Bill > HB16

This bill modifies the Fair Campaign Practices Act to change how civil penalties are communicated to individuals who fail to file campaign finance reports on time or file inaccurate reports. The bill allows the Secretary of State to primarily send penalty notifications via electronic mail to the email address filed with a political action committee or principal campaign committee, instead of only using certified mail. If the imposed penalty exceeds the cost of certified mail, the notification must still be sent via certified mail to the committee's address. The bill maintains the existing penalty structure, which ranges from $300 to $1,200 or 10-20 percent of unreported contributions/expenditures, depending on the number of offenses in an election cycle. The penalties are payable to the Secretary of State within 45 days and will be distributed to the State General Fund. The bill provides some leniency for first-time or voluntarily corrected reporting errors and allows campaign funds to be used to pay these penalties. The changes aim to modernize communication methods while ensuring that individuals are properly notified of campaign finance reporting violations. The bill is set to become effective on October 1, 2026.

Budget and Finance

https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/bill-search