16-911. Exemption from definition of contribution
A. A person may make any contribution not otherwise prohibited by law.
B. The following are not contributions:
1. The value of an individual’s volunteer services or expenses that are provided without compensation or reimbursement, including the individual’s:
(a) Travel expenses.
(b) Use of real or personal property.
(c) Cost of invitations, food or beverages.
(d) Use of e-mail, internet activity or social media messages, only if the individual’s use is not paid for by the individual or any other person and if the e-mails, social media messages or other internet activities do not contain or include transmittal of a paid advertisement or paid fund-raising solicitation.
2. The costs incurred for covering or carrying a news story, commentary or editorial by a broadcasting station or cable television operator, video service provider, an internet website, a newspaper or another periodical publication, including an internet-based or electronic publication, if the cost for the news story, commentary or editorial is not paid for by and the medium is not owned or under the control of a candidate or committee.
3. Any payment to defray the expense of an elected official meeting with constituents or attending an informational tour, conference, seminar or presentation, if the payor or the elected official does not attempt to influence the result of an election and the payment is reported if required pursuant to title 38, chapter 3.1 or title 41, chapter 7, article 8.1, or both.
4. The payment by a political party to support its nominee, including:
(a) The printing or distribution of, or postage expenses for, voter guides, sample ballots, pins, bumper stickers, handbills, brochures, posters, yard signs and other similar materials distributed through the party.
(b) Coordinated party expenditures.
5. The payment by any person to defray a political party’s operating expenses or party-building activities, including:
(a) Party staff and personnel.
(b) Studies and reports.
(c) Voter registration, recruitment, polling and turnout efforts.
(d) Party conventions and party meetings.
(e) Construction, purchase or lease of party buildings or facilities.
6. The value of any of the following to a committee:
(a) Interest earned on the committee’s deposits or investments.
(b) Transfers between committees to reimburse expenses and distribute monies raised through a joint fund-raising effort, if the transfers comply with an agreement to reimburse and distribute monies that was executed before the joint fund-raising effort occurred.
(c) Payment of a committee’s legal or accounting expenses by any person.
(d) An extension of credit for goods and services on a committee’s behalf by a creditor if the terms are substantially similar to extensions of credit to nonpolitical debtors that are of similar risk and size of obligation. The creditor must make a commercially reasonable attempt to collect the debt, except that if an extension of credit remains unsatisfied by the committee after six months the committee is deemed to have received a contribution but the creditor is not deemed to have made a contribution.
7. The value of nonpartisan communications that are intended to encourage voter registration and turnout efforts.
8. Any payment to a filing officer for arguments in a publicity pamphlet.
9. The payment by any sponsor or its affiliate for the costs of establishing, administering and soliciting contributions from its employees, members, executives, stockholders and retirees and their families to the sponsor’s separate segregated fund.
10. Any payment by any entity for the costs of communicating with its employees, members, executives, stockholders and retirees and their families about any subject, without regard to whether those communications are made in coordination with any candidate or candidate’s agent.
11. The value of allowing a candidate or a committee’s representative to appear at any private residence or at the facilities of any entity to speak about the candidate’s campaign or about a ballot measure, if the venue is furnished by the venue’s owner, is not paid for by a third party and is not a sports stadium, coliseum, convention center, hotel ballroom, concert hall or other similar arena that is generally open to the public.
12. The costs of hosting a debate or candidates’ forum, if at least two opposing candidates, with respect to any given office sought, or representatives of at least two opposing ballot measure campaigns, with respect to any measure on the ballot, are invited with the same or similar advance notice and method of invitation.
13. The preparation and distribution of voter guides, subject to the following:
(a) A featured candidate or ballot measure shall not receive greater prominence or substantially more space in the voter guide than any other candidate or ballot measure.
(b) The voter guide shall not include any message that constitutes express advocacy.
14. Monies that are loaned by a financial institution in the ordinary course of business and not for the purpose of influencing the results of an election, except that the loan is deemed a pro rata contribution by any endorser or guarantor, other than the candidate’s spouse.
15. The costs of publishing a book or producing a documentary, if the publication and production are for distribution to the general public through traditional distribution mechanisms or a fee is obtained for the purchase of the publication or viewing of the documentary.
C. This section does not imply that any transactions that are not specifically listed in subsection B of this section are contributions unless those transactions otherwise meet the definition of contribution as defined in section 16-901.