BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 71
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Date of Hearing: March 15, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Paul Fong, Chair
AB 71 (Huber) - As Introduced: December 20, 2010
SUBJECT : Political Reform Act of 1974: lobbyists.
SUMMARY : Requires the Secretary of State (SOS) to create a
report each calendar quarter that identifies the bills that were
lobbied during the prior calendar quarter and the lobbyist
employers who lobbied on each of those bills. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Requires the SOS, not later than 90 days following the end of
each calendar quarter, to display on his or her Internet web
site a list of the lobbying interests containing a specific
reference to a bill number that were reported on a lobbying
disclosure report, accompanied by a list of all lobbyist
employers who reported each of those lobbying interests for
the prior calendar quarter.
2)Clarifies that when a filer describes his or her lobbying
interests on a periodic lobbying report, the lobbying
interests shall include the bill number, if any, of
legislation lobbied for or against during the reporting
period.
3)Makes other technical and corresponding changes.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Creates the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), and
makes it responsible for the impartial, effective
administration and implementation of the Political Reform Act
(PRA).
2)Requires the SOS to maintain on the Internet an updated list
of lobbyists, lobbying firms, and lobbyist employers.
3)Requires lobbyist employers and persons making certain
payments to influence legislative or administrative action to
file periodic statements disclosing, among other things, their
lobbying interests.
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FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. State-mandated local program; contains
a crimes and infractions disclaimer.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of the Bill : According to the author:
AB 71 addresses the need to readily identify who is
lobbying on a specific issue by requiring the Secretary of
State to display online a breakdown of all lobbying
interests seeking to influence each proposed law.
During the 2007-2008 Legislative Session, special interests
spent $558 million to influence the legislative process.
While existing law requires disclosure, the way the state
provides this information makes it difficult for the public
to identify what legislation lobbyists are trying to
influence.
Currently, lobbying records listed online are not linked to
an issue. The only way to determine which lobbyists are
working for or against specific legislation is to spend
hours viewing or photocopying hundreds of lobbying
disclosure reports, search each and every report and build
a list cross-referenced with over 3,000-4,000 bills
introduced in the Legislature every two years.
AB 71 would require the Secretary of State to create an
issue-by-issue list that details online all lobbying
interests that tried to influence the decisions made on a
specific piece of legislation.
Doing so will allow the public to see who actively lobbied
on a particular matter. In one click, the public should be
able to see the complete list of those who fought for or
against a specific bill as it moved through the legislative
process.
Current law, the Political Reform Act of 1974, requires
lobbyist employers to disclose this information and AB 71
will ensure that it is accessible to the public online by
cross-referencing it with specific legislation.
2)Is the Secretary of State the Appropriate Entity to Create
This Report ? While the SOS is currently required to maintain
AB 71
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on the Internet an updated list of lobbyists, lobbying firms,
and lobbyist employers, it is not clear whether it is
appropriate for the SOS to create this report. The mission of
the FPPC is to provide impartial interpretation and
enforcement of political campaign, lobbying, and conflict of
interest laws in California. As the lead agency in enforcing
and monitoring lobbying restrictions and activities, the
committee and the author may wish to consider whether the FPPC
is a more appropriate entity to create and update this report.
Additionally, committee staff notes that the FPPC has
produced a number of reports in the last few years that it was
not statutorily required to produce, while the SOS indicated
that it could not complete the type of report that is required
by this bill within existing resources when a similar bill was
considered last session (see below). In light of these
circumstances, the FPPC may be better equipped to handle the
workload involved in producing these reports without the need
for additional resources.
3)Arguments in Opposition : In opposition to this bill, the
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees,
AFL-CIO, expresses concern about the potential cost to the SOS
of creating the reports required by this bill and argues that
the bill lacks sufficient technical details about how the
report would be created.
4)Previous Legislation : This bill is similar to AB 1274 (Huber)
of the 2009-10 Legislative Session. AB 1274 was approved by
this Committee and by the Assembly, but was held on the Senate
Appropriations Committee's suspense file.
5)Political Reform Act of 1974 : California voters passed an
initiative, Proposition 9, in 1974 that created the 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.
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file.
Opposition
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees,
AFL-CIO
Analysis Prepared by : Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094