2013 Florida Reporting Changes

(Updated 09:22 p.m. Tuesday October 15, 2013)

When Governor Rick Scott signed into law House Bill 589 (HB589), some important changes were made in the way campaigns and committees report on campaign finance. This page will cover some of those changes that will affect Campaign ToolBox customers. It is NOT intended to be a comprehensive review of the changes, and it is definitely not something to be viewed as a resource to base your campaign decisions on. It is only a review of changes to Campaign ToolBox that were prompted by the change in the law.

A good overview of the entire bill is found in the Final Bill Analysis (PDF).

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Program Updates
There will not be one single update for Campaign ToolBox that will cover all the changes. Some of those changes stretch into 2014 and all of the specific rules have not yet been released by the Division of Elections. The first update was released on Tuesday, October 15. As more information is available and changes to the program are made and tested, more updates will follow. It is important that you check this web site for updates fairly regularly.

Report Codes
Until the final version of the new report codes is released, Campaign ToolBox will include both the old codes and the new codes. At this point, that makes about 59 different report codes, so you will need to be careful when selecting the report code for your report.

Multiple Uniform Contributions (MUC)
This is a new contribution type code that is similar to the single line item selection that some CCEs were using. It will function just like the old single line item did – when you select MUC, a check box and field appear; you then check the box saying that it is a MUC entry, which enables the description line. You will need to create ONE Demographic record to use with these contributions (if you use MUCs). There are other rules governing the use of MUCs, so research it carefully before using that. Note that this applies to PCs only (NOT candidates or other entity types).

The Division of Elections released the file format for reporting MUC contributions on Friday October 11. Note that this file will not be produced by Campaign ToolBox since the whole point of using MUC is to be able to just upload a file from a spreadsheet. There are several ways to produce this file, and it is covered in tech support doc tn_050.pdf”>TN-050 – Creating a Tab-Delimited File for MUC Reports.


Disposition of Funds

Several new classifications have been added for disposition of surplus funds.

Contribution Limits
Allowable maximum contribution limits have changed, and they vary depending on the type of Reporting Entity. Campaign ToolBox now has a field in Tools > Options where you can set the cumulative amount, which when exceeded will be flagged on the Flagged Items Report. If nothing is entered, the program will default to $1,000.

Other Changes
• Depending on your browser settings, anti-virus program, and/or ISP policy, the links within the program that take you directly to a web page may or may not work. This is beyond the control of the program, so the direct links have been removed and replaced with a feature that copies the URL to your Windows Clipboard. You can then paste the URL into your browser.
• PDF copies of misc. reports have been removed.
• Fields that pertain to IRS-8872 reporting are no longer visible if that program option is not enabled.