How to File SEEC Form 30: A Guide for Candidate Committees
SEEC Form 30 is the campaign-finance statement filed by Connecticut candidate committees for statewide and General Assembly offices. It covers the same ground as Form 20 — contributions in, expenditures out — but with rules built around a candidate’s campaign: separate primary and general-election phases, per-office contribution limits, and the Citizens’ Election Program. This guide covers what’s different and how to file.
Form 30 vs. Form 20 — which do you file?
The form follows the office. Candidates for statewide office (governor, attorney general, and the other constitutional offices) and the General Assembly (state Senate and House) file Form 30. Candidates for municipal and probate offices — and party/town committees — file Form 20 instead.
Form 30 also has a slightly different layout: its Section B for itemized contributions includes an extra Contribution ID column, and its sections use different letters than Form 20 (below). If you register with SEEC as a candidate committee for a covered office, Form 30 is what eCRIS expects.
Primary and general election are separate phases
The biggest difference from a town committee is that a candidate’s contribution limits apply separately to each phase of the campaign. A donor can give up to the applicable limit for the primary and again, separately, for the general election. Money has to be attributed to the correct phase, and if your campaign has a primary, the two buckets are tracked independently rather than as one calendar-year total.
The per-donor limit itself depends on the office sought. Confirm the current figures for your office on seec.ct.gov, and track each donor’s giving against the right phase so no one goes over.
The Citizens’ Election Program (CEP)
Connecticut’s Citizens’ Election Program offers public grants to participating candidates who agree to strict rules in exchange. If your campaign participates, the compliance picture changes significantly:
- Contributions are capped at a per-cycle limit rather than the standard office limits.
- Money from other committees, PACs, and state contractors is generally prohibited.
- You must raise a qualifying amount in small contributions to receive a grant.
Whether or not you join the CEP is one of the first decisions a candidate committee makes, and it determines which limit rules apply for the whole cycle.
The $50 itemization rule still applies
Like Form 20, Form 30 requires full itemization for any contributor whose giving reaches $50 or more: full name, residential address, and — the field most often left blank — employer and occupation. Track each donor cumulatively, since several smaller gifts can cross the $50 threshold.
Form 30 sections
Form 30 organizes activity into these sections:
| Section | What it reports |
|---|---|
| A | Aggregate total of small (under $50) contributions that aren’t itemized individually |
| B | Itemized individual contributions — name, address, employer, occupation, amount, method, and a Contribution ID |
| C1 | Contributions received from other committees |
| J1 | Fundraising events, with SEEC’s event questions and receipts |
| K | In-kind contributions — donated goods or services, at fair market value |
| N | Expenditures, each tagged with a SEEC purpose code |
| R | Reimbursements to workers or consultants for out-of-pocket spending |
(For comparison, Form 20 uses A/B/C1/L1/M/P/T for the same categories — the letters differ, so use the template that matches your form.)
Deadlines and statutory statements
Candidate committees file on the regular schedule, plus additional statutory statements tied to the election calendar — including a “7th day preceding” statement before a primary and before the general election, so voters can see late money. If your campaign faces a primary, expect a pre-primary statement on top of the pre-election one.
Deadlines are firm and carry penalties, so confirm your committee’s exact dates on seec.ct.gov and file early.
How to file, step by step
- Attribute each contribution to a phase (primary or general) and track donors against the right per-phase limit.
- Gather full details for every $50+ donor — including employer and occupation.
- Complete the eCRIS Form 30 template, placing each transaction in the correct section (A/B/C1/J1/K/N/R) with SEEC method and purpose codes.
- Reconcile your ending balance to the campaign bank account.
- Upload the completed file at seec.ct.gov → eCRIS → Upload Report before the deadline.
Let the software handle the phase and limit tracking
The per-phase limits, CEP rules, and office-based caps are exactly where candidate filings get complicated by hand. CT Committee Treasurer Suite applies the right limit rules for your office and phase automatically, flags over-limit and missing-detail contributions before you file, and generates the completed eCRIS Form 30 template — including the statutory pre-primary and pre-election statements. See the quickstart guide to set up a candidate committee, or the Form 20 guide if you file that instead.