Bill: Pending Party Corporation Expansion Act

Capt11543 · Monday at 9:11 AM

A
BILL
TO
Expand the legal rights of party corporations to make expenditures related to their operations.

1 - About this Act
(1) This Act:

(a) may be cited as the Party Corporation Expansion Act.

(b) may be numbered as P.B.02-###. (to be decided by the Office of the Speaker)

(c) shall be enacted immediately upon receiving assent from Her Majesty the Queen.

(d) has been authored by Deputy Prime Minister Capt11543.

(e) has been co-sponsored by Minister of Internal Affairs MrRoyaltys.

2 - Repeals
(1) The Party Corporation Act is hereby repealed.

3 - Amendments to the Legal Entity Act
(1) The following new section shall be inserted into the Legal Entity Act following §10 - Non-profit:

“11 - Party Corporations
(1) For the purposes of this section, the following terms are defined:

(a) A political party is a group of individuals who organize together to pursue common political goals.

(b) A party corporation is a legal entity which represents the political party. Every political party has an associated party corporation.

(c) A member of a political party is an individual who joins with that party to be represented by them or to assist the political party in pursuit of their goals.

(d) Political activity is any peaceful action taken in furtherance of a political goal. This includes, but is not limited to:

(i) Competing for seats in Parliament and running candidates in a general election.

(ii) Coordinating activity between affiliated Members of Parliament.

(iii) Organizing rallies, publishing materials, or otherwise proliferating political speech.

(2) Party corporations shall be structured as non-profit entities under §10 of this Act. They shall follow the same regulations set forth by that section, subject to the below exceptions and additions.

(3) The Ministry of Internal Affairs shall manage the registration of political parties, and may promulgate policies consistent with this Act as necessary to fulfill this duty.

(a) Political parties must register with the Ministry of Internal Affairs to participate in elections.

(4) Party corporations must follow Ministry of Trade and Finance regulations regarding financial reporting and tax exemption that apply to non-profit entities.

(5) A political party may only be incorporated for the purpose of engaging in political activity. A political party may engage in additional activities in furtherance of their political activity, including but not limited to:

(a) Hiring and compensating Party staff.

(b) Purchasing and holding real property.

(c) Engaging in community outreach or charitable works, provided that potential individual recipients of such aid are not discriminated against on the basis of political affiliation.

(6) Party Corporations are prohibited from engaging in the following activities:

(a) Compensating individuals in exchange for becoming members, candidates, or otherwise affiliated with the political party.

(b) Charging membership dues or otherwise requiring payment in exchange for becoming members, candidates, or otherwise affiliated with the political party.

(7) Instead of a Certificate of Incorporation and/or Operating Agreement, a Party Corporation's formation instrument shall be a Party Charter, which outlines the governance structure of the Party Corporation, and must contain the following:

(a) Party leadership, which shall be responsible for overseeing Party membership, financial management, election campaigning, and Parliamentary activity. Members of Party leadership shall be considered members of the LLC under §8 of this Act. Party leadership may be vested in a single individual or a group of individuals.

(b) A democratic means by which Party members shall elect Party leadership, no less frequently than once every six months. At minimum, the highest office(s) of Party leadership must be directly or indirectly elected by members.

(c) A democratic means by which Party members shall ratify and may amend the Party Charter.

(d) A Party Charter need not be styled as a “Party Charter”. (e.g.: the document may be titled “Party Constitution” or “Party Statute” or other titles to the same effect.)

(8) Only individuals shall be eligible for membership in a political party. Only members of a political party are eligible to be party leadership.

(9) A party corporation shall not be dissolved and wound up without approval from at least a simple majority of party members.”

Capt11543 · Monday at 9:23 AM

Labour/Public Servants
Through Their Deputy Prime Minister Capt11543
Moves to Pass
The Party Corporation Expansion Act

Parliament notes:
(1) The Party Corporation Act prohibits party corporations from officially hiring staffers and compensating staffers for their work. Like all workers, political party staff deserve fair compensation for their work.
(2) The PCA also prevents political parties from owning commercial property, which can be used for the purposes of political organizing.

Based on this, Parliament decides:
(1) To re-define Party Corporations as a specialized subset of non-profit organizations under the Legal Entity Act.
(2) To empower Party Corporations to engage in a broader slate of activity in support of political engagement and activism.

To fulfill this, Parliament projects the following expenses:
(1) Staffing expenses to be paid by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Trade and Finance.

Further, Parliament projects the following administrative efforts:
(1) The Ministry of Internal Affairs retains the responsibility of managing political party registration.
(2) The Ministry of Trade and Finance shall enforce non-profit tax exemption regulations and audit the financial activities of party corporations.

To implement the above, Parliament passes: