Megan Dahle

Under the Political Reform Act of 1974, a person who files an original statement or report related to campaign financing, or a copy of the statement or report, after a deadline imposed by the act is liable in the amount of $10 per day after the deadline until the statement or report is filed, up to the cumulative amount stated in the late statement or report or $100, whichever is greater. For original statements or reports, existing law authorizes a filing officer to not impose this liability if the officer determines that the late filing was not willful and that enforcement of the liability will not further the purposes of the act, except in specified cases, including if a statement of economic interest, other than the statement of a candidate for specified state and local offices, is not filed within 30 days after the filing officer has sent specific written notice of the filing requirement.

This bill would establish a limit on liability of $100 for the late filing of an original statement of economic interest. For any other original statement or report, the bill would limit liability for a late filing at an amount equal to the aggregate amount of any contributions, expenditures, and other amounts reported on the statement or report, or $100, whichever is greater. The bill would remove the provision imposing liability in the amount of $10 for the filing of a late copy of a statement or report. The bill would also remove the exception to liability if the statement of a candidate for specified state and local offices is not filed within 30 days after the filing officer has sent specific written notice of the filing requirement, thereby penalizing such a late filing in the same manner as the late filing of other statements of economic interest.

The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes upon a 23 vote of each house of the Legislature and compliance with specified procedural requirements.

This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.