H.B. 413 Summary

• Establishes a public campaign financing system for candidates for Ohio Supreme Court chief justice and justice positions, beginning with 2014 elections and continuing for subsequent elections.

• Creates the Ohio Public Financing Program Fund, funded by qualifying contributions of $25 from registered Ohio voters, tax checkoff designations of $50, and other sources including unspent campaign funds and fines.

• Requires participating candidates to obtain 500 qualifying contributions during a designated qualifying period and limits their acceptance of other contributions to $100,000 for campaign origination and primary election purposes.

• Sets forth certification requirements, expenditure restrictions, reporting procedures, and enforcement provisions including audit authority for the Secretary of State and penalties up to three times the amount of violations or $10,000 in fines.

• Permits extension of the public financing system to Court of Appeals judges if the fund balance exceeds $6 million after a year when Supreme Court candidates received public financing, with the Secretary of State authorized to adjust contribution and distribution amounts by rule.