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TO: Interested Parties
FROM: Kim Alexander, California Voter Foundation
DATE: June 19, 1996
RE: Another Electronic Filing Bill to be Considered

The effort to pass electronic filing legislation this year continues: last week, Assemblyman Bruce McPherson (R-Santa Cruz) amended his bill, AB 1026, to provide for electronic filing of political disclosure records and require that those records be made available on the Internet. AB 1026 is scheduled to be heard in the Senate Elections Committee on July 3, 1996.

McPherson's bill is similar to the Speier legislation that failed in the Assembly (AB 2546) but there are also some important changes in the legislation:

• Statements of Economic Interest and other documents currently filed with the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) would be added to the list of documents that must be disclosed electronically and published on the Internet;

The Secretary of State, with input from the FPPC, would be required to provide the Legislature with a status report every two years on implementation of electronic filing and online disclosure;

Electronic filing thresholds would apply to all filers, and not just campaign committees;

Electronic filing thresholds would be $50,000 for the first year of the program (expected to be 1998), and then would decrease to $25,000 in subsequent years;

The appropriation to the Secretary of State would increase from $500,000 to $750,000;

This new chapter, if enacted, would be titled the "McPherson Campaign and Government Electronic Disclosure Act of 1996."

It would be illegal to use any of the publicly disclosed data for commercial purposes;

It would be illegal to use any of the publicly disclosed data in order to harass someone;

Residential street addresses would be deleted from online records, as well as any personal identification numbers;

The Secretary of State would have to consult with the Department of Information Technology in developing and implementing the system.

With the exception of the "tombstone" provision (that being the one that would call this new chapter the "McPherson Campaign and Government Electronic Disclosure Act of 1996"), these amendments are an improvement to the Speier bill, which probably would have been amended along similar lines had that bill survived the Assembly.

I do think the Legislature has turned a corner on this issue - the numerous news articles, editorials, phone calls and letters from constituents have sent a powerful message that electronic filing and online access to political disclosure records is an issue of great concern to the public. Most recently, the San Jose Mercury News featured a second editorial asking, "Will state Senate pass the political openness test?", and Political Pulse, a weekly newsletter for Capitol "insiders", published a cover story on the fight over electronic filing in its June 14th edition.

The Senate Elections Committee has a mixed record when it comes to electronic filing legislation. Senator Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica) has twice authored electronic filing bills; SB 68 was passed by Senate Elections in 1995, but more recently, Hayden's SB 1893 was defeated in Senate Elections. Here is a look at how the members of the committee voted on these earlier bills:

	SB 68 (pass) (vote taken 4/19/95)				SB 1893 (fail) (vote taken 4/17/96)
	Yes	No	Not Voting		Yes	No	Not Voting
POLANCO	X				X
BOATWRIGHT			X			X
MELLO	X				X
BEVERLY			X				X
CRAVEN	X						X

For those wishing to send position letters on AB 1026 to the Senate Elections Committee, here is the contact information:

Senator Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles), Chairman
State Capitol, Room 2032
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 445-2601
Fax: (916) 445-0413

Senator William Craven (R- Oceanside), Vice Chair
State Capitol, Room 3070
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 445-3731
Fax: (916) 446-7382

Senator Robert Beverly (R-Long Beach)
State Capitol, Room 5082
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 445-6447
Fax: not available

Senator Dan Boatwright (D-Concord)
State Capitol, Room 3086
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 445-6083
Fax: (510) 689-0618

Senator Henry Mello (D-Watsonville)
State Capitol, Room 313
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 445-5843
Fax: (916) 448-0175
email: Senator.Mello@sen.ca.gov

Here is the author's contact information as well:

Assemblyman Bruce McPherson
State Capitol, Room 3091
Phone: (916) 445-8496
Fax: (916) 327-5818
email: Bruce.A.McPherson@assembly.ca.gov

CVF's disclosure reform web site is still in the works, and we plan to debut it prior to the July 3rd hearing on AB 1026. Stay tuned!

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

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