SB497 Alabama 2012 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Ben H. Brooks

Republican

Co-Sponsor

Arthur Orr

Session

Regular Session 2012

Title

Elections, campaign finance reporting, eliminate duplicate and multiple filings, provide full month and weeks reporting periods, Sec. 17-5-8 am'd

Summary

SB497 rewrites Alabama's campaign finance reporting to reduce duplicates, define clear daily/weekly/monthly reporting periods, and push toward mandatory electronic filing by 2014.

What This Bill Does

It removes duplicate and multiple filings and clarifies that daily reports must cover activity since the last report. It sets weekly reporting for the four weeks before an election and monthly reporting starting 12 months before any election for committees that influence election results, with balances carried over from the prior report. It allows daily reporting when a committee spends or receives $5,000 or more on any day, and requires those reports to cover that day and days since the last report. It moves toward electronic filing (mandatory by 2014 for many elections, with earlier options and a $10,000-per-cycle exemption) and makes those filings available to the public in a searchable database.

Who It Affects

• Principal campaign committees and political action committees would have new, consolidated reporting schedules (monthly, weekly, and daily) and face reduced duplicate filings, plus a path to mandatory electronic filing.
• Voters and government officials (via the Secretary of State and probate judges) would gain online access to campaign finance reports through a public searchable database and must operate under the new filing timelines.

Key Provisions

• Eliminate duplicate/multiple filings; daily reports include activity since the most recent prior report; weekly reports cover the prior week; monthly reports cover the prior full month; monetary balances begin from the prior report's balance.
• Monthly reporting begins after the 2012 election cycle: due by the second business day of the following month for 12 months before any election in which the committee influences results; covers the prior month.
• Weekly reporting for elections: a report filed weekly on Mondays for four weeks before the election, including all reportable activities from the previous week.
• Daily reporting around elections: if any committee spends or receives $5,000+ on a day toward influencing an election, daily reports are due on the 8th through the 2nd day before the election and include activity on the report day and since the prior report; fax filing allowed for 2012 cycle under certain conditions.
• Electronic filing: may be implemented sooner than 2014; electronic filing becomes mandatory for the 2014 election cycle for specified elections; reports filed electronically are public on the Secretary of State's website; entities with $10,000 or less per election cycle may be exempt from electronic filing.
• Other disclosures: annual reports are still required and must disclose cash on hand, contributions, loans, expenditures, debts, and related details; the monetary balance carried over between reports; and authorities may issue implementing rules.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 25, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Elections