BILL NUMBER: SB 1553 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 9, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Senator Lowenthal
FEBRUARY 24, 2012
An act to add and repeal Section 84215.5 of the Government Code,
relating to the Political Reform Act of 1974.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1553, as amended, Lowenthal. Political Reform Act of 1974:
campaign statements: electronic filing.
(1) The Political Reform act Act of
1974 requires elected officers, candidates for elective office, and
campaign committees to file campaign statements reporting
contributions and expenditures for specified reporting periods. Under
the act, city elected officers, candidates for city office, their
controlled committees, committees formed or existing primarily to
support or oppose candidates or local measures to be voted upon in
one city, and city general purpose committees are required to file
campaign statements with the clerk of the city.
This bill would create a pilot program for the 2013 through 2014
reporting periods that authorizes the City of Long Beach to permit
any person who files a campaign statement with the city clerk to file
online or electronically , consistent with specified
requirements . In addition, the bill would require the City of
Long Beach, if it chooses to participate in the pilot program, to
prepare a report evaluating the program under specified criteria, and
would further require the Legislative Analyst's Office to prepare a
report evaluating the program.
(2) This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as
to the necessity of a special statute for a pilot program in the City
of Long Beach.
(3) 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 2/3 vote of each house and compliance with specified
procedural requirements.
This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 84215.5 is added to the Government Code, to
read:
84215.5. (a) (1) The City
of Long Beach may permit any person who files a campaign statement
with the city clerk pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 84215 to
file electronically. online or
electronically, consistent with all of the following:
(2) If the City of Long Beach authorizes electronic filing
pursuant to subdivision (a), the city clerk shall use a form, and
follow procedures, prescribed by the Commission.
(1) The online or electronic filing system shall accept a filing
only in the standardized record format that is developed by the
Secretary of State pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of
Section 84602 and that is compatible with the Secretary of State's
system for receiving an online or electronic filing.
(2) The online or electronic filing system shall ensure the
integrity of the data transmitted and shall include safeguards
against efforts to tamper with, manipulate, alter, or subvert the
data.
(3) The date of filing for a statement, report, or other document
that is filed online or electronically shall be the day that it is
received by the city clerk.
(4) The city clerk shall make all the data filed available on the
Internet in an easily understood format that provides the greatest
public access. The data shall be made available free of charge and as
soon as possible after receipt. The data made available on the
Internet shall not contain the street name and building number of the
persons or entity representatives listed on the electronically filed
forms or any bank account number required to be disclosed by the
filer.
(5) The online or electronic filing system shall include a
procedure for filers to comply with the requirement that they sign
statements and reports under penalty of perjury pursuant to Section
81004.
(6) The city clerk shall enable filers to submit filings free of
charge.
(7) The city clerk shall maintain, for a period of 10 years
commencing from the date filed, a secured, official version of each
online or electronic statement, report, or other document filed
pursuant to this section, which shall serve as the official version
of that record for purpose of audits and any other legal purpose.
(8) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any statement,
report, or other document filed online or electronically pursuant to
this section shall not be required to be filed with the city clerk in
paper format.
(b) If the City of Long Beach chooses to participate, the pilot
program created pursuant to this section shall commence on or after
January 1, 2013, and shall be completed by January 31, 2015. The
pilot program shall include all reporting periods commencing January
1, 2013, and ending December 31, 2014.
(c) (1) If the City of Long Beach chooses to participate in the
pilot program created pursuant to this section, the city shall submit
to the Commission, by July 1, 2015, a report on the pilot program
that shall include all of the following:
(A) A listing and estimate of associated operational efficiencies
and related savings.
(B) A listing and estimate of associated costs from implementing
and operating the pilot program.
(C) A listing of safety, security, or privacy issues encountered
and an explanation of the manner in which those issues were
addressed.
(D) Available information relating to feedback from electronic
filing participants.
(E) Any other relevant information on the implementation of the
pilot program.
(2) The Commission shall transmit the report received pursuant to
paragraph (1), as well as any comments on the report, to the
Legislative Analyst's Office by August 15, 2015. The Legislative
Analyst's Office shall provide a report to the Legislature evaluating
the pilot program by February 1, 2016.
(3) The Commission, in consultation with the Legislative Analyst's
Office, may develop additional criteria for the report to be
submitted by the City of Long Beach pursuant to paragraph (1).
(d) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2017, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2017, deletes or extends
that date.
SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares that a special law is
necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable within the
meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution
because of the need to create a pilot program in the City of Long
Beach to test the benefits of electronic filing of campaign
statements in order to develop a practical model that will assist
other local agencies in implementing their own electronic filing
procedures in the future.
SEC. 3. The Legislature finds and declares that this bill furthers
the purposes of the Political Reform Act of 1974 within the meaning
of subdivision (a) of Section 81012 of the Government Code.