Florida Senate - 2025                                     SB 956
       
       
        
       By Senator Bernard
       
       
       
       
       
       24-01616-25                                            2025956__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to candidate qualifying; amending s.
    3         99.061, F.S.; authorizing a candidate to pay the
    4         filing fee by a debit card linked to the candidate’s
    5         campaign account; revising the timeframe during which
    6         a candidate may pay a filing fee if the initial
    7         payment is rejected by a bank; amending s. 106.11,
    8         F.S.; revising conditions under which debit cards are
    9         considered bank checks for purposes of certain
   10         campaign expenditures; providing an effective date.
   11          
   12  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   13  
   14         Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (7) of section
   15  99.061, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   16         99.061 Method of qualifying for nomination or election to
   17  federal, state, county, or district office.—
   18         (7)(a) In order for a candidate to be qualified, the
   19  following items must be received by the filing officer by the
   20  end of the qualifying period:
   21         1. The filing fee A properly executed check drawn upon the
   22  candidate’s campaign account payable to the person or entity as
   23  prescribed by the filing officer in an amount not less than the
   24  fee required by s. 99.092 by a properly executed check drawn
   25  upon the candidate’s campaign account or by a debit card linked
   26  to the candidate’s campaign account as provided in s. 106.11(2),
   27  unless the candidate obtained the required number of signatures
   28  on petitions pursuant to s. 99.095. The filing fee for a special
   29  district candidate is not required to be drawn upon the
   30  candidate’s campaign account. If a candidate’s payment is
   31  rejected check is returned by the bank for any reason, the
   32  filing officer must shall immediately notify the candidate and
   33  the candidate must, irrespective of whether the qualifying
   34  period has ended, have 48 hours from the time such notification
   35  is received, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays,
   36  shall have until the end of qualifying to pay the fee with a
   37  cashier’s check purchased from funds of the campaign account.
   38  Failure to pay the fee as provided in this subparagraph shall
   39  disqualify the candidate.
   40         2. The candidate’s oath required by s. 99.021, which must
   41  contain the name of the candidate as it is to appear on the
   42  ballot; the office sought, including the district or group
   43  number if applicable; and the signature of the candidate, which
   44  must be verified under oath or affirmation pursuant to s.
   45  92.525(1)(a).
   46         3. If the office sought is partisan, the written statement
   47  of political party affiliation required by s. 99.021(1)(b); or
   48  if the candidate is running without party affiliation for a
   49  partisan office, the written statement required by s.
   50  99.021(1)(c).
   51         4. The completed form for the appointment of campaign
   52  treasurer and designation of campaign depository, as required by
   53  s. 106.021.
   54         5. The full and public disclosure or statement of financial
   55  interests required by subsection (5). A public officer who has
   56  filed the full and public disclosure or statement of financial
   57  interests with the Commission on Ethics before qualifying for
   58  office may file a copy of that disclosure or a verification or
   59  receipt of electronic filing as provided in subsection (5) at
   60  the time of qualifying.
   61         Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section
   62  106.11, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   63         106.11 Expenses of and expenditures by candidates and
   64  political committees.—Each candidate and each political
   65  committee which designates a primary campaign depository
   66  pursuant to s. 106.021(1) shall make expenditures from funds on
   67  deposit in such primary campaign depository only in the
   68  following manner, with the exception of expenditures made from
   69  petty cash funds provided by s. 106.12:
   70         (2)(a) For purposes of this section, debit cards are
   71  considered bank checks, if:
   72         1. Debit cards are obtained from the same bank that has
   73  been designated as the candidate’s or political committee’s
   74  primary campaign depository.
   75         2. Debit cards are issued in the name of the treasurer,
   76  deputy treasurer, or authorized user and contain the name of the
   77  campaign account of the candidate or political committee.
   78         3. No more than three debit cards are requested and issued.
   79         4. The person using the debit card does not receive cash as
   80  part of, or independent of, any transaction for goods or
   81  services.
   82         5. All receipts for debit card transactions contain:
   83         a. The last four digits of the debit card number.
   84         b. The exact amount of the expenditure.
   85         c. The name of the payee.
   86         d. The signature of the campaign treasurer, deputy
   87  treasurer, or authorized user, if the receipt has a signature
   88  line for the campaign treasurer, deputy treasurer, or authorized
   89  user to sign.
   90         e. The exact purpose for which the expenditure is
   91  authorized.
   92  
   93  Any information required by this subparagraph but not included
   94  on the debit card transaction receipt may be handwritten on, or
   95  attached to, the receipt by the authorized user before
   96  submission to the treasurer.
   97         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.