Even elected officials who don't plan to run again are 'candidates' under new Indiana state law, must file paperwork
According to a notice from the Monroe County election board, elected officials earning more than $5,000 a year, and who are subject to campaign finance reporting must open and maintain a campaign finance committee by filing a CFA-1 (Statement of Organization) with the election board.
In a Wednesday notice to local elected officials, Monroe County's election board highlighted a new state law that makes sitting elected officials "candidates," even if they don't plan to run for re-election.
The new law applies to any elected official who is paid more than $5,000 a year. Such officials now must have an active candidate's committee for the whole time they are serving.
Even elected officials who have closed their committees are affected by the law. According to Wednesday's notice, elected officials subject to campaign finance reporting must open and maintain a campaign finance committee by filing a CFA-1 (Statement of Organization) with the election board. The deadline to file is July 11 at noon, according to the election board's notice. A copy of the form is included in the notice to elected officials.
Based on media coverage of HB1679, the new law is supposed to ensure that elected officials continuously disclose whatever funds they might be raising while in office, even if they claim they're not planning to run for re-election.
The issue was mentioned during the June 24 Monroe County council meeting. During time for commentary at the end of the meeting, county councilor David Henry drew attention to the new requirement, calling it a "lovely paperwork gift" from the state legislature.
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