SB 401: Political Reform Act of 1974: filing deadlines: emergency situations.

Under the Political Reform Act of 1974, various individuals and entities, including candidates, committees that support candidates and ballot measures, lobbyists, slate mailer organizations, and public officials, are required to periodically file certain statements and reports that disclose their financial activities. When an original statement or report is filed after the deadline for its filing under the act, the person responsible for making the filing is subject to a late filing penalty of $10 per day, as specified, in addition to any other penalties or remedies under the act.

This bill would authorize the Fair Political Practices Commission to extend any filing deadline established by the act, by no more than 60 days, for individuals that live in an area impacted by an emergency situation if the emergency situation is reasonably likely to affect the individual’s ability to timely file. The bill would prohibit the commission from extending a deadline under these provisions during the 90 days before an election. The bill would define emergency situation to mean an emergency proclaimed by the Governor or a local governing body pursuant to a specified law.

The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act’s purposes upon a ²/₃ vote of each house of the Legislature and compliance with specified procedural requirements.

This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.