Senate committee advances ethics bill to extend liability and align campaign reporting

Sen. Jonathan Desmayne presented a bill from the Arkansas Ethics Commission that would make persons or entities that are not on the statutory list of permissible contributors liable for making prohibited contributions, rather than leaving liability solely with candidates.

Graham Sloane, director of the Arkansas Ethics Commission, told the committee the current law sometimes left candidates liable for prohibited contributions that were made by third parties, and the proposed change would place potential liability on the contributor or entity that made the impermissible contribution. "The law contains a list of permissible contributors, and we have had occasion where somebody that's not on the list of permissible contributors makes a contribution, and the candidate is the one that has liability," Sloane said.

The bill also standardizes record‑retention and reporting requirements so that exploratory committees, independent expenditure committees and PACs follow the same rules that apply to candidates, and it allows certain party committees (BQC and LQC) to keep and reuse campaign signs in the same manner currently allowed for candidates.

Committee members asked technical drafting questions about specific lines and terms such as the definition of "remaining campaign funds" (a change made in Act 737 of 2021) and whether the bill corrects leftover references to "carryover funds." Sloane said the bill mostly cleans up those inconsistencies and brings deadlines and retention requirements into alignment for various committee types.

The committee passed the bill by voice vote; no roll‑call tally was recorded.