HOUSE BILL No. 5058 October 26, 1999, Introduced by Reps. Patterson, Cassis, Bishop, Godchaux, Shulman, Kowall, Kukuk, Faunce, Ehardt, Allen, LaSata, Toy, Koetje, Pappageorge, Geiger, Jellema, Ruth Johnson, Rocca, Howell, Gilbert, Byl, Caul, Voorhees, DeVuyst, Birkholz and Sanborn and referred to the Committee on Constitutional Law and Ethics. A bill to amend 1976 PA 388, entitled "Michigan campaign finance act," by amending section 15 (MCL 169.215), as amended by 1996 PA 590. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT: 1 Sec. 15. (1) The secretary of state shall do all of the 2 following: 3 (a) Make available through his or her offices, and furnish 4 to county clerks, appropriate forms, instructions, and manuals 5 required by this act. 6 (b) Develop a filing, coding, and cross-indexing system for 7 the filing of required reports and statements consistent with the 8 purposes of this act, and supervise the implementation of the 9 filing systems by the clerks of the counties. 10 (c) Receive all statements and reports required by this act 11 to be filed with the secretary of state. 04241'99 TMV 2 1 (d) Prepare forms, instructions, and manuals required under 2 this act. 3 (e) Promulgate rules and issue declaratory rulings to imple- 4 ment this act pursuant to the administrative procedures act of 5 1969,Act No. 306 of the Public Acts of 1969, being sections624.201 to 24.328 of the Michigan Compiled Laws1969 PA 306, 7 MCL 24.201 TO 24.328. 8 (f) Upon receipt of a written request and the required 9 filing, waive payment of a late filing fee if the request for the 10 waiver is based on good cause and accompanied by adequate 11 documentation. One or more of the following reasons constitute 12 good cause for a late filing fee waiver: 13 (i) The incapacitating physical illness, hospitalization, 14 accident involvement, death, or incapacitation for medical rea- 15 sons of a person required to file, a person whose participation 16 is essential to the preparation of the statement or report, or a 17 member of the immediate family of these persons. 18 (ii) Other unique, unintentional factors beyond the filer's 19 control not stemming from a negligent act or nonaction so that a 20 reasonably prudent person would excuse the filing on a temporary 21 basis. These factors include the loss or unavailability of 22 records due to a fire, flood, theft, or similar reason and diffi- 23 culties related to the transmission of the filing to the filing 24 official, such as exceptionally bad weather or strikes involving 25 transportation systems. 26 (2) A declaratory ruling shall be issued under this section 27 only if the person requesting the ruling has provided a 04241'99 3 1 reasonably complete statement of facts necessary for the ruling 2 or ifthe secretary of state has permittedthe person request- 3 ing the rulingan opportunity to supplyHAS, WITH THE PERMIS- 4 SION OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE, SUPPLIED supplemental facts nec- 5 essary for the ruling. A request for a declaratory ruling that 6 is submitted to the secretary of state shall be made available 7 for public inspection within 48 hours after its receipt. An 8 interested person may submit written comments regarding the 9 request to the secretary of state within 10 business days after 10 the date the request is made available to the public. Within 45 11 business days after receiving a declaratory ruling request, the 12 secretary of state shall make a proposed response available to 13 the public. An interested person may submit written comments 14 regarding the proposed response to the secretary of state within 15 5 business days after the date the proposal is made available to 16 the public. Except as otherwise provided in this section, the 17 secretary of state shall issue a declaratory ruling within 18 60 business days after a request for a declaratory ruling is 19 received. If the secretary of state refuses to issue a declara- 20 tory ruling, the secretary of state shall notify the person 21 making the request of the reasons for the refusal. The secretary 22 of state may issue an interpretative statement providing an 23 informational response to the question presented. A declaratory 24 ruling or interpretative statement issued under this section 25 shall not state a general rule of law, other than that which is 26 stated in this act, until the general rule of law is promulgated 27 by the secretary of state as a rule pursuant to the 04241'99 4 1 administrative procedures act of 1969,Act No. 306 of the Public2Acts of 1969, being sections 24.201 to 24.328 of the Michigan3Compiled Laws1969 PA 306, MCL 24.201 TO 24.328, or pursuant to 4 judicial order. 5 (3) Under extenuating circumstances, the secretary of state 6 may issue a notice extending for not more than 30 business days 7 the period during which the secretary of state shall respond to a 8 request for a declaratory ruling. The secretary of state shall 9 not issue more than 1 notice of extension for a particular 10 request. A person requesting a declaratory ruling may waive, in 11 writing, the time limitations provided by this section. 12 (4) The secretary of state shall make available to the 13 public an annual summary of the declaratory rulings and interpre- 14 tative statements issued by the secretary of state. 