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Interim committee reviews recent campaign-finance bills that raise limits, add foreign‑money rules and tighten reporting
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Summary
Reviser Mike Heim summarized three bills that raise many contribution limits, require certification and penalties for foreign‑national money in constitutional amendment campaigns, and add account‑termination and new reporting definitions, prompting lawmakers to flag clarification needs before session.
Reviser Mike Heim told the interim committee the Legislature passed three bills in the last session that substantially changed Kansas' campaign finance law.
The bills increased contribution limits, altered party‑committee rules and added new reporting and enforcement provisions. "The bill increases the statutory limits on campaign contributions," Heim said, describing HB2054's doubling of many limits and changes to party‑committee caps. He said the law also raised the cash limit from $100 to $200 and changed how contributions raised prior to a primary can be allocated to general‑election accounts.
Heim said HB2106 tightened reporting and enforcement for campaigns that promote or oppose state constitutional amendments by requiring an annual report and certifications that donors and organizers are not knowingly accepting contributions from foreign nationals above specified thresholds; the statute gives the attorney general a cause of action and provides for damages if violations are found. "The bill adds some new requirements concerning potential contributions from foreign nationals," Heim told the committee.
HB2206, Heim said, added compliance mechanics: candidates must terminate dormant campaign accounts after a period of inactivity and follow statutory rules for handling remaining funds; it also revised definitions of "cooperation" and "consent" to help determine whether ads are independent expenditures and raised reporting thresholds for independent expenditures.
Committee members pressed for clarifications on several operational points: whether subvendor reporting still applies when vendors hire subcontractors, how the account‑termination rules treat campaign debt or successors, and whether forms and regulations exist for the new foreign‑money certifications. Heim and staff said some items will require follow‑up with the new Public Disclosure Commission and agency revisers.
The session set the stage for staff and agencies to prepare technical fixes and suggested drafting topics the committee may pursue in the regular session.
