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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem B: Campaign Finance Reporting Process ECC UGENE ITY OUNCIL AIS GENDA TEM UMMARY Work Session: Campaign Finance Reporting Process Meeting Date: October 9, 2006 Agenda Item Number: B Department: Central Services Staff Contact: Mary Feldman www.eugene-or.gov Contact Telephone Number: 682-8353 ISSUE STATEMENT The purpose of this work session is to make the council aware of changes in the campaign finance reporting process for candidates and political committees and to provide an opportunity for the council to consider whether the City of Eugene should require campaign finance reports in addition to those required by the State. If additional reports are required, those reports, at least, must be filed with the City elections officer. BACKGROUND Currently, Oregon municipal candidates for nomination or election to city office and political committees supporting or opposing candidates or the adoption of a city measure are required to file paper contribution and expenditure reports at regularly scheduled times with their elections filing officers, typically the City Recorder. In 2005, the Legislature passed HB 3458, directing the Secretary of State to develop an electronic filing system to be used by committees to file contribution and expenditure information. Effective January 1, all 2007, under ORS 260.163, the Secretary of State will become the filing officer for candidates and committees, except chief petitioner committees for local initiative, referendum and recall petitions. Local candidates and measure committees will be required to file contribution and expenditure reports electronically with the Secretary of State’s Office. Each committee will have a private workspace on the Secretary of State’s website where it can enter data or upload transaction information. While a candidate or treasurer can grant other individuals access to the committee’s workspace to do data entry or upload a file, only a candidate or treasurer will be allowed to file transactions. Committees will enter transaction information directly into the Secretary of State's system. Contribution or expenditure transactions will become public records at the time a candidate or treasurer files them. There will no longer be "scheduled" reporting deadlines. Committees will continuously report campaign finance transactions, generally within 30 days of the date of the transaction, but within seven days of that date during the six weeks prior to an election. Aggregate contributions will be calculated on a calendar year basis instead of by election. Committees also will be able to file and amend Statements of Organization online. L:\CMO\2006 Council Agendas\M061009\S061009B.doc The legislation provides that a city may adopt charter provisions or ordinances that designate the city elections officer as the filing officer for campaign finance reports that would otherwise be filed with the Secretary of State. A city could require additional reports to be filed in paper format. RELATED CITY POLICIES No policy issues are related directly to this item. The City’s Voluntary Campaign Finance Program will not change as a result of the State legislation. COUNCIL OPTIONS A. The City Council can take no action. Effective January 1, 2007, the Secretary of State would become the filing officer for all campaign finance reports, except chief petitioner committees for local initiative, referendum and recall petitions. Committees would be required to file campaign finance information electronically. Active candidate and measure committees that have filed with the City Recorder previously would be advised of the changes. Advantages of the new State filing system include the following: automatic calculation, thereby reducing errors; ? accessible to all candidates and committees through any public or private computer with ? web access; information readily available to the public as soon as transactions are completed; ? with continuous reporting, information is more current than the present “periodic” ? reporting schedule allows. According to State Elections Division Director John Lindback, the new system will streamline and simplify the filing process for candidates and treasurers, and will further Oregon’s objective of transparent campaign finance reporting. B. The City Council can direct staff to prepare an ordinance requiring local electronic filing. All provisions of ORS 260.163 that become effective January 1, 2007, would still go into effect. The difference would be that a local elections filing officer, presumably the City Recorder, would be designated as the recipient of the campaign finance reports filed electronically by local candidates and committees. This option would impact the City financially. The Secretary of State’s Office has spent approximately $700,000 to develop its electronic filing system, on which ten developers have worked full time for the past year. The complex and intricate system is entering its internal test phase now and is expected to be operational in January. Should the City of Eugene opt to implement its own fully electronic campaign finance filing system, as would be required if the council chose this option, similar costs and investment of time might be necessary. It is unclear at this time whether the State would be willing to sell or enter an agreement for use of its system. L:\CMO\2006 Council Agendas\M061009\S061009B.doc Some local committee treasurers have voiced their preference for filing locally and maintaining contact with a local filing officer; however, personal contact would be minimal since electronic reports still would be required under this option. C. The council also may impose reporting requirements in addition to those required by the State. ORS 260.163 allows a city to impose additional campaign finance reporting requirements for local elections, but only if it designates the city elections officer as the filing officer for those reports. The ordinance could require the filing of paper reports in addition to electronic reports. The costs of implementing this option would probably be somewhat greater than the costs of implementing Option B. Requiring reports to also be filed in paper format to keep a remnant of the local filing process seems a redundancy and would result in additional time