(a) Except as provided in subsection (d)(2) of this section, a candidate seeking certification and a participating candidate shall not receive or expend any contribution in that election cycle other than:
(1) Qualified small-dollar contributions;
(2) Contributions from non-District resident individuals that comply with the limitations in § 1-1163.32b(a);
(3) Contributions from Fair Elections Committees that do not exceed $1,500 per Fair Elections Committee per election cycle; provided, that Fair Elections Committees established, financed, maintained, or controlled by substantially the same group of individuals shall be treated as a single Fair Elections Committee and their contributions aggregated;
(4) Base amount payments under § 1-1163.32d;
(5) Matching payments under § 1-1163.32e; and
(6) Personal funds of the candidate or the candidate's immediate family in the form of a contribution or loan that does not exceed, in the aggregate:
(A) For a candidate for Mayor, $5,000; or
(B) For a candidate for Attorney General, Chairman of the Council, member of the Council elected at-large or by ward, or member of the State Board of Education elected at-large or by ward, $2,500.
(b) The amounts described in subsection (a)(6) of this section shall be adjusted by the Director of Campaign Finance each election cycle, excluding election cycles for special elections, by the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for the Washington-Baltimore Metropolitan Statistical Area for All Urban Consumers published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor, or any successor index, for the prior calendar year.
(c)(1) A candidate seeking certification who accepted a contribution from sources other than those described in subsection (a) of this section before the date the candidate is certified may not participate in the Fair Elections Program, unless within 10 days after certification, the participating candidate:
(A) Returns the unexpended contribution to the contributor;
(B) Remits the unexpended contribution to the Fair Elections Fund; or
(C) If the contribution has been expended, and:
(i) The election is a contested election, subtracts the total amount of the expended contributions from the base amount to which the candidate would be eligible under § 1-1163.32d; or
(ii) The election is an uncontested election, subtracts the total amount of the expended contributions, up to the base amount to which the participating candidate would have been eligible under § 1-1163.32d if the election were a contested election, from the matching payments to which the candidate would be eligible under § 1-1163.32e.
(2) If the candidate expended contributions from sources other than those described in subsection (a) of this section in excess of the base amount to which a candidate for the seat for that covered office would be eligible under § 1-1163.32dif the election were a contested election, the candidate may not participate in the Fair Elections Program.
(d) A participating candidate shall not make expenditures for the following:
(1) Legal expenses not directly related to acts taken under this chapter or the Elections Code;
(2) Payment of any penalty or fine imposed pursuant to federal or District law;
(3) Compensation to the participating candidate or a member of the participating candidate's immediate family, except for reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred for campaign purposes;
(4) Clothing and other items or services related to the participating candidate's personal appearance;
(5) Contributions, loans, or transfers to another candidate's political committee or a political action committee;
(6) Gifts, which, for the purposes of this paragraph, shall not include printed campaign materials such as signs, brochures, buttons, or clothing; and
(7) Any other purpose that the Board establishes through rules issued pursuant to § 1-1163.32l.
(Apr. 27, 2012, D.C. Law 19-124, § 332f; as added May 5, 2018, D.C. Law 22-94, § 2(b)(5), 65 DCR 2847; Oct. 30, 2018, D.C. Law 22-168, § 1002(d), 65 DCR 9388; Mar. 13, 2019, D.C. Law 22-250, § 6(kk), 66 DCR 985; Sept. 11, 2019, D.C. Law 23-16, § 1042(m), 66 DCR 8621.)