SB351

Senate Bill 351 amends various Arkansas laws governing ethics and campaign finance. It explicitly prohibits the use of campaign funds or carryover funds to pay fines assessed by the Arkansas Ethics Commission for personal misuse of funds. The bill modifies reporting requirements, including simplifying the reporting timeline for candidates with remaining funds but no activity, and standardizing deadlines for various political committees. It lowers the registration threshold for independent expenditure committees from $500 to $200. Additionally, the bill introduces provisions allowing for the reuse of campaign materials in future initiative campaigns without needing to re-list them in future reports, provided they maintain 'Paid for by' disclosure labels. It also updates definitions for ballot and legislative question committees and establishes new filing procedures for executive directors of education service cooperatives.