and work for campaign committee treasurers or candidates. CITY MANAGER’S RECOMMENDATION The City Manager recommends that the council take no action relating to ORS 260.163 at this time so the State’s electronic system and filing requirements become effective January 1, 2007, without special provisions for Eugene candidates and committees. SUGGESTED MOTION None. ATTACHMENTS A. ORS 260.163, including amendments to become effective January 1, 2007 B. Elections Division Campaign Finance: New Campaign Finance Reporting Requirements in 2007 FOR MORE INFORMATION Staff Contact: Mary Feldman Telephone: (541) 682-8353 Staff E-Mail: mary.h.feldman@ci.eugene.or.us L:\CMO\2006 Council Agendas\M061009\S061009B.doc ATTACHMENT A Oregon Revised Statutes 260.163 County or city campaign finance provisions. (1) A county or city may adopt charter provisions or ordinances that require the filing of: (a) Statements of contributions received and expenditures made that are in addition to the statements required to be filed under this chapter by candidates for nomination or election to county or city office or by political committees supporting or opposing candidates for nomination or election to county or city office or the adoption of a county or city measure; or (b) Statements of independent expenditures made by persons in support of or in opposition to candidates for nomination or election to county or city office or in support of or in opposition to the adoption of a county or city measure that are in addition to the statements required to be filed under this chapter. (2) If a county or city adopts a charter provision or ordinance under subsection (1) of this section: (a) The county or city shall file a copy of the charter provision or ordinance with the Secretary of State; and (b) For purposes of this chapter, any additional statements required to be filed by the charter provision or ordinance are considered statements required to be filed under ORS 260.044, 260.058, 260.063, 260.068 or 260.073. [2005 c.809 §51] Note: The amendments to 260.163 by section 52, chapter 809, Oregon Laws 2005, become operative January 1, 2007. See section 53, chapter 809, Oregon Laws 2005. The text that is operative on and after January 1, 2007, is set forth for the user's convenience. 260.163. (1) A county or city may adopt charter provisions or ordinances that: (a) Require the filing of electronic or paper statements of contributions received and expenditures made that are in addition to the statements required to be filed under this chapter by candidates for nomination or election to county or city office or by political committees supporting or opposing candidates for nomination or election to county or city office or the adoption of a county or city measure; (b) Require the filing of electronic or paper statements of independent expenditures made by persons in support of or in opposition to candidates for nomination or election to county or city office or in support of or in opposition to the adoption of a county or city measure that are in addition to the statements required to be filed under this chapter; or (c) Subject to subsection (2) of this section, designate the county clerk or city elections officer as the filing officer for: (A) Statements required to be filed under this chapter by candidates for nomination or election to county or city office or by political committees supporting or opposing candidates for nomination or election to county or city office or the adoption of a county or city measure; (B) Statements required to be filed under this chapter by persons making independent expenditures in support of or opposition to candidates for nomination or election to county or city office or in support of or opposition to the adoption of a county or city measure; ORS 260.163 9/29/2006 (C) Any additional statements of contributions received or expenditures made that are required by a charter provision or ordinance to be filed by candidates for nomination or election to county or city office or by political committees supporting or opposing candidates for nomination or election to county or city office or the adoption of a county or city measure; or (D) Any additional statements of independent expenditures made that are required by a charter provision or ordinance to be filed by persons supporting or opposing candidates for nomination or election to county or city office or supporting or opposing the adoption of a county or city measure. (2) If a county or city adopts a charter provision or ordinance requiring the filing of statements of contributions received and expenditures made or the filing of statements of independent expenditures that are in addition to the statements required to be filed under this chapter, the charter provision or ordinance shall also designate the county clerk or city elections officer as the filing officer for the additional statements. (3) If a county or city adopts a charter provision or ordinance under subsection (1) of this section: (a) The county or city shall file a copy of the charter provision or ordinance with the Secretary of State; and (b) For purposes of this chapter, any additional statements required to be filed by the charter provision or ordinance are considered statements required to be filed under ORS 260.044 or 260.057. (4) If a county or city adopts a charter provision or ordinance under subsection (1) of this section that designates the county clerk or city elections officer as the filing officer for a statement described in subsection (1) of this section, any reference in this chapter to the filing officer or to the Secretary of State as the filing officer for the statement is considered a reference to the county clerk or the city elections officer. ORS 260.163 9/29/2006 ATTACHMENT B Elections Division 141 State Capitol Salem OR 97301 503 986 1518 1 866 ORE VOTES Voter ResourcesCampaign Finance 2006 Campaign Finance Manual and Filing Forms o New Campaign Finance Reporting Requirements in 2007 o Contribution and Expenditure Violation Cases o Electronic Filing of Campaign Finance Reports o Campaign Finance Database o Political Contributions Tax Credit Information o Summary Reports of Campaign Contributions and Expenditures o ? Candidates and Political Parties ? County Elections Offices ? Elections History ? Federal, State and County Officials ? Help America Vote Act (HAVA) ? Initiative, Referendum and Referral ? Oregon Central Voter Registration (OCVR) ? Publications and Forms ? Statutes/Administrative Rules ? Vote by Mail ? Voter Registration Campaign Finance: New Campaign Finance Reporting Requirements in 2007 In 2005 the Legislature passed HB 3458, directing the Secretary of State to develop an electronic filing system to be used by committees to file contribution and expenditure information. The Secretary of State is in the process of developing a system that will allow users to enter campaign finance transactions directly or upload transactions via a web interface. This site's objective is to communicate changes and information that will be needed to prepare candidates and committees for the system's implementation by January 1, 2007. Summary of Changes in 2007 all The Secretary of State becomes the filing officer for candidates and committees, except chief petitioner committees for local initiative, referendum and recall petitions. All committees, other than chief petitioner committees, will be required to file their campaign finance information electronically. Committees will have the option of data entering transaction information using a web-based system provided by the Secretary of State or uploading transaction information into the Secretary of State's system using an XML file format. There will no longer be "scheduled" reporting deadlines. Committees will continuously report campaign finance transactions. Committees will be able to file and amend Statements of Organization online. XML File Upload Information ? Filing Campaign Finance Transactions Via the File Upload Process * (revised 7/28/06) ? XML Overview * (revised 7/26/06) ? XML Specifications * (revised 8/9/06) ? XML XSD File (revised 8/9/06) FAQs How will I file a campaign finance report? Campaign finance information will be filed via the Secretary of State's website. Each committee will have a private workspace where they can data enter or upload transaction information on a regular basis. The system will calculate the due date for each transaction entered. The candidate or treasurer will select the transactions to be filed and will submit them via the web. Is the candidate or treasurer required to data enter or upload transaction information or can other individuals assist? A candidate or treasurer can grant other individuals access to the committee's workspace. Individuals can be granted access to do data entry or upload a file. However, the filing of transactions with the Secretary of State must be done by the candidate or treasurer. When are transactions due? Transactions are generally due within 30 days of the date of the transaction, except during the 6 weeks prior to an election when transactions must be filed within 7 days of the date of the transaction. Additionally, certain candidates and committees must report all contributions received during a legislative session within 2 business days of receipt. When does campaign finance information become public record? A committee's workspace is a private area. A contribution or expenditure transaction entered into a committee's workspace does not become public record until the candidate or treasurer files it with the Secretary of State. How do I file a PC 1 with my signature? A committee will not be required to submit a signed PC 1 form. The online filing process will include an attestation by the candidate or treasurer and the system will calculate all summary totals for a committee. Will the system calculate contributor and payee aggregates? Yes, the system will calculate contributor and payee aggregates and also calculate all the miscellaneous contribution and expenditure categories if the committee data enters or uploads all transactions. This is the Secretary of State's recommended approach. Information regarding a contributor or payee will remain in the committee's private workspace and will not be disclosed to the Secretary of State or the public until the aggregate threshold for reporting a contributor or payee is met. A committee may choose to calculate their own aggregates and enter only those transactions exceeding the aggregate thresholds, along with miscellaneous contribution and expenditure categories. What is the period of time for calculating aggregates? Beginning in 2007, aggregates will be calculated on a calendar year basis instead of by election. Can a committee still file a Certificate of Limited Contributions and Expenditures? A committee may file a Certificate of Limited Contributions and Expenditures if they expect the total contributions received or the total expenditures made not to exceed $2000 in the calendar year. If a committee files a Certificate and later exceeds the $2000 threshold in the calendar year the committee is all required to file transaction information in that calendar year within seven days of exceeding the threshold. A committee that files a Certificate is encouraged to data enter all transaction information into the committee's private workspace. This will allow the system to assist the committee in determining if the $2000 threshold is exceeded and if it is exceeded the transaction information required to be filed will already be data entered into the system. Can I still utilize a vendor to assist me in filing campaign finance information? Yes, vendors can still assist committees in managing their accounts and filing campaign finance information. However, the candidate or treasurer must be logged into the system when the transactions are actually filed with the Secretary of State. What is XML? XML stands for Extensible Markup Language and is a simple, flexible text formatted file that is used for electronic data interchange. The XML file process will be used primarily by candidates and committees utilizing a vendor to assist them in filing campaign finance transaction information. Are vendors the only ones who can upload an XML file? No, any candidate, treasurer or authorized user may upload an XML file for processing. I manage multiple committee's can I create one XML file to upload transactions for multiple committees? No, a file must be specific to a committee. Will I be able to export data I have entered or uploaded into the Secretary of State's system? The system will allow the export of data from a committee's workspace by candidates, treasurers and authorized individuals.