As Passed by the Senate

129th General Assembly
Regular Session
2011-2012
Sub. H. B. No. 326


Representatives McClain, Hill 

Cosponsors: Representatives Huffman, Grossman, Hagan, C., Martin, Thompson, Stebelton, Derickson, Adams, J., Adams, R., Blair, Ruhl, Sears, Young, Dovilla, Hayes, Maag, Combs, Carney, Winburn, Garland, Pillich, Bubp, Conditt, Weddington, Slaby, Anielski, Beck, Damschroder, Hackett, Hall, Lundy, Newbold, O'Brien, Phillips, Terhar, Uecker Speaker Batchelder 

Senators LaRose, Eklund, Bacon, Balderson, Burke, Hite, Hughes, Jones, Jordan, Manning, Obhof, Patton, Peterson, Schaffer, Wagoner, Widener 

A BILL
To amend sections 9.03 and 3599.40 of the Revised 1
Code to generally prohibit any person from 2
knowingly conducting any transaction of public 3
funds to the benefit of any campaign committee, 4
political action committee, legislative campaign 5
fund, political party, campaign fund, political 6
committee, separate segregated fund, or candidate.7


BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

       Section 1. That sections 9.03 and 3599.40 of the Revised Code 8
be amended to read as follows:9

       Sec. 9.03.  (A) As used in this section, "political:10

       (1) "Political subdivision" means any body corporate and 11
politic, except a municipal corporation that has adopted a charter 12
under Section 7 of Article XVIII, Ohio Constitution, and except a 13
county that has adopted a charter under Sections 3 and 4 of 14
Article X, Ohio Constitution, to which both of the following 15
apply:16

       (1)(a) It is responsible for governmental activities only in 17
a geographic area smaller than the state.18

       (2)(b) It is subject to the sovereign immunity of the state.19

       (2) "Cigarettes" and "tobacco product" have the same meanings 20
as in section 5743.01 of the Revised Code.21

       (3) "Transaction" has the same meaning as in section 1315.51 22
of the Revised Code.23

       (4) "Campaign committee," "campaign fund," "candidate," 24
"legislative campaign fund," "political action committee," 25
"political committee," "political party," and "separate segregated 26
fund" have the same meanings as in section 3517.01 of the Revised 27
Code.28

       (B) Except as otherwise provided in division (C) of this 29
section, the governing body of a political subdivision may use 30
public funds to publish and distribute newsletters, or to use any 31
other means, to communicate information about the plans, policies, 32
and operations of the political subdivision to members of the 33
public within the political subdivision and to other persons who 34
may be affected by the political subdivision.35

       (C) Except as otherwise provided in division (A)(7) of 36
section 340.03 or division (A)(12) of section 340.033 of the 37
Revised Code, no governing body of a political subdivision shall 38
use public funds to do any of the following:39

       (1) Publish, distribute, or otherwise communicate information 40
that does any of the following:41

       (a) Contains defamatory, libelous, or obscene matter;42

       (b) Promotes alcoholic beverages, cigarettes or other tobacco 43
products, or any illegal product, service, or activity;44

       (c) Promotes illegal discrimination on the basis of race, 45
color, religion, national origin, handicap, age, or ancestry;46

       (d) Supports or opposes any labor organization or any action 47
by, on behalf of, or against any labor organization;48

       (e) Supports or opposes the nomination or election of a 49
candidate for public office, the investigation, prosecution, or 50
recall of a public official, or the passage of a levy or bond 51
issue.52

       (2) Compensate any employee of the political subdivision for 53
time spent on any activity to influence the outcome of an election 54
for any of the purposes described in division (C)(1)(e) of this 55
section. Division (C)(2) of this section does not prohibit the use 56
of public funds to compensate an employee of a political 57
subdivision for attending a public meeting to present information 58
about the political subdivision's finances, activities, and 59
governmental actions in a manner that is not designed to influence 60
the outcome of an election or the passage of a levy or bond issue, 61
even though the election, levy, or bond issue is discussed or 62
debated at the meeting.63

       (D) Except as otherwise provided in division (A)(7) of 64
section 340.03 or division (A)(12) of section 340.033 of the 65
Revised Code or in division (E) of this section, no person shall 66
knowingly conduct a direct or indirect transaction of public funds 67
to the benefit of any of the following:68

       (1) A campaign committee;69

       (2) A political action committee;70

       (3) A legislative campaign fund;71

       (4) A political party;72

       (5) A campaign fund;73

       (6) A political committee;74

       (7) A separate segregated fund;75

       (8) A candidate.76

        (E) Division (D) of this section does not prohibit the 77
utilization of any person's own time to speak in support of or in 78
opposition to any candidate, recall, referendum, levy, or bond 79
issue unless prohibited by any other section of the Revised Code.80

       (F) Nothing in this section prohibits or restricts any 81
political subdivision from sponsoring, participating in, or doing 82
any of the following:83

       (1) Charitable or public service advertising that is not 84
commercial in nature;85

       (2) Advertising of exhibitions, performances, programs, 86
products, or services that are provided by employees of a 87
political subdivision or are provided at or through premises owned 88
or operated by a political subdivision;89

       (3) Licensing an interest in a name or mark that is owned or 90
controlled by the political subdivision.91

       (E) As used in this section, "cigarettes" and "tobacco 92
product" have the same meanings as in section 5743.01 of the 93
Revised Code.94

       (G) Whoever violates division (D) of this section shall be 95
punished as provided in section 3599.40 of the Revised Code.96

       Sec. 3599.40.  Except as otherwise provided in section 97
3599.39 of the Revised Code, whoever violates any provision of 98
Title XXXV of the Revised Code, unless otherwise provided in such 99
title, and whoever violates division (D) of section 9.03 of the 100
Revised Code, is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree.101

       Section 2.  That existing sections 9.03 and 3599.40 of the 102
Revised Code are hereby repealed.103