PRINTER'S NO. 203
No. 187 Session of 1985
INTRODUCED BY DeWEESE, PISTELLA, KUKOVICH, DALEY, HALUSKA, CLARK
AND FREEMAN, FEBRUARY 5, 1985
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, FEBRUARY 5, 1985
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of June 3, 1937 (P.L.1333, No.320), entitled
2 "An act concerning elections, including general, municipal,
3 special and primary elections, the nomination of candidates,
4 primary and election expenses and election contests; creating
5 and defining membership of county boards of elections;
6 imposing duties upon the Secretary of the Commonwealth,
7 courts, county boards of elections, county commissioners;
8 imposing penalties for violation of the act, and codifying,
9 revising and consolidating the laws relating thereto; and
10 repealing certain acts and parts of acts relating to
11 elections," further providing for names of political action
12 committees.
13 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
14 hereby enacts as follows:
15 Section 1. The act of June 3, 1937 (P.L.1333, No.320), known
16 as the Pennsylvania Election Code, is amended by adding a
17 section to read:
18 Section 1621.1. Names of Political Action Committees.--(a)
19 The name of a political action committee established pursuant to
20 this act shall include the full names of its connected
21 organizations. Such committee may also use a clearly recognized
22 abbreviation or acronym by which the connected organization is
1 commonly known, provided that the acronym or abbreviation
2 complies with the above. Both the full name and such
3 abbreviation or acronym shall be included on the committee's
4 statement of organization, on all reports filed by the committee
5 and in all notices required by this act. The committee may make
6 contributions using its acronym or abbreviated name. A committee
7 established by a corporation which has a number of subsidiaries
8 need not include the name of each subsidiary in its name.
9 Similarly, a separate segregated fund established by a
10 subsidiary need not include in its name the name of its parent
11 or another subsidiary of its parent.
12 (b) In the case where trade associations, coalitions of
13 trade associations or labor coalitions are the sponsors or
14 connected organizations, the committee shall, in place of the
15 sponsor's or connected organization's name or reorganized
16 acronym, indicate the composition of the member or connected
17 organizations.
18 (c) The election commissioner shall determine if the name of
19 the political action committee complies with this section to
20 protect the public from misleading political action committee
21 names which do not indicate the identity of the sponsoring or
22 connected organizations. Should the commissioner determine that
23 the political action committee name does not comply under this
24 section, the political action committee shall not be registered
25 under the provisions of this act.
26 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
L5L25RAW/19850H0187B0203 - 2 -