OFFICE OF FISCAL ANALYSIS
Legislative Office Building, Room 5200
Hartford, CT 06106 (860) 240-0200
http://www.cga.ct.gov/ofa
sSB-1517
AN ACT CONCERNING REFERENDA, INDEPENDENT
EXPENDITURES AND OTHER CAMPAIGN FINANCE CHANGES.
Primary Analyst: TM 4/13/25
Contributing Analyst(s):
Reviewer: PR
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 26 $ FY 27 $
Resources of the Citizen's
Election Fund
CEF - Potential
Savings
Minimal Minimal
Resources of the General Fund GF - Potential
Revenue Gain
See Below See Below
Note: GF=General Fund CEF= Citizens' Election Fund
Municipal Impact: None
Explanation
The bill makes a variety of changes regarding campaign finance and
election laws including independent expenditures and political action
committees resulting in the fiscal impacts outlined below.
Section 4, increases the civil penalties that the State Elections
Enforcement Commission (SEEC) may impose resulting in potential
revenue to the resources of the general fund. The bill increases the
maximum penalty for failing to report an independent expenditure
from $10,000 to $20,000 or twice the amount of the unreported
independent expenditure. The bill also raises existing penalties for
willful failure to file from a maximum of $50,000 to a maximum of
$50,000 or ten times the unreported independent expenditure. The
potential revenue will depend on the total number of violations and the
penalties imposed.
This section additionally expands what may be considered a false
statement, which results in potential revenue gain to the General Fund 2025SB-01517-R000674-FN.DOCX Page 2 of 2
from fines. Few, if any, additional violations are expected to occur.
Section 22, creates an additional requirement that candidates
participating in the Citizen's Election Program (CEP) receive a number
of qualifying contributions from in-state residents resulting in potential
minimal savings for the resources of the Citizens' Election Fund. The
exact impact will depend on the number of candidates who will no
longer qualify for grants because of this provision.
The remaining sections of the bill make a variety of changes that
result in no fiscal impact to the state or municipalities.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to inflation and the number of penalties
imposed.