By Lee Hedgepeth
Alabama Political Reporter
Ten Alabama campaigns and twelve Political Action Committees filed campaign finance reports for December 2013 transactions late. While most were only a day or so overdue, some have still not yet filed, and are egregious repeat offenders. Ironically, among the late filers was Jim Perdue, a Secretary of State candidate who would be responsible for such accountability in elections.
The Alabama Political Reporter recently reported on Attorney General Luther Strange advising current SOS Jim Bennett that the Attorney General’s Office, not the SOS’s as Bennett had thought, would assess campaign finance fines. Bennett had submitted a request for an official opinion on the subject of the fines to the AGO’s office due to the increasing number of overdue reports.
The article can be read here.
The penalties that can be assessed for failing to report campaign finances to the State in a timely fashion are as follows:
1st offense: The greater of either $500 or 10% of the amount not reported
2nd offense: $600 or 15%
3rd offense: $1200 or 20%
Below are this month’s offenders, along with the position for which they are running, and the length of time after the due date they filed, if at all:
Individual Campaigns
Tijuanna Adetunji, HD78 — Four days
Linda Coleman, SD20 — Three days
Darius Foster, HD56 — Has not yet filed
J.R. Gaines, 15th Judicial Circuit — One day
Johnny Hardwick, 15th Judicial Circuit — Has not yet filed
Richard Lindsey, HD39 — One day
Jim Perdue, Secretary of State — One day
Benjamin Treadaway, HD51 — One day
Peblin Warren, HD82 — One day
Political Action Committees
Alabama AFL-CIO PAC — Three days
Alabama Dental PAC — Three days
Alabamians for Economic Development — Has not yet filed
GC PAC — Three days
Gulf PAC (USA Retirees PAC) — Four days
H.I.S. PAC — Four days
JPAC — Three days
Move Birmingham Forward PAC — Has not yet filed
South Alabama PAC for Higher Education — Four days
The Committee for Good Government — Three days
Tuscaloosa County Republican Executive Committee — Two days
United Transportation Union — Two days
Under the Fair Campaign Practices Act, campaign finance reports are typically required monthly, due on the third. Campaigns are required to disclose both contributions and expenditures. The reports are available at the Alabama Secretary of State’s website, sos.alabama.gov.
