State Fiscal Highlights
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STATE FUND |
FY 2010 – FUTURE YEARS |
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General Revenue Fund – Secretary of State and Ohio Elections Commission |
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Revenues |
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Expenditures |
Potential minimal increase |
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Elections Commission Fund (Fund 4P20) – Ohio Elections Commission |
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Revenues |
Potential minimal gain in fine revenue |
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Expenditures |
Potential minimal increase |
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Note: The state fiscal year is July 1 through June 30. For example, FY 2010 is July 1, 2009 – June 30, 2010. |
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· The bill requires vendors to disclose to campaign committees all expenditures made on their behalf and campaign committees to report all such expenditures in filings submitted to the Secretary of State. As a result, the Elections Division within the Secretary of State's Office could incur some new costs for processing additional filings related to statewide candidates and issues. Any new expenses would likely be minimal.
· If the bill increases the number of elections law complaints, the Ohio Elections Commission could incur higher costs for handling these cases. The Commission is funded partly by the GRF and partly by candidate and issue filing fees and fines deposited into the Ohio Elections Commission Fund (Fund 4P20).
Local Fiscal Highlights
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LOCAL GOVERNMENT |
FY 2010 – FUTURE YEARS |
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County Boards of Elections |
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Revenues |
- 0 - |
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Expenditures |
Potential minimal increase |
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Note: For most local governments, the fiscal year is the calendar year. The school district fiscal year is July 1 through June 30. |
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· County boards of elections could incur some minimal new costs for processing the additional filings related to local candidates and issues under the bill.
Detailed Fiscal Analysis
Overview
The bill requires a vendor that spends money on behalf of, in support of, or in opposition to a candidate or campaign committee promptly to transmit a detailed record of any expenses incurred to the campaign committee of the candidate upon whose behalf the expenditure was made. In turn, the bill requires a campaign committee to include in the relevant statement of contributions and expenditures the full name and address of each vendor to whom an expenditure was made and an itemized record of all expenditure information reported by the vendor. These requirements could impose some new processing costs on the Secretary of State for statewide campaigns and county boards of elections for local campaigns. The Ohio Elections Commission might also incur some new costs for hearing complaints, but could also impose new fines after finding any such violations of elections law.
Secretary of State and county boards of elections
The bill's additional reporting requirements could result in some additional costs for both the Secretary of State and county boards of elections. For statewide campaigns, the Campaign Finance Section housed within the Elections Division of the Secretary of State's Office and funded through GRF appropriation item 050321, Operating Expenses, could incur some additional costs for handling the added volume of filings. County boards of elections could incur new costs for processing filings associated with local candidates and issues. For both the Secretary of State and county boards of elections, any additional costs are likely to be minimal.
Ohio Elections Commission
Campaign finance complaints and other types of alleged elections law violations are forwarded by the Secretary of State to the Ohio Elections Commission, which has the authority to hear and rule on these complaints. Under current law, the Ohio Elections Commission is permitted to levy fines for violations of various elections laws. Any fines assessed by the Ohio Elections Commission are deposited into the Elections Commission Fund (Fund 4P20). Any additional costs as a result of the bill – probably minimal because there would likely be few additional complaints – would be paid for from either the GRF or Fund 4P20 and could potentially be offset by any fine revenues collected. Fund 4P20 generally collects $400,000 in filing fees and penalties over the course of the biennium.
