WeVote
Log In

Bill

Bill

SB 2650

Campaign finance; allow reports to be filed and made accessible via a website run by the SOS.

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Jeremy England

Creates a centralized Illinois campaign finance filing system: online submission, public searchable reports, and forwarding from local clerks, with 5-year retention.

Died In Committee
#accountability #efficiency #transparency #apportionmentandelections #elections
0
WeVote Research Nonpartisan
Bill Summary · SB 2650

Summary — SB 2650

Status: Died in Committee (Introduced March 13, 2025)

SB 2650 was a bill that, as introduced, contained amendments to Illinois business entity statutes but was later replaced in committee by a comprehensive campaign‑finance reporting substitute. The committee substitute would have required the Mississippi Secretary of State (SOS) to create a centralized, public, searchable online repository for campaign finance reports and to permit online filing. The bill ultimately died in committee.

Purpose and intent

  • Centralize campaign finance filing and public access to campaign finance reports.
  • Modernize filing methods by enabling electronic/online submission to the Secretary of State.
  • Improve transparency and public searchability of election‑related financial reports.

Key provisions (committee substitute)

  • Filing location and method

    • Candidates and candidate committees for state, state‑district, and legislative offices, and political committees making reportable contributions/expenditures for such contests or statewide ballot measures, must file required reports with the Secretary of State.
    • Candidates/committees for county and municipal offices file with the county circuit clerk or municipal clerk respectively, but those clerks must forward copies to the SOS.
    • Filers may submit reports via the SOS online filing system; other permitted methods include facsimile, electronic mail, postal mail, or hand delivery.

  • Online repository and searchability

    • The SOS must maintain a central internet site that makes all publicly available election‑related reports accessible and searchable.
    • Reports must be searchable by identifiable variables including (but not limited to) candidate, office sought, itemized contribution, itemized expenditure, and amounts.

  • Record retention and posting

    • Circuit clerks and municipal clerks must forward filings to the SOS; forwarded reports are to be posted on the SOS online system.
    • All received reports must be made available for public inspection and copying and preserved for five (5) years.

  • Effective date

    • The substitute set the effective date as January 1, 2026.

Who would be affected

  • Directly: candidates, candidate committees, political committees, the Secretary of State, county circuit clerks, and municipal clerks.
  • Indirectly: members of the public, journalists, watchdog groups, and elections administrators who rely on campaign finance data.

Potential impacts and considerations

  • Transparency: Greater public access and searchable data could improve oversight and research into campaign finance.
  • Administrative burden/cost: Developing and maintaining a secure, searchable online system — and ingesting reports forwarded from local clerks — would create implementation and ongoing costs for the SOS.
  • Filing convenience: Online filing options could reduce filing friction for campaigns and committees.
  • Data quality & privacy: Requiring itemized, searchable data increases transparency but may raise concerns about handling of personally identifiable information; the bill requires preservation of records for 5 years.

Legislative timeline (selected actions reported)

  • Introduced: March 13, 2025
  • Committee substitute adopted and amended in committee (substitute text replaces original business‑law provisions)
  • Final status: Died in Committee

Note: The bill record includes two distinct text versions — initial business‑entity amendments (allowing use of a registered office as a principal office under specified conditions) and a committee substitute replacing the bill with the campaign‑finance provisions summarized above. The campaign‑finance substitute is the operative content described here.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

Sign in to ask a question.