BILL REQUIRES ONLINE CAMPAIGN DONOR LISTS.

Byline: Brandon Bailey Knight-Ridder Tribune News Wire

Endorsing a new era of electronic disclosure, the state Senate on Thursday approved a bill requiring political candidates to post their campaign contribution reports on the Internet.

The measure now goes to Gov. Pete Wilson, whose position on the bill is unclear. While his research office previously opposed it, sponsors said they've tinkered with the measure to answer criticism raised over the summer. The Senate vote was 31-2.

``Our next step is to convince him that the time has come,'' said state Sen. Betty Karnette, D-Long Beach, the bill's author.

``It needs to be now,'' she added, to allow Secretary of State Bill Jones' office time to put a system fully in place for elections in 2000.

Jones, a Republican who backed Karnette's bill, has already announced plans to let candidates voluntarily post their reports online next year.

This year's bill represents the third consecutive year in which backers of online filing have attempted to pass legislation. Kim Alexander of the California Voter Foundation, a nonpartisan public interest group, said the bill represents one of the biggest achievements in campaign reform since 1974, when voters enacted California's current system of campaign finance disclosure.

The new bill requires candidates for state office to submit electronic copies of the campaign financial statements they are now required to file on paper. Those reports, which list the names of financial supporters and the dates and amounts of donations, are filed with the Secretary of State and county election offices.

Supporters of the bill say it will be easier for people to look up information on the Internet, instead of having to visit election offices in person. But opponents have argued that making the information so readily available could lead to misuse.

Among other things, critics had argued that online disclosure could violate the privacy of campaign contributors or leave them vulnerable to commercial operators who would copy the lists and use them for marketing or sales pitches.

To meet that concern, Karnette amended her bill to say that street addresses of donors will be deleted before the information is posted online, although that information still must be disclosed on the paper forms filed with election officials.

Some legislators also argued privately that constituents who aren't familiar with the reports might somehow misinterpret the information they contain. But Karnette noted that the information is already public record.

The bill only applies to candidates for statewide office or the Legislature who raise or spend more than $50,000 in a campaign.