H958 - Election Law Changes. (Ratified)

• Increase the reporting thresholds as follows:

• For nonmedia expenditures and monetary contributions to be made with a verifiable form of payment: from $50 to $100. (Section 4.1)
• For candidates for county office, municipal office, local school board office, soil and water conservation district board of supervisors, or sanitary district board with contributions, loans, and expenditures to be exempted from reporting requirements: from $1,000 to $5,000. (Section 4.2)
• For when independent expenditures must be reported: from $100 to $1,000. (Section 4.3)
• For when 48‑hour reports are required: from $1,000 to $2,000. (Section 4.4)

• Provide that the exemption for campaign sales would include political party committees. For this purpose a political party committee would be defined as a political party executive committee or any group established by a political party including men, women, college, teen, senior, young, African American, and Hispanic clubs or organizations. The purchase price of goods or services sold by a political party executive committee or an affiliated party committee is not considered a campaign contribution, in that these are not subject to the account‑keeping or reporting requirements required for campaign contributions and are not subject to the limit on campaign contributions. (Section 4.5)

House Bill 958 was ratified on August 6, 2026, but was vetoed by the Governor and is not current law.  If the General Assembly overrides the veto, Part IV of House Bill 958 would become effective on January 1, 2027, and apply to the purchase price of goods or services sold by a political party committee or an affiliated party committee on or after that date.