PRINTER'S NO. 448
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
413
Session of
2015
INTRODUCED BY BRIGGS, COHEN, WHEATLEY, DUNBAR, JAMES,
SCHLOSSBERG, THOMAS, D. COSTA, DAVIS, TRUITT, MULLERY,
SANTARSIERO, M. K. KELLER, CARROLL, MURT, ROZZI, A. HARRIS,
BLOOM, M. DALEY, SIMS, GIBBONS, McCARTER AND DEAN,
FEBRUARY 9, 2015
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, FEBRUARY 9, 2015
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," in primary and election expenses, further
providing for campaign 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, 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
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with the Secretary of the Commonwealth shall be filed
electronically using the electronic filing system developed by
the Secretary of the Commonwealth that is consistent with the
purposes of this subsection. A campaign finance report submitted
electronically shall:
(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 of the
Commonwealth. The candidate or political committee upon approval
of the Secretary of the Commonwealth shall file reports and
statements on forms developed by the Secretary of the
Commonwealth.
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,
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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
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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 shall contain all 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 a personal computer
and the Internet. The database shall 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 such a statement
filed with the Secretary of the Commonwealth, which is not on
the 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 of the
Commonwealth.
(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.
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