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Committee reviews HB344 package to tighten campaign finance filings and accounting
Summary
Sen. Townsend said HB344 would require Delaware candidates and committees to use designated in-state bank accounts, require biennial treasurer training, tighten loan documentation and record retention, prohibit negative reporting balances, and authorize audit regulations by the commissioner; some public commenters opposed the estimated cost.
Senator Townsend told the committee that House Bill 344 would strengthen campaign finance transparency by requiring candidates and political committees to keep a designated Delaware bank account, completing campaign-finance training every two years, documenting loans properly, extending record-retention rules, and prohibiting reports that show a negative balance at filing.
Townsend said the bill also authorizes the commissioner of elections to create regulations for political committee audits and establishes that a committee cited for failure to file and pay fines would be deemed inactive. He framed the bill as balancing transparency with reasonableness so reporting is informative without being unduly burdensome.
Public commenter Lisa Rice (identified as from Middletown) opposed the bill’s proposed $1.5 million implementation figure and urged lawmakers to consider fiscal constraints, asking whether safeguards or alternatives could address duplicate or illegal voting without an expensive constitutional change. No committee vote was recorded.
