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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Bob Freeman |
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State House committee approves campaign finance reform bill
HARRISBURG, April 21 – The House State Government Committee has reported out a bill (H.B. 2162) to overhaul the state's campaign finance laws, which includes language originally introduced by state Rep. Bob Freeman, D-Northampton.
The bill would set campaign contribution limits, increase fees for the late filing of campaign expense reports, require additional reports to be filed and require electronic filing of reports.
Freeman's original bill, whose language is included in this bill, would have required candidates for the state legislature to file campaign expense reports at more frequent intervals in order to create a more transparent record-keeping process during an election year.
"This change would provide earlier disclosure and greater transparency on who is contributing to candidates for the General Assembly," Freeman said. "This is information voters should have access to earlier in a campaign than they currently do."
"This legislation would be the first major overhaul of Pennsylvania's campaign finance law in over 30 years," Freeman said. "For the first time in Pennsylvania politics, there would actually be limits on the amount of campaign contributions. That's a major step forward in reforming the political process in our state."
Freeman is a co-sponsor of H.B. 2162. As reported out, the bill would:
· require all candidates and political committees to file quarterly expense reports with the state in non-election years, and require General Assembly candidates to file an extra report six weeks before an election. All reports would be available online to the public;
· impose contribution limits for individuals, political party committees and political action committees
o from an individual to a:
§ candidate for General Assembly, court of common pleas, county or local office -- $2,000 per election
§ statewide candidate -- $5,000 per election
§ political action committee -- $5,000 per calendar year
§ political party committee -- $20,000 per election
o No individual would be able to contribute more than $25,000 per election.
o from a political action or candidate's committee to a:
§ candidate for General Assembly, court of common pleas, county or local office -- $2,000 per election
§ statewide candidate -- $10,000 per election
§ political action committee -- $5,000 per calendar year
§ political party committee -- $20,000 per election
o from a political party committee to a:
§ candidate for General Assembly, court of common pleas, county or local -- $5,000 per election
§ statewide candidate -- $100,000 per election
§ political action committee -- $20,000 per election
· define expenditure as a payment only for legitimate and verifiable campaign expenses, and not for any "inherently personal purpose," such as a home mortgage, rent or utility payment, clothing purchase, non-campaign vehicle expense, vacation or non-campaign trip, household food items or admission to a sporting event, concert or theater;
· increase the fine for late filing of reports from $10 to $20 for the first 10 days and an additional $50 fine for each day thereafter, with the maximum fine for a single report set at $1,000. The current maximum fine is capped at $250; and
· require the secretary of the Commonwealth to develop a computer database and electronic reporting system for campaign contributions and expenditures, which would be available to the public, and establish a training program for the system.
The bill was sent to the full House for consideration.