BILL NUMBER: SB 1553 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 27, 2012
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 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) 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 online or electronically,
consistent with all of the following:
(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) (A) The city clerk shall issue to a person who files a
statement, report, or other document online or electronically an
electronic confirmation that notifies the filer that the statement,
report, or other document was received. The confirmation shall
include the date and the time that the statement, report, or other
document was received by the city clerk and the method by which the
filer may view and print the data received by the city clerk.
(B) A copy retained by the filer of a statement, report, or other
document that was filed online or electronically and the confirmation
issued pursuant to subparagraph (A) that shows the filer timely
filed the statement, report, or other document shall create a
rebuttable presumption that the filer timely filed the statement,
report, or other document.
(3)
(4) 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)
(5) 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. The city clerk shall make a
complete, unredacted copy of any statement, report, or other docu
ment filed pursuant to this section, including any street
names, building numbers, and bank account numbers disclosed
by the filer, available to any person upon request.
(5)
(6) 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)
(7) The city clerk shall enable filers to submit
filings free of charge.
(7)
(8) The city clerk shall maintain, for a period of
at least 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. Data that has been
maintained for at least 10 years may then be archived in a secure
format.
(8)
(9) 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.