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COMMITTEE REPORT
May 24, 2006
H. 4410
S. Printed 5/24/06--S.
Read the first time March 1, 2006.
To whom was referred a Bill (H. 4410) to amend Section 8-13-1510, as amended, Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, relating to the penalty for late filing of or failure to file, etc., respectfully
That they have duly and carefully considered the same and recommend that the same do pass with amendment:
Amend the bill, as and if amended, page 1, after line 38, by adding an appropriately numbered new SECTION:
/ SECTION ____. Section 8-13-740 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding an appropriately lettered subsection at the end to read:
"( ) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no public official, public member, or public employee shall be required to resign or otherwise vacate his seat or position due to a conflict of interest that arises under this chapter as long as notice of the possible conflict is given and the public official, public member, or public employee recuses himself from the vote on the matter that is the subject of the conflict of interest." /
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.
LUKE A. RANKIN for Committee.
REVENUE IMPACT 1/
This bill is not expected to have any net impact on funds earmarked to the Ethics Commission in FY 2006-07. The bill would have no impact on state general fund revenues in FY 2006-07.
Explanation
Under current statutes, the commission's customary practice is to assess certain late filers an initial civil fine of $100. After certified notation, failure to report then accrues additional assessments of $10 per day, during the first ten days, and $100 per day thereafter. Penalties include proceeds from the Set-off Debt collection program of the Department of Revenue (DOR). This bill caps the total civil penalty for failure to timely file a financial statement or report at $5,000. Late filing penalties are retained as agency earmarked funds pursuant to temporary proviso 65.3 in Part 1B of Act 115 of 2005 (FY2005-06 General Appropriations Act).
Based on state accounting records and info from the commission, a maximum civil penalty of $5,000 per late report would exceed the $2,000 average penalty levied in recent years. Since the new cap would not reduce the current penalty yield of approximately $2,000 per report, we expect this bill would have no net impact on revenues earmarked to the Ethics Commission in FY 2006-07. We also anticipate the temporary budget proviso to be retained; therefore, the bill would have no impact on state general fund revenues in FY 2006-07.
Approved By:
William C. Gillespie
Board of Economic Advisors
1/ This statement meets the requirement of Section 2-7-71 for a state revenue impact by the BEA, or Section 2-7-76 for a local revenue impact or Section 6-1-85(B) for an estimate of the shift in local property tax incidence by the Office of Economic Research.
TO AMEND SECTION 8-13-1510, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE PENALTY FOR LATE FILING OF OR FAILURE TO FILE A REPORT OR STATEMENT REQUIRED BY THE ETHICS ACT, SO AS TO CAP THE FINE AT FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Section 8-13-1510 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 76 of 2003, is further amended to read:
"Section 8-13-1510. Except as otherwise specifically provided in this chapter, a person required to file a report or statement under pursuant to the provisions of this chapter who files a late statement or report or fails to file a required statement or report must be assessed a civil penalty as follows:
(1) a fine of one hundred dollars if the statement or report is not filed within five days after the established deadline provided by law in this chapter; or and
(2) after notice has been given by certified or registered mail that a required statement or report has not been filed, a fine of ten dollars per each day for the first ten days after notice has been given, and one hundred dollars for each additional calendar day in which the required statement is not filed, not to exceed five thousand dollars."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor and applies retroactively to those civil penalties pending with the Ethics Commission for a violation of the provisions of Section 1 before the effective date of this act.
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