterson Recall Comm., Inc. v. Patterson, 209 P.3d 1210 (Colo. App. 2009).

Adoption of 8 Colo. Code Regs, 1505-6, § 9.3 of the Colorado secretary of state's rules concerning campaign and political finance requiring the name of the candidate unambiguously referred to in the electioneering communication to be included in the electioneering report was within the rulemaking authority of the secretary of state under § 9(1)(b) of article XXVIII of the state constitution and §§ 1-1-107 (2)(a) and 1-45-111.5 (1). Colo. Citizens for Ethics in Gov't v. Comm. for the Am. Dream, 187 P.3d 1207 (Colo. App. 2008).

District court properly invalidated secretary of state's proposed rule, 8 Colo. Code Regs. 1505-6, § 18.1.8, that attempted to fill a gap in subsection (2.5) of this section by creating a uniform way to assess "good cause" and levy fines. The rule merely eliminates penalties after a contribution is first disclosed and after election day regardless of a showing of good cause. The rule applies equally to those who intentionally avoid reporting obligations as well as those who do not report due to inadvertence. So, because the rule does not fill a gap, but applies irrespective of whether there is actually good cause to reduce or eliminate penalties, the rule is manifestly contrary to § 10(2)(c) of art. XXVIII of the state constitution, which requires the secretary to set aside or reduce a penalty only upon a showing of good cause. Colo. Ethics Watch v. Gessler, 2013 COA 172M, 363 P.3d 727.

Allegations that political committee's registered agent had been disbarred and had fled the state were insufficient to demonstrate that political committee did not have an active registered agent; the registered agent was not required to be a Colorado resident and his disbarment was irrelevant. Campaign Integrity Watchdog LLC v. Griswold, 2025 COA 18, 568 P.3d 48.