Under Regulation 18421.7, a candidate controlled committee reporting an expenditure for a gift, a meal, or travel on its campaign statement must briefly describe the political, legislative, or governmental purpose for the expenditure. In addition, the committee must include the following information: ¾ Gifts – When reporting an itemized expenditure for a gift, the committee must provide the date of the gift and a description of the gift. If the gift was made to an individual recipient, the name of the recipient must be included. If a gift was made to a group of recipients, the name of each recipient who received a benefit of $50 or more is required. When the recipient of a gift with a value of $50 or more is not known at the time the payment is required to be reported, the committee must report that the gift was for an “undetermined recipient.” Once the gift has been given to the recipient, the campaign statement must be amended within 45 calendar days to disclose the name of the recipient. Examples: Senator Wilson spends $275 at Nordstrom to purchase sweaters as holiday gifts for three of her office staff. On Schedule E of her next campaign report (Form 460), she will itemize the $275 payment to Nordstrom. In the Description of Payment column, the following would adequately describe the payment: “12/5/08 – Sweaters purchased as holiday gifts for office staff Mary Jensen ($100), Linda Davis ($100), and Richard Bailey ($75).” Richard Johnson, a candidate for County Board of Supervisors, purchased 50 watches for $750 ($15 each) from Target. He plans to give the watches to the first 50 individuals who purchase a ticket to his upcoming fundraiser. On Schedule E of his next campaign report, he will itemize the payment to Target. In the Description of Payment column, the following description could be used to describe the gifts: “9/12/08 – Watches purchased as gifts for campaign donors. No individual will receive a gift worth $50 or more.” ¾ Meals – When reporting an itemized expenditure for a meal (other than a meal reported as an itemized expenditure for travel, as discussed below), the committee must also provide the date of the meal, the number of individuals who were present at the meal, and whether the candidate, a member of his or her household, or an individual with authority to approve expenditures of campaign funds was present at the meal. It is not necessary to include the names of individual attendees on the report. However, the names of the attendees must be maintained in the committee’s records. (See “Additional Recordkeeping Required” below.)
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Fair Political Practices Commission 1/866-ASK FPPC (1/866-275-3772) June 2008
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