Huber bill to increase government transparency signed by governor


SACRAMENTO – Legislation to increase government transparency by Assemblymember Alyson Huber, D-El Dorado Hills, has been signed by the governor. The bipartisan bill, AB 1181, would require most state candidate committees, ballot measure committees and slate mail organizations to file a list of contributors online with the Secretary of State's Office.

"This bill will improve transparency by making it easier for the public to track how money is raised and spent," said Huber. "We should be doing everything we can to make government as open as possible and this bill moves us in that direction."

Existing law requires state candidates, committees and slate mailing organizations to file campaign statements and reports online if the cumulative amount of reportable contributions, expenditures and loans made or received is $50,000 or more. Similarly, state lobbying entities are only required to file reports online if the total amount of any category of reportable payments, expenses, contributions, gifts or other items is $5,000 or more in a calendar quarter.

While the exemption may have been logical when the online filing statutes were created in 1997, the availability of free electronic filing software makes this exemption no longer necessary for state lobbying entity documents and the vast majority of state campaign documents.

AB 1181 lowers the under $50,000 and under $5,000 exemptions to $25,000 and $2,500 for all state lobbying entity documents and most state campaign documents, requiring these documents to be filed online. AB 1181 was sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of State.

For more information, visit www.asm.ca.gov/huber.

Excerpted from www.mtdemocrat.com