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Sponsor voluntarily defers bill to restore 2026 federal qualifying fees
Summary
Representative Baham introduced HB3 to roll back qualifying fees for U.S. House and Senate races for 2026; after questions about maps, petitions and timing, Baham agreed to voluntarily defer the bill and later withdrew a pending motion to involuntarily defer.
Representative Baham introduced House Bill 3, which would restore lower qualifying fees for U.S. Senate and U.S. House contests in the 2026 cycle. Baham said the measure "returns the qualifying fees for US Senate and United States House of Representatives for the 2026 election period to what they were before," arguing the roll back would be fair if dates or congressional maps change ahead of 2026.
Members questioned how fee levels and lowered petition thresholds interact and whether a temporary rollback should be limited to one election cycle. Baham said petition thresholds were already reduced as part of prior compromise and that HB3 was limited to the 2026 cycle because of "potential fluidity of the dates, depending on what the legislature does" with other bills affecting the election calendar.
Representative Thomas moved to defer the bill; the motion language was clarified on the record and then withdrawn. Representative Baham then agreed to voluntarily defer HB3 for the present session. The committee did not take a final vote on HB3 during this meeting; Baham indicated he might reintroduce the measure if it does not pass this year.
