BILL ANALYSIS Ó ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 41| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ THIRD READING Bill No: AB 41 Author: Hill (D) Amended: 2/15/12 in Senate Vote: 27 SENATE ELECTIONS & CONST. AMEND. COMM. : 5-0, 6/21/11 AYES: Correa, La Malfa, De León, Gaines, Lieu SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8 SENATE FLOOR : 37-0, 9/7/11 AYES: Alquist, Anderson, Berryhill, Blakeslee, Calderon, Cannella, Corbett, Correa, De León, DeSaulnier, Dutton, Emmerson, Evans, Fuller, Gaines, Hancock, Harman, Hernandez, Huff, Kehoe, La Malfa, Lieu, Liu, Lowenthal, Negrete McLeod, Padilla, Pavley, Price, Rubio, Runner, Simitian, Steinberg, Strickland, Vargas, Wolk, Wyland, Yee NO VOTE RECORDED: Leno, Walters, Wright ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 60-0, 4/14/11 (Consent) - See last page for vote SUBJECT : High-Speed Rail Authority: conflicts of interest SOURCE : Author DIGEST : This bill (1) adds members of the High-Speed Rail Authority (HSRA) to those specified offices who must CONTINUED AB 41 Page 2 publicly identify a financial interest giving rise to a conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest, and recuse themselves accordingly, under the Political Reform Act, (2) prohibits a member of the HSRA board and any interested person, as defined, conducting an ex parte communication, unless the board member discloses and makes public the communication, and (3) requires the agency overseeing the HSRA to enforce these provisions under certain conditions. Senate Floor Amendments of 2/15/12 (1) exempt from the definition of "ex parte communication" any communication between a member of the HSRA and an interested person regarding a matter restricted to an existing contract between the HSRA and the interested person, and (2) narrow the definition of "interested person" for these purposes to only a bidder, potential bidder, vendor, or contractor (i.e., groups who do not have direct financial interests such as labor groups, business groups, and community groups would not have to be reported). ANALYSIS : Existing law establishes the HSRA and charges it with planning, designing, constructing, operating, and maintaining a high-speed train system for California. The HSRA is governed by a nine member board, including five members appointed by the Governor, two members appointed by the Senate Rules Committee, and two members appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly. Members of the HSRA are subject to applicable provisions of the Political Reform Act (PRA). Existing law lists certain high-ranking public officials (known as 87200 filers) who are subject to specified disclosure requirements under the PRA. These 87200 filers include elected state officers, judges, members of the Public Utilities Commission, members of the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), members of the California Coastal Commission, members of county boards of supervisors, district attorneys, mayors, and members of city councils, among others. Existing law requires 87200 filers to file periodic statements of economic interest (SEIs) disclosing investments, interests in real property, and income (including gifts). CONTINUED AB 41 Page 3 Existing law, pursuant to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, requires all state boards and commissions to publicly notice their meetings, prepare agendas, accept public testimony and conduct their meetings in public unless specifically authorized to meet in closed session. Individual contacts or conversations (ex parte communications) between a member of a state body and any other person are permissible unless otherwise prohibited or regulated. This bill adds members of the HSRA to the list of 87200 filers thereby requiring them to publicly identify the financial interest that gives rise to a potential conflict of interest, to recuse himself/herself from discussing or voting on the matter, and to leave the room until after the discussion, vote, and any other disposition of the matter is concluded. It also expands the amount of information that a member of the HSRA must disclose on an SEI. Specifically, this bill adds members of the HSRA to a statutorily-designated list of high-ranking public officials who are subject to the most expansive disclosure requirements under the PRA. This bill prohibits members of the HSRA board and any interested person, as defined, from conducting an ex parte communication, as defined, unless the board member discloses and makes public the communication by providing a full report of the communication to the executive director within seven days after the communication or, if the communication occurs within seven days of the next HSRA meeting, to the HSRA on the record of the proceeding at that meeting. Requires the HSRA to adopt standard disclosure forms for reporting ex parte communications which shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following information: 1. The date, time, and location of the communication. 2. The identity of the person or persons initiating and the person or persons receiving the communication. 3. A complete description of the content of the communication, including the complete text of any CONTINUED AB 41 Page 4 written material that was a part of the communication. 