STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS

6400 Mail Service

Center · Raleigh, NC 27699-6400

 

GARY O. BARTLETT                                                                                                                        Mailing

Address

Executive Director                                                                                                                               PO

Box 27255

Raleigh, NC 

27611-7255

 

August 24, 2006

 

The Honorable Bill Daughtridge

340B Legislative Office Building

Raleigh, NC  27603-5925

 

Dear Representative Daughtridge:

 

This is to formalize our conversation yesterday in which you

requested an advisory opinion pursuant to G.S. 163-278.23 regarding permissible

uses of campaign funds from a candidate's campaign committee.  You want to

ensure that your committee complies with current law as well as changes in the

law which become effective October 1, 2006.

 

It is my understanding that your committee would like to

make expenditures to a charitable organization.  More specifically, your

committee would like to purchase a gas grill and donate it to a non-profit

organization which would use it for fund raising purposes.

 

This is a legitimate use of campaign funds under our current

campaign finance laws.  Under Session Law 2006-161, which becomes effective

October 1, 2006, the law is more specific about permissible committee

expenditures.  Campaign committees may make "[c]ontributions to an

organization described in section 170(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986

(26 U.S.C. 170(c)), provided that the candidate or the candidate's spouse,

children, parents, brothers, or organizations will be permitted subject to the

restriction that the candidate or the candidate's listed family members may not

be employed by the organization."  Under both current law and Session Law

2006-161, any expenditures by a campaign committee would need to be disclosed

on campaign finance reports filed with this office.

 

This opinion is based upon the facts as stated in our

conversation on August 23, 2006.  If those facts should change, you should

evaluate whether this opinion is still applicable and binding.  Finally, this

opinion will be filed with the Codifier of Rules to be published unedited in

the North Carolina Register and the North Carolina Administrative code.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Gary O. Bartlett

Executive Director

 

cc:           Julian Mann III, Codifier of Rules