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FPPC launches redesigned website with improved search and help resources
Summary
The California Fair Political Practices Commission unveiled a redesigned public website featuring enhanced search filters, a dedicated filing-officer section, an embedded tutorial video, and clearer links to vendor-hosted tools such as the Form 700 search; staff encouraged public feedback via education@fppc.ca.gov.
The California Fair Political Practices Commission on Feb. 11 unveiled a redesigned public website intended to make campaign-finance and ethics information easier to find for candidates, filing officers, the media and the public. Staff demonstrated new search filters, a dedicated filing-officer tab and an 18-minute YouTube tutorial embedded on the site.
The new site groups content under seven top-level navigation tabs and uses a taxonomy to tag documents so users can filter by publication type, topic and date. "We're trying to streamline everything to make things easily accessible on the website," said Chloe Heckert, the commission's education and external affairs unit manager in the legal division. She added that the enhanced search will let users drill down for specific items such as advice letters, commission opinions, stipulations and enforcement case materials.
Why it matters: The redesign aims to reduce the time and technical know-how needed to find regulatory guidance and disclosure filings during an election year. Heckert said the site is meant to help “filing officers,” a primary user group, locate guidance on duties, conflict-of-interest codes and biennial notices more quickly. The agency also embedded a YouTube tutorial with timestamped chapters so users can jump directly to demonstrations of common tasks.
Staff cautioned that several high-demand datasets remain hosted on separate vendor servers and are reachable through prominent links rather than the main search index. Heckert said Form 700 searches and certain payment-reporting tools are provided by outside platforms (for example, vendor-hosted services) and will still be accessed through direct links: "Anything that's housed on a separate server…won't be found through our main search," she said, adding that buttons and clear navigation will point users to those systems.
The commission credited a months-long internal migration and tagging effort for the site's functionality. Staff and volunteers ran two all-hands tagging sessions and worked with vendor SimSoft and internal migration teams to move pages and documents into the new taxonomy. Heckert publicly thanked Mason Lord, Kylie Carson and project manager Reiko Vasca for their roles.
A vote recorded at the meeting: the committee approved April 2025 minutes before the presentation. "So I'm gonna go ahead and move to approve those minutes," Chair Silver said; the motion carried with 'Aye' votes from Commissioner Wilson and Chair Silver.
Looking ahead: The agency asked for public feedback and provided an education inbox (education@fppc.ca.gov) and a prominent "Contact us" tab for mailing-list signups, public-records requests and bug reports. Staff said they will promote the site in newsletters and that the site launch is timely given candidate filing activity this year.
Votes at a glance: Approval of April 2025 minutes — Moved by Chair Silver; seconded by an unidentified speaker; outcome: approved; recorded 'Aye' votes: Commissioner Wilson, Chair Silver. Adjournment motion — Moved by Chair Silver; seconded by an unidentified speaker; outcome: approved; recorded 'Aye' votes: Commissioner Wilson, Chair Silver.
The commission said the site URL remains www.fppc.ca.gov and urged users to report issues or suggestions to education@fppc.ca.gov.
