BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS
AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Lou Correa, Chair
BILL NO: SB 1553 HEARING DATE:
4/19/12
AUTHOR: LOWENTHAL ANALYSIS BY:
Darren Chesin
AMENDED: 4/9/12
FISCAL: YES
SUBJECT
Campaign statements: electronic filing: City of Long Beach
pilot program
DESCRIPTION
Existing law requires elected officers, candidates for
elective office, and campaign committees to file campaign
statements reporting contributions and expenditures for
specified reporting periods. City elected officers,
candidates for city office, their controlled committees and
committees formed to support or oppose candidates or local
ballot measures to be voted upon in one city are required
to file campaign statements with the clerk of the city.
Existing law requires all candidates and committees who are
required to file campaign reports in connection with a
state elective office or state ballot measure to file those
reports online or electronically with the Secretary of
State (SOS) if the cumulative amount of contributions
received, expenditures made, loans made, or loans received
is $25,000 or more.
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 the following requirements:
The online or electronic filing system shall accept a
filing only in a standardized record format developed by
the SOS pursuant to existing law and that is compatible
with the SOS's system for receiving an online or
electronic filing.
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.
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.
The city clerk shall make all the data filed available
on the Internet in an easily understood format that
provides the greatest public access 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 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.
The city clerk shall enable filers to submit filings
free of charge.
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.
Any statement, report, or other document filed online
or electronically pursuant to this pilot program shall
not be required to be filed with the city clerk in paper
format.
This 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 by
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July 1, 2015, and would also require the Legislative
Analyst's Office to prepare a report evaluating the program
by February 1, 2016. The report from the City of Long
Beach must include all of the following:
A listing and estimate of associated operational
efficiencies and related savings.
A listing and estimate of associated costs from
implementing and operating the pilot program.
A listing of safety, security, or privacy issues
encountered and an explanation of the manner in which
those issues were addressed.
Available information relating to feedback from
electronic filing participants.
Any other relevant information on the implementation of
the pilot program.
BACKGROUND
Similar Pilot Project for SEIs . Existing law provides for
a pilot project which permits Los Angeles, Merced, Orange,
Santa Clara, Stanislaus, and Ventura counties and the City
of Long Beach to permit the electronic filing of a
statement
of economic interest (SEI) in accordance with regulations
adopted by the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC).
The pilot project began on January 1, 2009 and will end on
December 31, 2012.
COMMENTS
1. According to the Author : The Political Reform Act (PRA)
of 1974 requires elected officers, candidates for
elective office and campaign committees to file campaign
statements and report contributions and expenditures for
specified reporting periods. Under this Act, city
elected officers, candidates for city office, their
controlled committees; committees formed or existing
primarily to support or oppose candidates or local
measures are required to file campaign statements with
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the clerk of the city. Currently this process is
strictly in paper format.
Paper reports can be confusing at times. Candidates may
inadvertently miss a particular field of information, or
misinterpret the information required. Further, paper
reports must be transported from the location at which
they were prepared to the City Clerk's Office. These
steps have little to do with meeting core goals of the
PRA but are fraught with opportunities for error and can
be a factor in reporting delays.
In contrast, electronically filing minimizes the
opportunities for error on the part of the candidate, as
the software program provided by the City Clerk's Office
can prevent a form from being submitted by highlighting
fields of information that still need to be addressed
before the candidate is allowed to click "submit." This
ensures the form was filled out completely and can
promote local candidate compliance with requirements of
State law. The electronic filing of campaign statements
will:
Securely and accurately, further enhance
compliance, accountability and understanding of the
Political Reform Act and City of Long Beach filing and
disclosure requirements
Strengthen established business rules and process
workflows, with capacities for increased transparency,
report query capabilities, filer account management
and compliance monitoring
Apply productivity savings towards other City Clerk
Department workload demands, i.e., municipal
elections, citywide records management, Public Records
Act support, Long Beach City Charter and Municipal
Code administration and support of the City's
legislative process and systems.
The City of Long Beach expects that SB 1553 will lead to
benefits similarly achieved via its AB 1921 (Davis) of
2010 Statements of Economic Interest (SEI) Form 700
Electronic Filing Pilot Project, a program that
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generated $42,000 in productivity savings as well as
significant operational efficiencies for designated
filers and department filing officers.
With the use of modern and secure e-filing technology,
local governments can enhance compliance with the
Political Reform Act while simultaneously generating
productivity savings that would otherwise be consumed by
paper-based and wet signature processes.
The City of Long Beach believes that its experience with
electronic filing of SEI Form 700s demonstrates a highly
successful track record of launching innovative business
processes; and they believe that this experience
warrants consideration for adoption of a pilot
electronic filing campaign finance reporting program
that someday can be authorized throughout the State of
California.
POSITIONS
Sponsor: City of Long Beach
Support: Fair Political Practices Commission
Oppose: None received
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