Campaign Finance - State Filer Data

<strong>A. SUMMARY</strong>
This dataset contains data from financial statements of state committees that (1) contribute to or (2) receive funds from a San Francisco committee which was Primarily Formed for a local election, or (3) filed a Late Reporting Period statement with the SFEC during the 90 days before an election. The search period for financial statements begins two years before an election and runs through the next semi-annual <a href="https://www.fppc.ca.gov/learn/campaign-rules/where-and-when-to-file-campaign-statements/when-to-file-campaign-statements-state-local-filing-schedules.html">filing deadline</a>. The dataset currently filters by the elections of 2024-03-05 and 2024-11-05.

<strong>B. HOW THE DATASET IS CREATED</strong>
During an election period, an automated script runs nightly to examine filings by Primarily Formed San Francisco committees. If a primarily formed committee reports accepting money from or giving money to a second committee, that second committee's ID number is added to a filter list. If a committee electronically files a late reporting period form with the San Francisco Ethics Commission, the committee's ID number is also included in the filter list. The filter list is used in a second step that looks for filings by committees that file with the San Francisco Ethics Commission or the California Secretary of State. 

This dataset shows the committees that file with the California Secretary of State. The data comes from a nightly export of the <a href="https://www.sos.ca.gov/campaign-lobbying/cal-access-resources/raw-data-campaign-finance-and-lobbying-activity">Secretary of State's database</a>. A <a href="https://data.sfgov.org/d/s9b2-abj2/">second dataset</a> includes Non-Primarily Formed committees that file with the San Francisco Ethics Commission.

<strong>C. UPDATE PROCESS</strong>
This dataset is rewritten nightly based on data derived from campaign filings. The update script runs automatically on a timer during the 90 days before an election. Refer to the "Data Last Updated" date in the section "About This Dataset" on the landing page to see when the script last ran successfully.

<strong>D. HOW TO USE THIS DATASET</strong>
Transactions from all <a href="https://www.fppc.ca.gov/learn/campaign-rules/campaign-forms.html">FPPC Form 460</a> schedules are presented together, refer to the Form Type to differentiate.

Transactions with a Form Type of D, E, F, G, H, F496, or F497P2 represent expenditures or money spent by the committee. Transactions with Form Type A, B1, C, I, F496P3, and F497P1 represent receipts or money taken in by the committee. Refer to the instructions for <a href="https://www.fppc.ca.gov/learn/campaign-rules/campaign-forms.html">Forms 460, 496, and 497</a> for more details.

Transactions on Form 460 Schedules D, F, G, and H are also reported on Schedule E. When doing summary statistics use care not to double count expenditures.

Transactions from <a href="https://www.fppc.ca.gov/learn/campaign-rules/campaign-forms.html">FPPC Form 496 and Form 497</a> filings are also in this dataset. Transactions that were reported on these forms are also reported on the Form 460 at the next filing deadline. If a 460 filing deadline has passed and the committee has filed a campaign statement, transactions on filings from the late reporting period should be disregarded.

This dataset only shows transactions from the most recent filing version. Committee's amendments overwrite filings which come before in sequence.

Campaign Committees are required to file statements according to a schedule set out by the <a href="https://www.fppc.ca.gov/learn/campaign-rules/where-and-when-to-file-campaign-statements/when-to-file-campaign-statements-state-local-filing-schedules.html">California Fair Political Practices Commission</a>. Depending on timing, transactions which have occurred may not be listed as they might not have been reported yet.

<strong>E. RELATED DATASETS</strong>
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Tags: campaign-finance, ethics
Organization: City of San Francisco