TO: CVF-NEWS
FROM: Kim Alexander, California Voter Foundation
DATE: August 15, 1997
RE: SB 49 Update; NY Passes Electronic Filing

Hi Folks,

I have lots of news to report on electronic filing/online disclosure. This edition of CVF-NEWS features:

New York Legislature Passes Mandatory Electronic Filing Law

Yes folks, it's true! Many observers doubted it would ever happen, but I recently found out that New York's recently-passed state budget includes a provision requiring mandatory electronic filing of all statewide, legislative and state judiciary candidates who raise $1,000 or more, beginning in July 1999. The New York threshold for mandatory electronic filing is much lower than California's $50,000 threshold. The New York Legislature also appropriated $200,000 to the New York State Board of Elections to develop electronic filing software. The mandatory electronic filing provision is contained in the budget bill, which was passed on August 1 is currently awaiting New York Governor George Pataki's signature.

New York joins a growing list of state legislatures that have recently enacted mandatory electronic filing. According to a recent state-by-state survey conducted by the Center for Responsive Politics the following state legislatures - in addition to New York's - have recently passed electronic filing legislation:

If California's Legislature succeeds in passing SB 49, we will join these other states at the forefront of the digital disclosure movement.

SB 49/Karnette - Status Report: Next Hearing is August 27th

The next hearing on SB 49/Karnette, a bill that would mandate electronic filing of, and Internet access to campaign finance and lobbying data, is on August 27th, when it will be taken up by the Assembly Appropriations Committee. (**Please note that the hearing date was changed from August 20th**. Because of delay in passing the budget, the Legislature decided to extend its recess period an extra week. Originally, session was to reconvene on August 18, but now the Legislature will return to Sacramento on August 25th instead).

The August 27th Assembly Appropriations hearing is the last hearing on SB 49 before the bill moves to the Assembly floor for a full floor vote (assuming it passes out of Appropriations). Many groups supporting SB 49 have been meeting with Assembly members to seek their support for the bill, and have begun mobilizing their members to lobby Assembly members during the recess. It is still not clear whether SB 49 will get the 54 votes it needs on the Assembly floor. There appears to be growing support for SB 49, and, though it is certain to take a lot of effort and lobbying, there is a very good chance that this bill may get the votes needed for passage in the Assembly. If SB 49 makes it out of the Assembly, it will next head to the Senate for concurrence in Assembly amendments, then it goes to the Governor. One way or another, we'll know the final outcome of the Legislature's actions on SB 49 by September 12, which is the last day of this year's legislative session.

SB 49 was recently amended to address some technical issues, and at this point the bill is in excellent shape - it has been carefully reviewed and scrutinized, and is unlikely to be amended again this year, particularly because of the Political Reform Act's so-called "twelve-day rule", which requires that any bill amending the act (as SB 49 does) be in print for twelve days prior to a floor vote in the Legislature. So if anyone has any further concerns with SB 49, or has been planning to take a close look at it, you'd better do so ASAP. You can find the full text of the bill in the "California Legislative Updates" section of the Digital Sunlight Web site at www.digitalsunlight.org.

Governor's Office of Planning and Analysis' Letter of Opposition on SB 49

Many people have been wondering what Governor Pete Wilson is likely to do if SB 49 makes it to his desk. Although Governor Wilson has not directly stated a position on either SB 49 or electronic filing/online disclosure in general, his Office of Planning and Research (OPR) did issue a letter this week stating their opposition to SB 49. OPR's letter states that "the concept of electronic filing is an interesting idea and we acknowledge that certain variations of this type of filing are currently operating in various locations. However, we cannot justify the costs and the potential risks associated with this measure."

The OPR letter goes on to say that "this bill would appropriate over approximately one million dollars for an electronic filing system that has not been fully tested statewide. This amount does not include the substantial on-going costs now estimated to be approximately $218,000 to annually run this system. Further, it is unknown whether transmitting campaign information on the "net" would be protected from potential misuse on a permanent basis. We are concerned that due to continuous technological advancements, the software used to prevent the misuse of data could become obsolete."

Although the OPR analysis is troubling, it should not be viewed as the Governor's position, and appears to result from a lack of information. Senator Karnette and Secretary of State Bill Jones are providing OPR with additional information and are hopeful that it will result in OPR changing its position from oppose to support.

Again, it is immportant to remember that Wilson himself has not publicly stated his opinion on electronic filing or online disclosure. However, Governor Wilson has shown strong leadership on other technology issues. His Digital High School Initiative, which he announced in his 1997 State of the State address, seeks to bring computers and the Internet to every one of California's 840 high schools over the next four years. The recently-passed budget bill includes $100 million in funding for Wilson's Digital High School Initiative, and the so-called "budget trailer bill" for this program, AB 64 by Assemblyman Joe Baca, is also expected to be passed and signed into law. Hopefully Governor Wilson will recognize that California voters, as well as California students, need state-of-the-art access to online information, and that the low, $1.1 million price tag for the electronic filing program included in SB 49 is relatively insignificant, representing .0000164 percent of the state's new $67 billion budget.

News stories and editorials on SB 49

There have been several recent news stories published on SB 49. On August 12, the Los Angeles Times ran an editorial in support of SB 49, titled, "A 'Net Gain for California". Legitech's Capitol Alert News, an online news service, featured a story on August 12 that includes links to the OPR letter, Senator Karnette's response, and a letter to the Assembly from Secretary of State Bill Jones (available at www.legitech.com). The Associated Press featured a story by Steve Lawrence on August 6th, with the headline, "Bill to put donations on Internet could be budget victim." And yesterday, Cybertimes, an online publication of the New York Times featured an excellent piece by staff writer Rebecca Fairley Raney, which I have included below.

Kim Alexander, Executive Director, California Voter Foundation
cvf@netcom.com
916/325-2120

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