15 (5) A person may file WITH THE SECRETARY OF STATE a com- 16 plaintwith the secretary of state allegingTHAT ALLEGES a vio- 17 lation of this act. Upon receipt of a complaint, the secretary 18 of state shall investigate the allegations pursuant to the rules 19 promulgated under this act. If the secretary of state determines 20 that there may be reason to believe that a violation of this act 21 has occurred, the secretary of state shall endeavor to correct 22 the violation or prevent a further violation by using informal 23 methods such as a conference, conciliation, or persuasion, and 24 may enter into a conciliation agreement with the person 25 involved. Unless violated, a conciliation agreement is a com- 26 plete bar to any further action with respect to matters covered 27 in the conciliation agreement. If the secretary of state is 04241'99 5 1 unable to correct or prevent further violation by these informal 2 methods, the secretary of state may refer the matter to the 3 attorney general for the enforcement of any criminal penalty pro- 4 vided by this act or commence a hearing pursuant to 5 subsection (6). A PERSON WHO FILES WITH THE SECRETARY OF STATE A 6 FALSE COMPLAINT THAT ALLEGES A VIOLATION OF THIS ACT, KNOWING THE 7 COMPLAINT TO BE FALSE, IS GUILTY OF A MISDEMEANOR PUNISHABLE BY A 8 FINE OF NOT MORE THAN $500.00 OR IMPRISONMENT FOR NOT MORE THAN 9 90 DAYS, OR BOTH. 10 (6) The secretary of state may commence a hearing to deter- 11 mine whether a civil violation of this act has occurred. A hear- 12 ing shall not be commenced during the period beginning 30 days 13 before an election in which the committee has received or 14 expended money and ending the day after that election except with 15 the consent of the person suspected of committing a civil 16 violation. The hearing shall be conducted in accordance with the 17 procedures set forth in chapter 4 of the administrative proce- 18 dures act of 1969,Act No. 306 of the Public Acts of 1969, being19sections 24.271 to 24.287 of the Michigan Compiled Laws1969 20 PA 306, MCL 24.271 TO 24.287. If, after a hearing, the secretary 21 of state determines that a violation of this act has occurred, 22 the secretary of state may issue an order requiring the person to 23 pay a civil fine equal to the amount of the improper contribution 24 or expenditure plus not more than $1,000.00 for each violation. 25 A final decision and order issued by the secretary of state is 26 subject to judicial review as provided by chapter 6 of the 27 administrative procedures act of 1969,Act No. 306 of the Public04241'99 6 1Acts of 1969, being sections 24.301 to 24.306 of the Michigan2Compiled Laws1969 PA 306, MCL 24.301 TO 24.306. The secretary 3 of state shall deposit a civil fine imposed under this section in 4 the general fund. The secretary of state may bring an action in 5 circuit court to recover the amount of a civil fine. 6 (7) When a report or statement is filed pursuant to this 7 act, the secretary of state shall review the report or statement 8 and may investigate an apparent violation of this act pursuant to 9 the rules promulgated pursuant to this act. If the secretary of 10 state determines that there may be reason to believe a violation 11 of this act has occurred and the procedures prescribed in subsec- 12 tion (5) have been complied with, the secretary of state may 13 refer the matter to the attorney general for the enforcement of 14 any criminal penalty provided by this act, or commence a hearing 15 under subsection (6) to determine whether a civil violation of 16 this act has occurred. 17 (8) Unless otherwise specified in this act, a person who 18 violates a provision of this act is subject to a civil fine of 19 not more than $1,000.00 for each violation. Civil fines are in 20 addition to, but not limited by, any criminal penalty prescribed 21 by this act. 22 (9) There is no private right of action, either in law or in 23 equity, pursuant to this act. The remedies provided in this act 24 are the exclusive means by which this act may be enforced and by 25 which any harm resulting from a violation of this act may be 26 redressed. 04241'99 7 1 (10) The secretary of state may waive the filing of a 2 campaign statement required under section 33, 34, or 35 if the 3 closing date of the particular campaign statement falls on the 4 same or a later date as the closing date of the next campaign 5 statement filed by the same person, or if the period that would 6 be otherwise covered by the next campaign statement filed by the 7 same person is 10 days or less. 8 (11) The clerk of each county shall do all of the 9 following: 10 (a) Make available through the county clerk's office the 11 appropriate forms, instructions, and manuals required by this 12 act. 13 (b) Under the supervision of the secretary of state, imple- 14 ment the filing, coding, and cross-indexing system prescribed for 15 the filing of reports and statements required to be filed with 16 the county clerk's office. 17 (c) Receive all statements and reports required by this act 18 to be filed with the county clerk's office. 19 (d) Upon written request, waive the payment of a late filing 20 fee if the request for a waiver is based on good cause as pre- 21 scribed in subsection (1)(f). 04241'99 Final page. 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