Bill > HB257

This bill, titled "Election contributions by certain contractors," aims to prevent potential conflicts of interest by prohibiting certain individuals associated with state contractors and prospective state contractors from making political contributions to candidates for state public office who have authority over state agencies involved in contracting. Specifically, it states that a "principal" of a prospective state contractor cannot contribute to or organize fundraisers for candidates who oversee the specific contract the prospective contractor is seeking. Similarly, a "principal" of a current state contractor is prohibited from making such contributions to candidates who oversee the agency with which they have a contract. The bill defines "principal" broadly to include individuals with ownership interests (unless they own less than five percent of a publicly traded company), top management, agents seeking contracts, and their spouses or dependent children, as well as political committees formed by these individuals. A "prospective state contractor" is defined as someone responding to or seeking a state contract until it's finalized, and a "state contractor" is someone who has entered into a contract valued at $60,000 or more for goods, services, construction, land transactions, licensing, loans, or financial investments. The bill clarifies that these restrictions do not prevent individuals from contributing to their own campaigns and that these provisions supplement, rather than replace, other existing campaign finance laws. The effective date for these new provisions is July 1, 2015.