THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE BILL

INTRODUCED BY BROWNE, BAKER, RAFFERTY, WASHINGTON, ALLOWAY, FARNESE, ERICKSON, SMUCKER, FONTANA, COSTA, EARLL, PIPPY, WOZNIAK, VANCE, MENSCH AND PILEGGI, JANUARY 23, 2012

REFERRED TO STATE GOVERNMENT, JANUARY 23, 2012  

AN ACT

Amending the act of June 3, 1937 (P.L.1333, No.320), entitled

"An act concerning elections, including general, municipal,

special and primary elections, the nomination of candidates,

primary and election expenses and election contests; creating

and defining membership of county boards of elections;

imposing duties upon the Secretary of the Commonwealth,

courts, county boards of elections, county commissioners;

imposing penalties for violation of the act, and codifying,

revising and consolidating the laws relating thereto; and

repealing certain acts and parts of acts relating to

elections," further providing for company finance reports and

for additional powers and duties of the Secretary of the

Commonwealth.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  Section 1626 of the act of June 3, 1937

(P.L.1333, No.320), known as the Pennsylvania Election Code,

added October 8, 1978 (P.L.893, No.171), is amended by adding a

subsection to read:

Section 1626.  Reporting by Candidate and Political

Committees and other Persons.--

* * *

(k) (1)  All campaign finance reports required to be filed

with the Secretary of the Commonwealth shall be filed

electronically using the electronic filing system developed by

the secretary that is consistent with the purposes of this

subsection. A campaign finance report submitted electronically

must:

(i)  be made under oath or equivalent affirmation;

(ii)  require an electronic signature from the treasurer or

assistant treasurer at the time of the filing of the campaign

finance report. In addition, any report filed by a political

committee, authorized by a candidate and created solely for the

purpose of influencing an election on behalf of that candidate

must be signed, using an electronic signature, under oath or

equivalent affirmation by the candidate that, to the best of the

candidate's knowledge, the political committee has not violated

any provision of this act; and

(iii)  be made subject to the penalties for perjury.

(2)  Any candidate or political committee not able to file

electronically the report or statement required by this

subsection shall request an exemption from the secretary. The

candidate or political committee upon approval of the secretary

shall file reports and statements on forms developed by the

secretary.

Section 2.  Section 1628 of the act, amended February 13,

1998 (P.L.72, No.18), is amended to read:

Section 1628.  Late Contributions and Independent

Expenditures.--Any candidate or political committee, authorized

by a candidate and created solely for the purpose of influencing

an election on behalf of that candidate, which receives any

contribution or pledge of five hundred dollars ($500) or more,

and any person making an independent expenditure, as defined by

this act, of five hundred dollars ($500) or more after the final

pre-election report has been deemed completed shall report such

contribution, pledge or expenditure to the appropriate

supervisor. Such report shall be sent by the candidate, chairman

or treasurer of the political committee within twenty-four (24)

hours of receipt of the contribution. It shall be the duty of

the supervisor to confirm the substance of such report. The

report is to be filed electronically in a manner prescribed by

the Secretary of the Commonwealth. The report shall be made by

telegram, mailgram, overnight mail or facsimile transmission.

Any candidate in his own behalf, or chairman, treasurer or

candidate in behalf of the political committee may also comply

with this section by appearing personally before such supervisor

and reporting such late contributions or pledges.

Section 3.  Section 1640 of the act, added October 4, 1978

(P.L.893, No.171), is amended to read:

Section 1640.  Additional Powers and Duties of the Secretary

of the Commonwealth.--The Secretary of the Commonwealth shall

have the following additional powers and duties:

(1)  To serve as the State clearing house for information

concerning the administration of this act.

(2)  To prescribe suitable rules and regulations to carry out

the provisions of this act.

(3)  To develop the prescribed forms required by the

provisions of this article for the making of the reports and

statements required to be filed with the supervisor.

(4)  To prepare a manual setting forth recommended uniform

methods of bookkeeping and reporting which shall be furnished by

the supervisor to the person required to file such reports and

statements as required by this article.

(5)  To examine the contributions to State legislative and

Statewide candidates and publish a list of all those political

committees who have contributed to candidates and who have

failed to file reports as required by this act within six (6)

days of their failure to comply.

(6)  To maintain a searchable computer database and

electronic reporting system that contains the information

necessary for the proper administration of this article,

including information on contributions and expenditures by all

candidates and all political committees and distribution of

moneys, and including public access through personal computer

and the Internet. The database must be designed with an

emergency recovery system to ensure that campaign expense

records are not lost in the case of an emergency, natural

disaster or other event that could cause the system to

malfunction.

(7)  To establish a training program on the electronic

reporting system and make it available to any candidate or

committee.

(8)  To cause all information contained in the statement

filed with the Secretary of the Commonwealth, which is not on

such electronic reporting system, to be entered into the system

as soon as practicable, but in no event later than four (4)

business days after its receipt by the secretary.

(9)  The department shall issue to the registrant an

electronic receipt that includes a confirmation number and the

date and time of filing.

Section 4.  This act shall take effect in 60 days.