About the CA Form 461

Applies To: California

Major Donor and Independent Expenditure Committee Campaign Statement

The CA Form 461 Campaign Finance Report is filed by major donors, independent expenditure committees, non-profits, and multipurpose organizations.

A Major Donor committee needs to file this report if they make monetary or non-monetary contributions (including loans) to state or local officeholders, candidates, and committees totaling $10,000 or more in a calendar year.

An Independent Expenditure committee needs to file this report if they make independent expenditures totaling $1,000 or more in a calendar year to support or oppose state or local candidates or ballot measures.

Report Generation Screen

Amended

  • When Amending a report, Amendment Number is which amendment this report is. For example, if you have already filed 2 amendments, Amendment Number would be 3.
  • If you are filing locally and Amending a report, the Original Filing ID is found on your filing agency’s website. It will likely be a 6-10 digit number.

Current Election Date

  • When Non-Election is selected, 01/01/1900 will appear as the election date on the report.

Interest Of Filer

  • If the filer is an Individual, whatever information is added in the Interest of Filer field will pull to the Cover Page, Line 2, Section 1 under Business Interests.
  • If the filer is a Business, but not an association, whatever information is added in the Interest of Filer field will pull to the Cover Page, Line 2, Section 2 under A Filer That is a Business Entity Must Describe The Business Activity in Which it is Engaged.
  • If the filer is an Association, whatever information is added in the Interest of Filer field will pull to the Cover Page, Line 2, Section 3 under A Filer That is An Association Must Provide a Specific Description of its Interests.
  • If the filer is any other Filer, whatever information is added in the Interest of Filer field will pull to the Cover Page, Line 2, Section 3 under A Filer That is Not An Individual, Business Entity, Or Association Must Describe The Common Economic Interest Of The Group Or Entity.

Page 1   

  • Mailing Address: The Mailing Address is the address marked as Mailing on the filer record in the database.
  • Responsible Officer: The name of the Responsible Officer will come from the linked Principal Officer in the Relationships section of the filer’s record. If a Principal Officer is not linked, then Treasurer Name will pull here instead.
  • Phone Number: This will come from the Phone section in filer record.
  • Nature and Interests of Filer (Individual): If the filer is an Individual, the Name of Employer/Business will come from the Employer field on the filer record, the Business Interest will come from whatever information is added in the Interest of Filer field on the Report Generation screen, and the Address of Employer/Business will come from the work address on the filer record.
  • Nature and Interests of Filer (Business): If the filer is a Business, the Business Activity will come from whatever information is added in the Interest of Filer field on the Report Generation screen.
  • Nature and Interests of Filer (Association): If the filer is an Association, the Association Description will come from whatever information is added in the Interest of Filer field on the Report Generation screen.
  • Nature and Interests of Filer (All Others): If the filer is any other filer type, the Economic Interest will come from whatever information is added in the Interest of Filer field on the Report Generation screen.
  • Verification: If the filer is an Individual, the filer’s name will pull here. For all other filers, if a Principal Officer is linked, that name will pull here. If a Principal Officer is not linked, the treasurer name will pull here.

Page 2

Page 2 is based on Transaction Type Support/Oppose Memos and/or Loans Made. If you are missing expected Contributions Made, ensure the transaction in question is one of these transactions types.

  • Date: The date will come from the Support/Oppose Memo or Loan Made.
  • Name and Address: The name and address will come from the parent entity of the Support/Oppose Memo, or from the Loan Made entity.
  • Type of Payment:
    • If the transaction type is Loan Made, Loan will check.
    • If the Support/Oppose Memo is associated with a Non-Monetary Expense, Non-Monetary Contribution will check.
    • If the Support/Oppose Memo has transaction tag IE to Oppose or IE to Support, Independent Expenditure will check.
    • Otherwise, Monetary Contribution will check.
  • Description of Payment: If the Support/Oppose Memo has a Note for Compliance, that will pull here. Otherwise, the Note for Compliance on the parent transaction will pull here.
  • Candidate or Committee Info:
    • The Candidate Name, Committee Name or Ballot Measure Name will come for the Support/Oppose Memo or Loan Made.
    • The District or Measure Number will come the Ballot Measure Letter or Number, or the Office Sought/Held District Number as found in the Candidate Info.
    • Office Name will come from the Office Sought/Held Office Name as found in the Candidate Info.
    • The Jurisdiction will come from either the Ballot Measure or Office Sought/Held Jurisdiction.
    • The Oppose box will check if the Support/Oppose Memo has transaction tag IE to Oppose or Non-IE to Oppose.
  • Amount this Period: This amount will come from the Support/Oppose Memo or Loan Made.
  • Cumulative Amount: This amount will be the total of Contributions Made for the Calendar Year.