About Campaign Finance Reporting
- Who must file reports?
- What must be disclosed?
- Are there any limits?
On This Page:
- Handbooks
Links
By Florida law, campaigns and committees are required to disclose detailed financial records of campaign contributions and expenditures.
Who must file reports?
Both candidates and committees must file campaign finance reports.
- A "candidate" is any person who seeks to be elected to or retained in public office.
- A "committee" is generally a combination of two or more individuals or an organization who:
- Contributes more than $500 in the aggregate in a calendar year to any candidate or political party, or which accepts contributions during a calendar year in an aggregate amount in excess of $500; or
- Expressly advocates the election or defeat of a candidate or issue and makes expenditures of more than $500 in the aggregate during a calendar year; or
- The sponsor of a proposed constitutional amendment by initiative who intends to seek the signatures of registered electors.
What must be disclosed?Back
Candidates and committees must report all contributions, loans, expenditures, distributions, and transfers, regardless of the amount. They must report the full name and address of each person making the contribution or receiving the expenditure and, for contributions over $100, the occupation.
Are there any limits?Back
A candidate may not accept a contribution in excess of $500 from any one person per election. A "person" is an individual or a corporation, association, firm, partnership, joint venture, joint stock company, club, organization, estate, trust, business trust, syndicate or other combination of individuals having collective capacity. The term includes a political party, political committee or committee of continuous existence. Loans are considered contributions; however, loans made by a candidate to his own campaign are not subject to contribution limitations. In-kind contributions are subject to the same contribution limitations as money. An in-kind contribution is anything of value except money made for the purpose of influencing the results of an election.
The laws governing campaign finance reporting and campaign financing limitations are complex. For more detail, please refer to Chapter 106, Florida Statutes, and the candidate and committee handbooks.
