BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 1999

By: Turner, Chris

Elections

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Under current procedures, specific-purpose political action committees are not required to file a campaign treasurer appointment until around a month before the appropriate election day. However, general-purpose political action committees submit paperwork relating to the appointment of a treasurer around two months before money is received or spent. Interested parties contend that the difference between requirements is confusing and creates an uneven playing field that allows a specific-purpose political action committee to anonymously spend money on behalf of or in opposition to a candidate or measure more than a month before an election.  

H.B. 1999 seeks to address these issues relating to contributions and expenditures of specific-purpose political committees and contribution and expenditure reports filed by such committees.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 1999 amends the Election Code to expand from a general-purpose committee to a political committee the scope of the prohibition against knowingly making or authorizing a political contribution or political expenditure unless the committee has performed certain actions.

H.B. 1999 authorizes a specific-purpose committee to file monthly reports as an alternative to filing semiannual reports and additional reports for each election in which such a committee supports or opposes a candidate or measure. The bill requires the committee, in order to be entitled to file monthly reports, to deliver written notice of the committee's intent to file monthly to the authority with whom the committee's reports are required to be filed not earlier than January 1 or later than January 15 of the year in which the committee intends to file monthly. The bill requires the notice for a committee formed after January 15 to be delivered at the time the committee's campaign treasurer appointment is filed. The bill authorizes a committee that files monthly reports to revert to the regular filing schedule by delivering written notice of the committee's intent not earlier than January 1 or later than January 15 of the year in which the committee intends to revert to the regular reporting schedule. The bill requires the notice to include a report of all political contributions accepted and all political expenditures made that were not previously reported.

H.B. 1999 requires each monthly report to comply with content requirements for political expenditure and contribution reports and establishes that the maximum amount of a political contribution, expenditure, or loan that is not required to be individually reported is $10 in the aggregate. The bill requires the campaign treasurer of a specific-purpose committee filing monthly reports to file a report not later than the fifth day of the month following the period covered by the report and requires a report covering the month preceding an election in which the committee is involved to be received by the authority with whom the report is required to be filed not later than the fifth day of the month following the period covered by the report. The bill establishes that a monthly report covers the period beginning the 26th day of each month and continuing through the 25th day of the following month but specifies that the period covered by the first report begins January 1 and continues through January 25.

H.B. 1999 establishes that if the campaign treasurer appointment of a specific-purpose committee filing monthly reports is filed after January 1 of the year in which monthly reports are filed, the period covered by the first monthly report begins the day the appointment is filed and continues through the 25th day of the month in which the appointment is filed. The bill specifies that if the appointment is filed the 25th or a succeeding day of the month the period continues through the 25th day of the month following the month in which the appointment is filed.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2013.