The House Judiciary Committee unanimously passed an update to the Campaign Finance Act.
SB 42 seeks to simplify campaign reporting compliance for some elected officials and to provide more transparency on campaign finances.
Amended to include HB 103, bill presenter and HB 103 co-sponsor Rep. Matthew McQueen, D-Galisteo, said SB 42 was previously a disclosure bill. The addition of HB 103 adds a modernization effort to align campaign finance reporting with the modern election process.
“Senate Bill 42 requires out of state groups making independent expenditures of $5,000 or more to disclose the source of those funds. It requires disclosure on expenditures for electronic communications, which could be Facebook ads or digital ads, things like that. It prohibits loaning money by a candidate to the campaign committee at an interest rate,” McQueen said.
The HB 103 changes update the campaign reporting act to better reflect the election cycle, McQueen said.
More: Campaign Finance Reporting Act update clears first House committee
“You would have a report due a week after the primary rather than waiting a couple months, you would have a report due a week after the general election. Rather than waiting until January and if you accepted money during the prohibited period, you would file a supplemental report at the end of the prohibited period disclosing that contribution,” McQueen said.
SB 42 now heads to the House floor.
