View Amendment Current Amendment: 9 to Bill 3298 Reps. BEDINGFIELD and G.R. SMITH propose the following Amendment No. to H. 3298 (COUNCIL\MS\3298C005.MS.AHB13):

Amend the bill, and if amended, by striking all after the enacting clause and inserting:

/      SECTION      1.      Article 11, Chapter 13, Title 8 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

     "Section 8-13-1115.      (A)      All candidates for public office, must file a statement of economic interests online with the State Ethics Commission no later than April fifteenth of each election year, or fifteen days after becoming a candidate, whichever comes last.
     (B)      An individual, who becomes a candidate other than by filing, must file a statement of economic interests online with the State Ethics Commission no later than April fifteenth of each election year, or fifteen days after becoming a candidate, whichever comes last."

SECTION      2.      Section 8-13-365 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 190 of 2010, is further amended to read:

     "Section 8-13-365.(A)      The commission State Ethics Commission shall establish a system of electronic filing for all disclosures and reports required pursuant to Chapter 13, Title 8 and Chapter 17, Title 2 from all persons and entities subject to its jurisdiction. These disclosures and reports must be filed using an Internet-based filing system as prescribed by the commission. Reports and disclosures filed with the Ethics Committees of the Senate and House of Representatives for legislative offices must be in a format such that these filings can be forwarded to the State Ethics Commission using an Internet-based system. State Ethics Commission, which shall forward these reports to the appropriate supervisory office. The information contained in the reports and disclosure forms, with the exception of social security numbers, campaign bank account numbers, and tax ID numbers, must be publicly accessible, searchable, and transferable.
     (B)      The Ethics Commission must submit to the General Assembly a report no later than one year after implementation of subsection (A), concerning the effectiveness of mandatory electronic filing, and must make recommendations as to the implementation of mandatory filing for all other candidates and entities. Notwithstanding another provision of law, a disclosure form filed pursuant to this section must be deemed to satisfy any other filing requirement required by law."

SECTION      3.      Section 8-13-1110 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 114 of 2007, is further amended to read:

     "Section 8-13-1110.      (A)      No public official, regardless of compensation, and no public member, or public employee as designated in subsection (B) may take the oath of office or enter upon his official responsibilities unless he has filed a statement of economic interests in accordance with the provisions of this chapter with the appropriate supervisory office. The State Ethics Commission must furnish the website on which all statements of economic interests must be filed. Except for the reporting of gifts, a candidate who is not an incumbent public official and who must otherwise file a statement of economic interests is subject to the same disclosure requirements as an incumbent public official. If a public official, public member, or public employee referred to in this section has no economic interests to disclose, he shall nevertheless file a statement of inactivity to that effect with the appropriate supervisory office. All disclosure statements are matters of public record open to inspection upon request.
     (B)      Each of the following public officials, public members, and public employees must file a statement of economic interests with the appropriate supervisory office, unless otherwise provided All public officials must file a Statement of Economic Interests online with the State Ethics Commission no later than April fifteenth of each calendar year, or fifteen days after being appointed, whichever comes last. This includes elected officials, and the following:
           (1)      a person appointed to fill the unexpired term of an elective office;
           (2)      a salaried member of a state board, commission, or agency;
           (3)      the chief administrative official, or employee, and the deputy or assistant administrative official, or employee, or director of a division, institution, or facility of any an agency or department of state government;
           (4)      the city administrator, city manager, or chief municipal administrative official, or employee, by whatever title;
           (5)      the county manager, county administrator, county supervisor, or chief county administrative official, or employee, by whatever title;
           (6)      the chief administrative official, or employee of each political subdivision including, but not limited to, school districts, libraries, regional planning councils, airport commissions, hospitals, community action agencies, water and sewer districts, and development commissions;
           (7)      a school district and county superintendent of education;
           (8)      a school district board member and a county board of education member;
           (9)      the chief finance official, or employee, and the chief purchasing official, or employee, of each agency, institution, or facility of state government, and of each county, municipality, or other political subdivision including, but not limited to, those named in item (6);
           (10)      a public official;
           (11)      a public member who serves on a state board, commission, or council; and
           (12)      Department of Transportation District Engineering Administrators."

SECTION      4.      Section 7-11-30 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 403 of 1984, is further amended to read:

     "Section 7-11-30.      If a party nominates candidates by conventions, the state convention shall nominate the party's candidate for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and all other statewide officers and United States Senators, members of Congress, and circuit solicitors, and the county conventions shall nominate the party's candidates for all county offices. No convention shall make nominations for candidates for offices unless the decision to use the convention method is reached by a three-fourths vote of the total membership of the convention, except the office of state Senator and of member of the House of Representatives. The nomination of the party's candidates for the office of the state Senator and of member of the House of Representatives must be made in the manner determined by the state committee. If a party determines that nomination for the office of state Senator and of member of the House of Representatives must be by convention, these nominations must be made by the state convention. No convention shall make nominations for one or more offices at the convention and order primaries for other offices to be filled during the same election year. Conventions for political parties not nominating candidates in primaries may be called by state and county committees on other dates than those given in this title for conventions after three weeks' published notices of the calls. Any political party nominating candidates by party convention shall nominate the party candidates and make the nominations public not later than the time for certifying candidates to the authority charged by law with preparing ballots for the general or special election.
     (A)      A party may choose to nominate candidates for all offices including, but not limited to, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, United States Senator, members of The United States House of Representatives, circuit solicitor, state Senator, and members of the state House of Representatives if:
           (1)      there is a three-fourths vote of the total membership of the convention to use the convention nomination process; and
           (2)      a majority of voters in that party's next primary election approve the use of the convention nomination process.
     (B)      In no case may a party choose to nominate by party convention for any election cycle in which the filing period for candidates has begun.
     (C)      A political party nominating candidates by party convention shall nominate the party candidates and make the nominations public not later than the time for certifying candidates to the authority charged by law with preparing ballots for the general or special election."

SECTION      5.      Article 1, Chapter 13, Title 7 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

     "Section 7-13-46.      (A)      In every general election year the county board of elections shall:
           (1)      designate a specified place, other than a private residence, where a person may file as a candidate with the recognized political parties in that county;
           (2)      establish regular hours of not less than four hours a day during the final seventy-two hours of the filing period in which some person authorized by law must be present at the designated place to accept filings; and
           (3)      place an advertisement to appear two weeks before the filing period begins in a newspaper of general circulation in the county at least five by seven inches in size that notifies the public of the dates of the filing periods, the location and hours for signing the statement of intention of candidacy and the notice of candidacy and pledge set by the party executive committees, the offices which may be filed for, the place and street address where filings must be turned in to the county board of registration and elections, and the hours that an authorized person will be present to receive filings, paid for at the rates prescribed by law for legal notices.
     (B)      In every general election year the county party chairman shall:
           (1)      designate a party official or officials who shall be present during all hours that the County Board of Elections shall establish to provide to candidates and accept from candidates notice of candidacy, petition for candidacy and pledge; and
           (2)      the party official shall provide to and accept from any candidates who present themselves the appropriate documents to complete the filing process."

SECTION      6.      Section 8-13-1356 of the 1976 Code is repealed.      

SECTION      7.      This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor. /

Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.