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Committee advances bill to require campaign committee registration fee and shift lobbyist tax revenue to ethics bureau
Summary
The State and Local Government Committee voted to send House Bill 6 53 to Finance, Ways and Means after testimony from the Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance about a decades‑old reporting system and a proposed $150 annual registration fee for campaign committees.
The State and Local Government Committee voted to advance House Bill 6 53 on a 22‑to‑1 vote, sending the measure to the Finance, Ways and Means Committee.
The bill, sponsored by Representative Hicks, would require political campaign committees registered with the Registry of Election Finance to pay a $150 annual registration fee and direct 80% of an annual professional privilege tax paid by registered lobbyists to the Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance to fund an update of the bureau’s information technology platform and website.
Representative Hicks told the committee the measure is intended as a “cleanup” and to give the bureau money to replace a 30‑year‑old system. Bill Young, executive director of the Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance, told lawmakers the agency’s system is overdue for replacement and that the bureau has been discussing costs and options with other states and state IT staff. “This is mostly a cleanup bill,” Young said, and he described prior conversations with the finance commissioner and legislative leadership about obtaining funds.
Young said the agency has studied modernization work done by other states, citing Georgia’s recent replacement that cost roughly $3 million and carries ongoing monitoring costs. He said the bureau is behind on audits in part because of staff shortages and salary constraints, and that modest revenue could be used to hire and retain auditors and modernize online filing and search functions.
Representative Rudd, who spoke in support, described the bill as necessary to provide stable funding and to improve public access to campaign finance records. Representative Warner asked whether the bill would affect out‑of‑state political action committee activity; Young replied that the bill does not address that issue and focuses on registry funding and technology.
The committee recorded 22 ayes and 1 nay when it voted to advance the bill. The measure now goes to Finance, Ways and Means.
Questions and answers during the hearing focused on the expected uses of revenue, the bureau’s staffing needs and whether expanded resources would change the bureau’s audit workload. Young said the bill does not by itself increase the number of audits required by statute but could allow the bureau to hire staff so audits are completed more promptly.
