The House Privileges and Elections Committee voted 21-0 to report House Bill 1744 to the House floor. The bill, presented by Delegate Watts, would require candidates to file at least one required campaign finance report before the registrar’s July 20 printing deadline; a candidate who has not filed at least one report by that date would not appear on the ballot under the bill’s terms.

"If you haven't filed at least 1, then your name would not be on the ballot," Delegate Watts told the committee. He described the measure as enforcing public transparency by ensuring at least one campaign finance filing is publicly available before ballot printing.

Committee members asked how the bill would interact with existing filing rules, party nomination processes and small-campaign exemptions. Committee counsel said the bill does not add a new filing requirement where none exists and that party replacement nominations under the cited code section (referred to in the discussion as 24.2947.6) are not altered by the language before the committee. Counsel explained that a candidate who is removed from the ballot for failing to file generally may not simply be placed back on the ballot in cases of fraud, and that nominations made through party processes after the statutory deadline are treated separately under current code provisions.

Delegates raised concerns about whether the bill would inadvertently bar replacement nominees or penalize low-dollar campaigns exempted from regular reporting. Delegate Waxman asked whether the exemption for campaigns that expect to raise less than $1,000 would prevent a candidate from appearing on the ballot; counsel confirmed the existing allowance would remain and would not be removed by the bill’s language. Other members urged caution about changing language that had trouble passing the Senate in a prior session; the chair said the committee was advancing the same version the patron wished to move toward the governor’s desk.

The committee clerk opened the roll for a recorded vote; the bill passed 21 to 0 and was reported to the House floor.