BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



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          ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
          AB 1181 (Huber)
          As Amended  April 28, 2009
          2/3 vote 

           ELECTIONS      6-1              APPROPRIATIONS      14-2        
           
           ------------------------------------------------------------------ 
          |Ayes:|Fong, Bill Berryhill,     |Ayes:|De Leon, Ammiano, Charles  |
          |     |Coto, Mendoza, Saldana,   |     |Calderon, Davis, Duvall,   |
          |     |Swanson                   |     |Krekorian, Hall, Harkey,   |
          |     |                          |     |John A. Perez, Price,      |
          |     |                          |     |Skinner, Solorio, Audra    |
          |     |                          |     |Strickland, Torlakson      |
          |     |                          |     |                           |
          |-----+--------------------------+-----+---------------------------|
          |Nays:|Adams                     |Nays:|Nielsen, Miller            |
          |     |                          |     |                           |
           ------------------------------------------------------------------ 
           SUMMARY  :  Lowers the monetary thresholds which trigger mandatory  
          electronic reporting of campaign contributions and expenditures  
          by candidates, officeholders, committees, major donors, and  
          slate mailer organizations.  Specifically,  this bill :   

          1)Lowers, from $50,000 to $25,000, the cumulative amount of  
            contributions received, expenditures made, or loans made or  
            received by a candidate or committee in connection with a  
            state elective office or a state measure before that candidate  
            or committee is required to file those reports online or  
            electronically.

          2)Lowers, from $50,000 to $25,000, the cumulative amount of  
            contributions received or expenditures made by a general  
            purpose committee to support or oppose candidates for any  
            elective state office or state measures, before that committee  
            is required to file those reports online or electronically.

          3)Lowers, from $50,000 to $25,000, the cumulative amount of  
            reportable payments received or made for the purposes of  
            producing slate mailers by a slate mailer organization before  
            that slate mailer organization is required to file campaign  
            reports online or electronically.

          4)Lowers, from $5,000 in a calendar quarter to $2,500 in a  








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            calendar quarter, the amount of reportable payments, expenses,  
            contributions, gifts, or other items that must be made by a  
            lobbyist, lobbying firm, or lobbyist employer before that  
            lobbyist, firm, or employer is required to file periodic  
            lobbying disclosure reports online or electronically.

          5)Eliminates the requirement that statewide candidates,  
            committees formed to support or oppose statewide measures, and  
            state general purpose committees file a paper copy of all  
            campaign reports with Los Angeles and San Francisco Counties.   
            Eliminates the requirement that members of the Legislature and  
            Board of Equalization, court of appeal justices, superior  
            court judges, and candidates for those offices file a paper  
            copy of campaign reports with the elections official in the  
            county with the largest number of registered voters in the  
            district.

          6)Requires candidates for the Board of Administration of the  
            Public Employees Retirement System to file campaign reports  
            online or electronically with the Secretary of State (SOS).

          7)Eliminates the requirement that a paper copy of a late  
            contribution report or a late independent expenditure report  
            be filed if such report is submitted by online or electronic  
            transmission to the SOS.

          8)Requires lobbyist registration statements and amendments to  
            those statements to be filed both by online or electronic  
            means and in a paper format.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Assembly Appropriations  
          Committee, no net fiscal impact to the SOS, with whom campaign  
          reports are filed.

           COMMENTS  :  According to the author, "Senate Bill 49 (Karnette,  
          1997) created online disclosure of campaign reports in order to  
          cast public sunshine on the campaign contribution statements and  
          political activities of state leaders and lobbyists. . . .  
          However, SB 49 is limited in scope.  For example, as long as  
          campaigns spend or receive less than $50,000 per year, their  
          activities are not subject to online public review.  Similarly,  
          lobbyists or lobbyist employers are not required to submit  
          electronic disclosure reports of their expenditures unless they  
          spend over $5,000 on political lobbying.  Thus, thousands of  








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          candidates, donors, campaign officials and special interests are  
          still allowed to submit disclosure forms that are not available  
          online.  Consequently, California currently does not meet the  
          [Political Reform Act's] goal of keeping voters 'fully  
          informed.'"

          SB 49 (Karnette), Chapter 866, Statutes of 1997, the Online  
          Disclosure Act of 1997, required the SOS to develop a process  
          whereby reports and statements required under the Political  
          Reform Act (PRA) could be filed online and viewed by the public.  
           SB 49 also required certain candidates, committees, slate  
          mailer organizations, lobbyists, lobbyist employers, and  
          lobbying firms to file campaign reports online.

          Under existing law, the SOS is required to determine and  
          publicly disclose when the online and electronic campaign  
          disclosure systems are operating effectively.  Despite the fact  
          that legislation requiring the development of an online campaign  
          disclosure system was enacted in 1997, the SOS has never made a  
          public determination that the online campaign disclosure system  
          is operating effectively.  Given that it has been 12 years since  
          the Legislature required the creation of an online campaign  
          disclosure system, and given the fact that the SOS still has not  
          determined that the system is operating effectively, it is  
          unclear whether it is timely and appropriate to expand the  
          situations under which reports are required to be filed using  
          that system.

          California voters passed an initiative, Proposition 9, in 1974  
          that created the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) and  
          codified significant restrictions and prohibitions on  
          candidates, officeholders and lobbyists. That initiative is  
          commonly known as the PRA.  Amendments to the PRA that are not  
          submitted to the voters, such as those contained in this bill,  
          must further the purposes of the initiative and require a  
          two-thirds vote of both houses of the Legislature.

          Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion  
          of this bill.


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094 










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