Campaign finance; contribution limits, penalties.

Campaign finance; contribution limits; penalties. Requires the Department of Elections to provide an interface for the campaign finance database maintained by the Department that allows users to easily search for and sort information by individual candidates and types of elections, offices, committees, other spenders, and contributors; contributions, receipts, disbursements, expenditures, loans, and other categories of information included in campaign finance reports; and late filings, incomplete filings, and other violations. The bill specifies that the interface shall also provide users with tools for manipulating and exporting data. The bill prohibits foreign nationals, as defined in the bill, from making any contribution or expenditure, or expressly or impliedly promising to provide anything of value, in connection with any ballot measure and any foreign-influenced corporations, as defined in the bill, from making independent expenditures or making contributions to a candidate, campaign committee, or political committee. Any such corporation violating the prohibition is subject to a fine of not more than $50,000 and any officer, director, or agent of any such corporation involved in such violation is subject to a fine of not more than $10,000, imprisonment for not more than one year, or both. The bill also requires that any corporation, as defined in the bill, that makes an independent expenditure or makes a contribution to a candidate, campaign committee, political committee, or political party committee shall certify, under penalty of perjury, with the Department of Elections that, after due inquiry, the corporation was not a foreign-influenced corporation on the date such expenditure or contribution was made. Additionally, the bill prohibits persons and committees from making contributions that exceed the specified contribution caps for certain committees organized under the Campaign Finance Disclosure Act and prohibits such committees from accepting such contributions. The bill specifies that the contribution cap is equal to the specified base amount in 2026 adjusted for inflation at regular intervals and rounded to the nearest multiple of $100. Civil penalties for violations of the limits established by the bill are $500 for each violation. A separate penalty of up to two times the excess contribution amounts may be levied for knowing violations. The excess contribution amounts are required to be disgorged and deposited into the general fund. The Department of Elections is required to promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of the bill prior to its enactment. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027.