TO:                 LOCAL CANDIDATES, PARTIES, AND LOCAL PACS

FROM:           CHARLIE SMITHSON, ETHICS BOARD DIRECTOR

                        SUE MICLLEF, ETHICS BOARD AUDITOR

Re:                  CAMPAIGN FINANCE ISSUES              

The Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board administers the campaign laws in Iowa Code chapter 68A.   

1. The Board's Web site has campaign finance information at http://www.state.ia.us/iecdb/.  Click on Campaigns on the main menu and then select your committee type.
2. Contact information:  Sue Micllef at (515) 281-4104 or sue.micllef@iowa.gov.  Charlie Smithson at (515) 281-3489 or charlie.smithson@iowa.gov.
3. A committee is registered by filing a statement of organization (DR-1).  The form must be filed within 10 days of receiving contributions, making expenditures, or incurring debts in excess of $750 (a debt is incurred when an item is ordered).  If you are not going to cross the $750 threshold but want to use the shorter "paid for by" attribution (see #7 below) you can file Form DR-SFA prior to distributing political material.
4. Know your campaign report due dates.  Once you have filed a DR-1, you must start and continue filing reports until you dissolve your committee.  Reports must be timely filed and penalties are assessed for late reports.  A report due 5 days or less prior to an election must be received by the Board by 4:30 p.m.  Reports may be hand-delivered, mailed, faxed, emailed, or filed electronically via the Internet.  Filed reports are available for viewing on the Board's Web site.
5. Remember that if an organization gives your committee in excess of $750 it has separate filing requirements and they should immediately contact the Board for assistance.
6. Do not accept contributions from corporations, insurance companies, or financial institutions (NOTE: this prohibition does not apply to ballot issue PACs).
7. Put the words "paid for by" and who (name and address) paid for printed political materials (see Iowa Code section 68A.405 and rule 351-4.38).  A "paid for by" must be placed even if a committee is not registered (the "paid for by" then includes name and address). If the material is paid for by a registered committee or by the filing of Form DR-SFA, only the name of the committee needs to be part of the "paid for by."  Campaign signs and other items are exempt, so read the law and rules carefully.
8. Review the campaign laws in Chapter 68A and the Board's rules in 351—in Chapter 4.

5/30/08