James_Sept-Oct_2025_web - Flipbook - Page 43
his year the General
Assembly passed,
and Gov. Brian Kemp
signed, Senate Bill
99 which makes
some important
changes to Georgia’s campaign
finance and lobbying laws. The
following is a summary of the key
points from that bill, which generally
becomes effective January 1, 2026.
Please note that this article provides
information only and may not be
relied on as providing legal advice.
Campaign Contribution Disclosure
Report Schedules. The new law
changes candidate disclosure report
(CCDR) filing schedules. Starting
next January, in both election and
nonelection years candidates will
file CCDRs on January 31, April 30,
July 31 and October 20 (with the
same five business day grace period). Elected officials leaving office
with excess contributions, as well
as unsuccessful candidates and
candidates raising funds for debt
retirement, will file on this same
reporting schedule until they terminate their campaigns.
The law keeps the requirements
that a candidate file a CCDR six days
before any run-off election, as well as
the two-day reporting requirement
for all contributions of $1,000 or more
during the period of time between
the last report due prior to an election and the date of such election.
Personal Financial Disclosure (PFD)
Reporting Schedule. Public officers
and candidates will be required to
file a PFD by April 1 of each year (instead of the current July 1 deadline
in nonelection years). The schedule
is different for county and municipal
elected officials and candidates; they
must file by September 1. Special
election candidates must file 15 days
after qualifying to run.
Lobbyist Reporting Schedule. Lobby-
ists in the areas of state legislation,
county or municipal ordinances or
resolutions, vendor lobbying, and the
State Transportation Board will file
disclosure reports on or before the
fifth day of each month. Legislative
lobbyists will no longer be required
to file semimonthly reports during
the legislative session. Lobbyists
working on county or municipal
ordinances or resolutions will have a
five-day grace period.
Location of Filings for County and
Municipal Candidates and Ballot
Committees. County and municipal
candidates will continue filing their
CCDRs and PFDs at the local level
until December 31, 2026. Starting
January 1, 2027, they will file their
reports with the State Ethics Commission. This same change applies
to county or municipal ballot committees. Any county or local candidates want to file the notice stating
that they do not intend to accept
more than $2,500 in contributions or
make more than $2,500 in expenditures will file that with the Commission (rather than locally) starting in
2027.
Redaction of Home Addresses. It
has long been a security concern of
public officials, in particular judges,
that they have been required to disclose home addresses on personal
financial disclosures. The new law
now requires the Commission to
redact home addresses “from any
records the commission discloses,
posts, or releases to the public.”
Technically that should be read to
require redaction of that information from all previously filed reports
which are available online. It’s now
clear the Commission will not be
doing that.
Political Action Committees. The
law includes a new provision stating that PACs must register, and
open a bank account in the name of
the PAC, before engaging in financial activity. The PAC reporting
schedule has also been adjusted to
match up with the new candidate
reporting schedule. Reports must
continue on that schedule until the
bank account required by the new
law has been zeroed out and the
PAC has been terminated.
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