| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to campaign financing; amending s. |
| 3 | 106.141, F.S.; allowing unopposed legislative candidates |
| 4 | to transfer surplus campaign funds to or retain such funds |
| 5 | in a campaign account for reelection to the same office; |
| 6 | establishing limits on the transferable amount of such |
| 7 | funds; providing a prohibition from fundraising under |
| 8 | certain conditions; amending s. 106.07, F.S.; deleting |
| 9 | certain filing requirements for candidates for other than |
| 10 | statewide office; providing an effective date. |
| 11 |
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| 12 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 13 |
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| 14 | Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (4) of section |
| 15 | 106.141, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 16 | 106.141 Disposition of surplus funds by candidates.-- |
| 17 | (4)(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b), any candidate |
| 18 | required to dispose of funds pursuant to this section shall, at |
| 19 | the option of the candidate, dispose of such funds by any of the |
| 20 | following means, or any combination thereof: |
| 21 | 1. Return pro rata to each contributor the funds that have |
| 22 | not been spent or obligated. |
| 23 | 2. Donate the funds that have not been spent or obligated |
| 24 | to a charitable organization or organizations that meet the |
| 25 | qualifications of s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. |
| 26 | 3. Give not more than $10,000 of the funds that have not |
| 27 | been spent or obligated to the political party of which such |
| 28 | candidate is a member, except that a candidate for the Florida |
| 29 | Senate may give not more than $30,000 of such funds to the |
| 30 | political party of which the candidate is a member. |
| 31 | 4. Give the funds that have not been spent or obligated: |
| 32 | a. In the case of a candidate for state office, to the |
| 33 | state, to be deposited in either the Election Campaign Financing |
| 34 | Trust Fund or the General Revenue Fund, as designated by the |
| 35 | candidate; or |
| 36 | b. In the case of a candidate for an office of a political |
| 37 | subdivision, to such political subdivision, to be deposited in |
| 38 | the general fund thereof. |
| 39 | 5. With respect to an unopposed candidate for the House of |
| 40 | Representatives or the Senate, transfer the funds to or retain |
| 41 | the funds in a campaign account for the same office to which the |
| 42 | candidate was elected by virtue of being unopposed, with a |
| 43 | maximum per election of $50,000 for a candidate for the House of |
| 44 | Representatives and $150,000 for a candidate for the Senate. An |
| 45 | unopposed candidate for the House of Representatives who |
| 46 | exercises this option is prohibited from accepting campaign |
| 47 | contributions for the same office for 1 year after the date of |
| 48 | qualifying for the election in which such option is exercised. |
| 49 | An unopposed candidate for the Senate who exercises this option |
| 50 | is prohibited from accepting campaign contributions for the same |
| 51 | office for 2 years after the date of qualifying for the election |
| 52 | in which such option is exercised. |
| 53 | Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section |
| 54 | 106.07, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 55 | 106.07 Reports; certification and filing.-- |
| 56 | (2)(a) All reports required of a candidate by this section |
| 57 | shall be filed with the officer before whom the candidate is |
| 58 | required by law to qualify. All candidates who file with the |
| 59 | Department of State shall file their reports pursuant to s. |
| 60 | 106.0705. In addition, a copy of each report for candidates for |
| 61 | other than statewide office who qualify with the Department of |
| 62 | State shall be filed with the supervisor of elections in the |
| 63 | county where the candidate resides. Except as provided in s. |
| 64 | 106.0705, reports shall be filed not later than 5 p.m. of the |
| 65 | day designated; however, any report postmarked by the United |
| 66 | States Postal Service no later than midnight of the day |
| 67 | designated shall be deemed to have been filed in a timely |
| 68 | manner. Any report received by the filing officer within 5 days |
| 69 | after the designated due date that was delivered by the United |
| 70 | States Postal Service shall be deemed timely filed unless it has |
| 71 | a postmark that indicates that the report was mailed after the |
| 72 | designated due date. A certificate of mailing obtained from and |
| 73 | dated by the United States Postal Service at the time of |
| 74 | mailing, or a receipt from an established courier company, which |
| 75 | bears a date on or before the date on which the report is due, |
| 76 | shall be proof of mailing in a timely manner. Reports shall |
| 77 | contain information of all previously unreported contributions |
| 78 | received and expenditures made as of the preceding Friday, |
| 79 | except that the report filed on the Friday immediately preceding |
| 80 | the election shall contain information of all previously |
| 81 | unreported contributions received and expenditures made as of |
| 82 | the day preceding that designated due date. All such reports |
| 83 | shall be open to public inspection. |
| 84 | Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2006. |