4. The executive director shall place in the public record any report of an ex parte communication. Communications will cease to be ex parte communications when fully disclosed and placed in the authority's official record. This bill defines "ex parte communication" as any oral or written communication between a member of the HSRA and an interested person about a matter within the HSRA's jurisdiction that does not occur in a public hearing, workshop, or other official proceeding, or on the official record of the proceeding on the matter. The following communications are not ex parte communications under this bill: Any communication between a staff member acting in his/her official capacity and any HSRA member or interested person. Any communication limited entirely to procedural issues, including, but not limited to, a meeting schedule, location, or format of a presentation. Any communication that takes place on the record during an official proceeding of a state, regional, or local agency that involves a member of the HSRA who also serves as an official of that agency. Any communication between a member of the HSRA, with regard to any action of another state agency or of a regional or local agency of which the member is an official, and any other official or employee of that agency. Any communication between a member of the HSRA and an interested person regarding a matter restricted to a current contract between the HSRA and the interested person. This bill defines "interested person" as a firm or person CONTINUED AB 41 Page 5 with a financial interest in a matter before the HSRA, including, but not limited to: A bidder, potential bidder, or contractor. An agent or employee of a bidder, potential bidder, vendor, or contractor. A person receiving consideration for representing a bidder, potential bidder, or contractor. This bill also provides that no HSRA member or alternate shall make, participate in making, or in any other way attempt to use his/her official position to influence an authority decision about which the member or alternate has knowingly had an ex parte communication that has not been publicly reported. This bill requires the agency overseeing the HSRA to enforce provisions of the bill. (NOTE: SB 517 (Lowenthal) will place the HSRA in the Business, Transportation, and Housing Agency.) Comments According to the author's office, this bill adds the HSRA to Section 87200 of the PRA, which will close a loophole that has allowed HSRA Board members to receive thousands of dollars from special interests while voting on issues that impact those very interests. This bill also outlines commonsense rules for ex parte communications between Authority board members and representatives of entities with business before the board. An investigative report in the Los Angeles Times on October 31, 2010, revealed that HSRA board members were not required to abide by the same conflict of interest requirements as other governmental bodies such as the Public Utilities Commission, the Coastal Commission, the state Energy Commission and other state and local government panels which are required to announce the nature of a disqualifying conflict before deliberations can begin. Members of these government entities must leave the room during debate and voting. CONTINUED AB 41 Page 6 The Los Angeles Times report found that certain HSRA board members received more than $10,000 - under state law, the threshold for disclosing sources of outside income - from the special-interest clients in recent years. However, potential conflicts involving some of those clients have not always been recognized or publicly disclosed during meetings by the HSRA board members. This bill reduces potential conflicts by adding them to the list of Section 87200 filers. This move requires board members to announce when they have a financial interest in a proceeding and require them to leave the room during Authority deliberations and recuse themselves before a vote on items in which they have a conflict of interest. Even the Authority praised this provision in its support letter, stating that "avoiding any conflict of interest is an important step toward ensuring the full confidence of the voters as this historic project moves forward." Additionally, given that the board will be making strategic decisions and handing out contracts, this bill introduces rules for ex parte communication. In response to the April 2010 Bureau of State Audits report, the Authority adopted policies with regard to how board members interact with contractors and staff, but still the Authority has no written policy for how board members should interact with the representatives of entities which may have business before the board. Ex parte communications are those which occur between a decision-maker and an interested party regarding a decision that will be made in a public proceeding. Rules governing such proceedings exist in law for the institutions such as the Public Utilities Commission, the Coastal Commission, and the Integrated Waste Management Board, and other entities have adopted their own rules. This bill proposes commonsense rules for ex parte communication - not banning it, but ensuring that any ex parte communication is noted and submitted to public record. This reform, along with the addition of HSRA to PRA Section 87200, will reduce conflicts of interest, increase transparency, and help restore confidence in the CONTINUED AB 41 Page 7 process by which the Authority conducts its challenging task. Related Legislation AB 952 (Jones), which was vetoed last year, prohibited HSRA members, employees, consultants, and their immediate families from accepting gifts from entities with or seeking business before the HSRA and prohibited HSRA members, employees, and consultants from representing entities with business before the HSRA for three years after they leave the HSRA. SB 517 (Lowenthal), which is pending in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, places the HSRA under the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, restructures the governing board, and enacts specified conflict of interest provisions. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: Yes SUPPORT : (Verified 2/16/12) California High Speed Rail Authority (as introduced) Fair Political Practices Commission (as introduced) Professional Engineers in California Government (as introduced) ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 60-0, 4/14/11 (Consent) AYES: Achadjian, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Campos, Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eng, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Gatto, Gordon, Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Lara, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wieckowski, Yamada, John A. Pérez NO VOTE RECORDED: Alejo, Butler, Charles Calderon, Conway, CONTINUED AB 41 Page 8 Feuer, Galgiani, Garrick, Gorell, Grove, Harkey, Jones, Knight, Logue, Mansoor, Mendoza, Morrell, Olsen, Wagner, Williams, Vacancy DLW:mw 2/16/12 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED