163-278.8B. Affiliated party committees.

(a) Each political party caucus of the North Carolina House of Representatives and the North Carolina Senate may establish one separate affiliated party committee to support the election of candidates who would be eligible to be members of that caucus. No other affiliated party committees shall be authorized pursuant to this section. The affiliated party committee is deemed a political party for purposes of this Article.

(b) An affiliated party committee shall be established only by majority vote of the total membership of the political party caucus. Attached to the organizational report filed in accordance with G.S. 163-9, the affiliated party committee shall provide a report to the State Board of Elections certifying that the political party caucus has organized and taken the appropriate vote to establish an affiliated party committee. The report described in this subsection shall be a public record within the meaning of Chapter 132 of the General Statutes.

(c) Each affiliated party committee shall:

(1) Adopt bylaws which shall be in compliance with the provisions of this Article. At a minimum, the bylaws shall include designation of a treasurer.

(2) Conduct campaigns for candidates who would be eligible to be members of that political party caucus of the North Carolina House of Representatives or North Carolina Senate if elected or reelected or manage daily operations of the affiliated party committee.

(3) Establish a bank account.

(4) Accept contributions and expend funds.

(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, an affiliated party committee shall be entitled to use the name, abbreviation, and symbol of its respective political party.

(e) For purposes of this section, "political party" has the same meaning as defined in G.S. 163-96.