NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY
1975 SESSION
CHAPTER 775
HOUSE BILL 960
AN ACT TO PERMIT INDIVIDUAL TAXPAYERS TO DESIGNATE ON THEIR INCOME TAX RETURNS THE SUM OF ONE DOLLAR ($1.00) TO BE PAID TO THE POLITICAL PARTY OF THEIR CHOICE.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1. Article 4 of Chapter 105 of the General Statutes is hereby amended by adding thereto a new section, G.S. 105-155.2, to read as follows:
"§ 105-155.2. Designation of tax by individual to political party. — (a) Every individual whose income tax liability for the taxable year is one dollar ($1.00) or more may designate on his income tax return that one dollar ($1.00) of the amount of tax paid by him to the Department of Revenue which shall thereafter be paid by the Secretary of Revenue, in the manner hereinafter prescribed, to the State Treasurer for the use of the political party designated by the taxpayer. Where any taxpayer elects to so designate but does not specify a particular political party, such funds shall thereafter be distributed, in the same manner as all other funds authorized by this section, to all political parties as defined herein upon a pro rata basis according to their respective party voter registrations. For purposes of this section, political party shall mean a political party which at the last preceding general State election received at least ten percent (10%) of the entire vote cast in the State for Governor, or for presidential electors, or a group of voters who by July 1 of the preceding calendar year, by virtue of a Petition as a New Political Party, had duly qualified as a new political party within the meaning of Chapter 163 of the General Statutes of North Carolina.
(b) For each quarterly period beginning January 1, 1976, and for each quarterly period thereafter, on or before the last day of the month following the close of each quarterly period, the Secretary of Revenue shall remit all funds so designated above collected during the preceding quarter to the State Treasurer who shall thereafter deposit them in an account to be known as the North Carolina Election Campaign Fund. Any interest earned on funds so deposited shall be credited to the political party for which said funds were designated. A report to the State Treasurer, Secretary of State, and each State party chairman shall accompany each such remittance, and shall detail the amount of funds forwarded, the cumulative total of funds forwarded to date for the year, and an estimate of the probable total amount to be collected and forwarded for that calendar year.
(c) Notwithstanding the total amount of money actually collectively designated by taxpayers to be forwarded to the State Treasurer on behalf of any one particular political party, for any taxable year, any designated sums to one particular party in excess of two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) shall not be remitted to the State Treasurer but shall instead be placed in the General Fund of the State.
(d) The Secretary of Revenue shall amend the income tax return in order that all taxpayers desiring to make the political contributions authorized herein shall do so by designating same on the front face of the tax return immediately above the signature line. The line of authorization for such designation shall be color contrasted with the color scheme of the remainder of the income tax return. Such return, or accompanying explanatory instruction, shall readily indicate that any such designations neither increase nor decrease an individual's tax liability."
Sec. 2. Chapter 163 of the General Statutes of North Carolina is hereby amended by adding thereto a new Article 22 to be entitled "Appropriations from the North Carolina Election Campaign Fund" and to read as follows:
"ARTICLE 22B.
"Appropriations from the North Carolina Election Campaign Fund.
"§ 163-278.36. Appropriations in general election and off election years. — (a) In a general election year, not later than 60 days nor earlier than 120 days before the general election, each chairman of a State political committee of a political party on behalf of which funds have been deposited in the North Carolina Election Campaign Fund, may apply to the State Treasurer for such funds. Upon receipt of such application, the State Treasurer shall forthwith, and every 30 days thereafter, pay over to said chairman all funds currently held by him on behalf of said chairman's political party, but provided that all such payments shall cease five days after the Secretary of State has certified the election returns of that general election. Any remaining funds of the political party in the hands of the State Treasurer shall thereafter be held by him until the next general election year at which time application therefor may again be made in the same manner and according to the same rules of distribution as hereinabove provided.
(b) In an off election year, each chairman of a State political committee of a political party on behalf of which funds have been deposited in the North Carolina Election Campaign Fund, may, on or between August 1 and September 1 thereof, apply to the State Treasurer for payment of an amount not to exceed fifty percent (50%) of the then available funds credited to his party's account. The remainder of said funds shall be held by the State Treasurer until the next general election year at which time application therefor may be made as prescribed in subsection (a) herein.
"§ 163-278.37. Distribution of campaign funds, legitimate campaign expenses permitted. — (a) Every State political committee chairman shall distribute all funds received from the North Carolina Campaign Election Fund as directed by his party, but only those party candidates with opposition for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, United States Senate, United States House of Representatives, North Carolina Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, and Council of State, shall be eligible therefor, and no such funds may be expended for or on behalf of primary election expenses, or for expenses relating to the selection of a candidate at a political convention or at a party's executive committee. No candidate who is opposed in the general election for the office of United States Senator and House of Representatives, Supreme Court, Court of Appeals and Council of State, shall receive more funds authorized herein than are distributed to any other opposed same party candidate for that particular category of public office. Provided, however, that any such candidate may elect to decline in whole or in part any funds he would be otherwise entitled to receive hereunder. No funds shall be distributed to any candidate or political committee unless it is to the actual political treasurer thereof within the meaning of Article 22A of Chapter 163 of the General Statutes.
(b) Funds distributed from the North Carolina Campaign Election Fund shall only be expended for legitimate campaign expenses which shall be expenses proximately promoting the candidacy of individuals seeking public office. By way of illustration but not by way of limitation, the following are examples of legitimate campaign expenses:
(1) Radio, television and newspaper advertising for and on behalf of a political party or candidate;
(2) Leaflets, fliers, buttons, and stickers;
(3) Campaign staff salaries, provided each staff member is listed by name and by the amount paid as salary and the amount paid as campaign expense reimbursement;
(4) Travel expenses, lodging and food for candidate and staff;
(5) Party headquarter operations directly related to upcoming elections, including the establishment and updating thereof of computer file systems of voter registration lists, and the organizing of voter registration, fund raising, and get-out-the-vote programs at the county level when conducted by State party personnel.
"§ 163-278.38. Report each year to Secretary of State and Executive Secretary of State Board of Elections, suspension of disbursements, willful violations a misdemeanor. — (a) The chairman of each State political party receiving any funds from the North Carolina Campaign Election Fund shall maintain a full and complete record of their receipts, as well as of any subsequent disbursement thereof, and such shall be substantiated by any records, receipts, and information that the Executive Secretary of the State Board of Elections shall require. Such record shall be centrally located and shall be readily available at reasonable hours for public inspection. State political committees shall maintain all such funds in a separate account, and shall not allow same to be commingled with any funds from any other source.
(b) By December 31 each year, the chairman of every State political committee receiving funds from the North Carolina Campaign Election Fund shall verify to the Executive Secretary of the State Board of Elections and to the Secretary of State, in such manner and on such forms that the Executive Secretary shall require, that all such funds received were expended for legitimate campaign expenses as prescribed within this Article. If the executive secretary determines and finds as a fact that any such funds have been used for any noncampaign purposes, he shall order that State political party to reimburse the amount thereof to the General Fund of the State, and such political party shall not receive further disbursements from the North Carolina Campaign Election Fund until such reimbursement has been accomplished in full. A copy of any such order shall be forwarded to the State Treasurer, which shall constitute notice to him to suspend further disbursements from the campaign fund.
(c) Any individual, candidate, political committee, treasurer, or person who willfully and intentionally violates any of the provisions of this Article, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) if an individual, and not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) if a person other than an individual, or imprisoned for not more than one year, or be both fined and imprisoned."
Sec. 3. This act shall become effective with respect to taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 1975, and shall expire on December 31, 1977.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 24th day of June, 1975.