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HB433 • 2026

Campaign finance statements; redaction required of residential addresses of candidates and officials

Campaign finance statements; redaction required of residential addresses of candidates and officials

Elections
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Hassell
Last action
2026-04-01
Official status
Read Second Time in Second House
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official title mentions 'residential addresses of candidates and officials,' but the actual law text (Section 17-5-8.1) only explicitly requires redacting the address of any principal campaign committee.

HB433: Hiding Home Addresses on Campaign Finance Reports

This law requires the Secretary of State to remove addresses from campaign finance reports before posting them online.

What This Bill Does

  • Requires all campaign finance statements and contribution reports to be filed electronically over the internet.
  • Mandates that the Secretary of State redact, or hide, the address of any principal campaign committee on public filings posted in the database.
  • Creates a searchable database called the Alabama Fair Campaign Practices Act Reporting System for these documents.
  • Allows users to search the database by name and zip code without seeing full street addresses.
  • Sets rules for filing reports about large contributions of $20,000 or more within two business days.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Principal campaign committees
  • Political action committees (PACs)
  • The Secretary of State's office
  • Voters and the public who view online reports

Terms To Know

Redact
To remove or hide specific information from a document before it is made public.
Principal campaign committee
The main group that collects money and spends it to support a candidate for office.
Electronic database
A digital collection of records stored on the internet that people can search online.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The law only requires hiding addresses in reports posted to the public website, not necessarily in all internal government files.
  • This act becomes effective on February 1, 2027, so it does not apply to filings made before that date.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

2J9P3KK-1

R 972

Adopted

Plain English: This amendment requires the Secretary of State to remove (redact) the addresses of principal campaign committees from public online reports before they are published.

  • The Secretary of State must hide or redact the address listed for any principal campaign committee on all electronic filings.
  • This amendment only requires hiding addresses, not names or other details like zip codes which remain searchable.
  • The text does not explain how to handle cases where an individual candidate's home address is listed as the committee address versus a separate office location.

Bill History

  1. 2026-04-01 Senate

    Read for the Second Time and placed on the Calendar

  2. 2026-04-01 Senate

    Reported Out of Committee Second House

  3. 2026-03-31 Senate

    Pending Committee Action in Second House

  4. 2026-03-31 Senate

    Read for the first time and referred to the Senate Committee on County and Municipal Government

  5. 2026-03-17 House

    Motion to Read a Third Time and Pass as Amended - Adopted Roll Call 973 (Yeas 105, Nays 0)

  6. 2026-03-17 House

    Motion to Adopt - Adopted Roll Call 972 (Yeas 104, Nays 0)

  7. 2026-03-17 House

    Third Reading in House of Origin (Yeas 105, Nays 0)

  8. 2026-03-17 House

    Engrossed

  9. 2026-03-17 House

    Constitution, Campaigns and Elections Engrossed Substitute Offered

  10. 2026-03-05 House

    Read for the Second Time and placed on the Calendar

  11. 2026-03-04 House

    Reported Out of Committee House of Origin

  12. 2026-02-12 House

    Pending Committee Action in House of Origin

  13. 2026-02-12 House

    Read for the first time and referred to the House Committee on Constitution, Campaigns and Elections

Official Summary Text

Campaign finance statements; redaction required of residential addresses of candidates and officials

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
HB433 ENGROSSED
Page 0
HB433
2J9P3KK-2
By Representatives Hassell, Jones, Bracy, Tillman, Givan,
Moore (M), Morris, Datcher, Sellers, Travis, Gray, Ensler,
Lands, Hollis, Lawrence, Chestnut, Rafferty, McCampbell,
Drummond
RFD: Constitution, Campaigns and Elections
First Read: 12-Feb-26
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HB433 Engrossed
Page 1
First Read: 12-Feb-26
A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
Relating to campaign finance; to amend Section
17-5-8.1, Code of Alabama 1975; to require the redaction of
addresses of principal campaign committees on all campaign
finance filings; and to make nonsubstantive, technical
revisions to update the existing code language to current
style.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. Section 17-5-8.1, Code of Alabama 1975, is
amended to read as follows:
"§17-5-8.1
(a) Commencing with the 2014 election cycle, all All
statements, reports of contributions , and expenditures, and
other filings required to be filed pursuant to this chapter,
shall be submitted electronically over the Internet by a
computer file containing the report information in a format
and medium to be prescribed by the Secretary of State.
(b) Commencing with the 2014 election cycle, the The
Secretary of State shall implement and maintain an electronic
database accessible by the public through the Secretary of
State's website which provides the capability of search and
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HB433 Engrossed
Page 2
State's website which provides the capability of search and
retrieval of all statements, reports, and other filings
required to be filed with the Secretary of State pursuant to
this chapter. The electronic database shall be called the
Alabama Fair Campaign Practices Act (FCPA) Reporting System.
The searchable database shall provide the ability to search by
a recipient's name, a contributor's name, a contributor's or
recipient's Zip Code, and dates of contributions. Before
publishing any statements, reports, or other filings on the
searchable Alabama FCPA Reporting System database, the
Secretary of State shall redact the address of any principal
campaign committee.
(c) Unless otherwise included in a report made pursuant
to subsection (a) of Section 17-5-8 (a), the principal campaign
committee or political action committee shall file a report
disclosing the receipt of any single contribution of twenty
thousand dollars ($20,000) or more. These reports shall
disclose the same information required by Section 17-5-8 , and
shall be filed within two business days of receipt of the
contribution. Beginning with the 2014 election cycle these
reports shall be filed electronically.
(d) Beginning with the 2012 election cycle, a A
principal campaign committee or political action committee
shall close its books in order to complete its reports two
days prior to the specified reporting dates.
(e) The Secretary of State may promulgate
administrative adopt rules pursuant to the Alabama
Administrative Procedure Act as are necessary to implement and
administer this section and Section 17-5-8."
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HB433 Engrossed
Page 3
administer this section and Section 17-5-8."
Section 2. This act shall become effective February 1,
2027.
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HB433 Engrossed
Page 4
2027.
House of Representatives
Read for the first time and referred
to the House of Representatives
committee on Constitution, Campaigns
and Elections
................12-Feb-26
Read for the second time and placed
on the calendar:
1 amendment
................05-Mar-26
Read for the third time and passed
as amended
Yeas 105
Nays 0
Abstains 0
................17-Mar-26
John Treadwell
Clerk
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