Section 5. Ethics in Government, 21-5-1 through 21-5-76.
ARTICLE 2A
CONTRIBUTIONS TO CANDIDATES FOR PUBLIC OFFICE
21-5-41. Maximum allowable contributions.
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No person, corporation, political committee, or political party shall make, and no candidate or campaign committee shall receive from any such entity, contributions to any candidate for state-wide elected office which in the aggregate for an election cycle exceed:
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Five thousand dollars for a primary election;
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Three thousand dollars for a primary run-off election;
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Five thousand dollars for a general election; and
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Three thousand dollars for a general election runoff.
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No person, corporation, political committee, or political party shall make, and no candidate or campaign committee shall receive from any such entity, contributions to any candidate for the General Assembly or public office other than state-wide elected office which in the aggregate for an election cycle exceed:
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Two thousand dollars for a primary election;
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One thousand dollars for a primary run-off election;
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Two thousand dollars for a general election; and
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One thousand dollars for a general election runoff.
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No business entity shall make any election contributions to any candidate which when aggregated with contributions to the same candidate for the same election from any affiliated corporations exceed the per election maximum allowable contribution limits for such candidate as specified in subsection (a) of this Code section.
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Candidates and campaign committees may separately account for contributions pursuant to Code Section 21-5-43. Candidates and campaign committees not separately accounting for contributions pursuant to such Code section shall not accept contributions for any election in an election cycle prior to the conclusion of the immediately preceding election in such cycle; provided, however, that contributions may be accepted for a primary election at any time in the election cycle prior to and including the date of such primary election. Upon conclusion of each election, contributions remaining unexpended may be expended on succeeding elections in the election cycle, and contributions not exceeding the contribution limits of this Code section may continue to be accepted for repayment of campaign obligations incurred as a candidate in that election except as provided in subsection (h) of this Code section.
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Candidates and campaign committees shall designate on their disclosure reports the election for which a contribution has been accepted. Any contribution not so designated shall be presumed to have been accepted for the election on or first following the date of the contribution.
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A contribution by a partnership shall be deemed to have been made pro rata by the partners as individuals for purposes of this Code section, as well as by the partnership in toto unless the partnership by proper action under its partnership agreement otherwise directs allocation of the contribution among the partners. At such direction of the partnership, the contribution may be allocated in any proportion among the partners, including to one or some but not all. Such allocation shall be indicated on the face of any instrument constituting the contribution or on an accompanying document referencing such instrument.
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The contribution limitations established by this Code section shall not apply to a loan or other contribution made to a campaign committee or candidate by the candidate or a member of the family of the candidate.
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Any candidate or campaign committee who incurs loans on or after January 9, 2006, in connection with the candidate's campaign for election shall not repay, directly or indirectly, such loans from any contributions made to such candidate or any authorized committee of such candidate after the date of the election for which the loan was made to the extent that such loans exceed $250,000.00.
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The contribution limits established by this Code section shall not apply to a bona fide loan made to a candidate or campaign committee by a state or federally chartered financial institution or a depository institution whose deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation if:
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Such loan is made in the normal course of business with the expectation on the part of all parties that such loan shall be repaid; and
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Such loan is based on the credit worthiness of the candidate and the candidate is personally liable for the repayment of the loan.
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The contribution limitations provided for in this Code section shall not include contributions or expenditures made by a political party in support of a party ticket or a group of named candidates.
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At the end of the election cycle applicable to each public office as to which campaign contributions are limited by this Code section and every four years for all other elections to which this Code section is applicable, the contribution limitations in this Code section shall be raised or lowered in increments of $100.00 by regulation of the commission pursuant to a determination by the commission of inflation or deflation during such cycle or four-year period, as determined by the Consumer Price Index published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor, and such limitations shall apply until next revised by the commission. The commission shall adopt rules and regulations for the implementation of this subsection.
(Code 1981, §21-5-41, enacted by Ga. L. 1990, p. 922, § 6; Ga. L. 1992, p. 1075, § 8; Ga. L. 1994, p. 258, § 11; Ga. L. 1995, p. 8, § 1; Ga. L. 2000, p. 1491, § 4; Ga. L. 2005, p. 859, § 16/HB 48; Ga. L. 2010, p. 1173, § 15/SB 17.)
The 2010 amendment,
effective January 10, 2011, substituted "commission" for "State Ethics Commission" near the middle of the first sentence of subsection (k). See Editor's notes for applicability.
Editor's notes.
- Ga. L. 2000, p. 1491,
§
5, not codified by the General Assembly, provides for severability.
Ga. L. 2000, p. 1491,
§
6, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that for purposes of issuing rules and regulations, that Act became effective May 1, 2000.
Ga. L. 2005, p. 859,
§
28, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that the Act shall not apply to any violation occurring prior to January 9, 2006.
Ga. L. 2010, p. 1173,
§
1, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "This Act shall be known and may be cited as the 'Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Act of 2010.'"
Ga. L. 2010, p. 1173,
§
30, not codified by the General Assembly, provides, in part, that the amendment to this Code section applies to all reports filed on and after January 10, 2011.
Administrative Rules and Regulations.
- Disclosure reports, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, State Ethics Commission, Chapter 189-3.
Law reviews.
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For article on 2005 amendment of this Code section, see 22 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 119 (2005). For article, "An Intersection of Laws:
Citizens United v. FEC: Rational Coercion:
Citizens United and a Modern Day Prisoner's Dilemma," see 27 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 1105 (2011).
For note on 1992 amendment of this Code section, see 9 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 247 (1992).
For comment, "Awakening a Slumbering Giant: Georgia's Judicial Selection System After
White
and
Weaver
," see 56 Mercer L. Rev. 1035 (2005).
JUDICIAL DECISIONS
Commission decision finding reasonable grounds for violation not immediately appealable.
- Candidate had not shown irreparable harm justifying immediate appeal to a superior court under O.C.G.A.
§
50-13-19(a) from an interim decision of the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission because judicial review would be available after the final decision; that the charges had been pending over eight years and alleged damage to the candidate's reputation was not irreparable harm. Oxendine v. Gov't Transparency & Campaign Fin. Comm'n, 341 Ga. App. 901, 802 S.E.2d 310 (2017).
Cited in
Georgia State Conference of NAACP Branches v. Cox, 183 F.3d 1263 (11th Cir. 1999).
OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
Campaign contributions prior to January 1, 2001,
under the election year/non-election year format should not be counted against the new election cycle contribution limits set forth in the revised version of the statute which became effective on that date. 2001 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 2001-4.
Term "immediate family"
in the campaign contributions portion of the Ethics in Government Act, O.C.G.A.
§
21-5-1 et seq., refers to a candidate's spouse and children. 1995 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 95-42.
Loan made to candidate in ordinary course of business.
- A loan made to a candidate for public office, which is made in the ordinary course of business and not for the purpose of influencing the nomination or election of the candidate, is not subject to the monetary limitations on contributions contained in the Ethics in Government Act, O.C.G.A.
§
21-5-1 et seq.; any other type of loan, including one guaranteed by individuals other than the candidate, would be subject to that Act's limitation on contributions. 1992 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 92-26.
RESEARCH REFERENCES
ALR.
- Construction and application of Supreme Court's holding in
Citizens United v. Federal Election Com'n,
130 S. Ct. 876, 175 L. Ed. 2d 753, 187 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2961, 159 Lab. Cas. (CCH) P 10166 (2010), that government may not prohibit independent and indirect corporate expenditures on political speech, 65 A.L.R.6th 503.
