Title
Ordinance No. 16-103 amending Part 2 (Fair Campaign Practices; Candidate and Committee Funds and Disclosures) of Article 2 (Campaign Disclosures) of Chapter 5 (Elections) of the Code of the City of Colorado Springs 2001, as amended, pertaining to campaign practices
Presenter:
Sarah B. Johnson, City Clerk
Britt Haley, City Attorney's Office
Body
Summary:
This ordinance proposes to update the regulation of issue committees to comply with the March 2, 2016 decision in the case of Coalition for Secular Government v. Wayne Williams, a decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit that invalidated, as unconstitutional, certain State of Colorado statutes requiring financial disclosures by issue committees. Because the City Code of Colorado Springs regulated issue committees in a similar manner, the City Code also needs to be updated to comply with the ruling. The following changes reflect the requirements that the State of Colorado's General Assembly adopted during its most recent legislative session to respond to the ruling.
Issue committees that raise or expend less than two hundred dollars ($200.00) have no financial disclosure or reporting requirements. Small scale issue committees are defined as those issue committees that collect or expend funds in excess of two hundred dollars ($200.00) but not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000.00). A small scale issue committee is required to report to the City Clerk certain identifying information and the name of the financial institution in which it has a bank account for contributions. Issue committees are redefined to be those issue committees that collect or expend funds in excess of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00). Issue committees, as redefined are required to disclose all contributions and expenditures. Once a small scale issue committee collects or expends more than five thousand dollars ($5,000.00), it converts to an issue committee and has fifteen (15) days to report...
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