Committee debates campaign finance thresholds, filing cadence and fees; no vote taken

The committee held an extended discussion of draft campaign finance changes in Bill 2156 but took no committee vote, instead asking staff and Legislative Counsel to draft amendments for further consideration.

Committee members reviewed multiple topics: whether to require quarterly campaign finance reports year-round, whether to change itemization thresholds for expenditures (several members favored raising the expenditure itemization level from $200 to $500), whether to allow aggregate reporting for frequent small expenditures (for example, multiple purchases at the same vendor), and how much donor contact information should appear on public filings. "I have a little bit of a problem with mailing addresses for, what for individuals being a matter of public record," Senator Lee said, expressing privacy concerns about listing home addresses on public filings.

Members also discussed fee schedules for late filings and whether nonpayment of past fees should bar ballot access until fees are cured. Participants suggested alternatives to the bill's current late-fee schedule; some favored lower graduated fees (for example, $100, $250 and $500 instead of $100/$500/$1,000). The committee expressed interest in allowing town and state (city/state) to be captured instead of full mailing addresses for many filers and in aggregating repeated small expenditures by vendor.

Chair Rohrs asked staff to return with drafted language on those points and indicated discussion would continue at a later hearing. No formal motion or vote was taken on the bill during this meeting.

Ending: The committee will reconvene on the bill after staff prepare amendments addressing thresholds, aggregation, address fields and fee changes.