BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 182
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 182 (Davis)
As Amended March 22, 2011
2/3 vote
ELECTIONS 7-0
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|Ayes:|Fong, Logue, Bonilla, | | |
| |Hall, Mendoza, Swanson, | | |
| |Valadao | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Allows participants in a pilot project that permits
the electronic filing of a statement of economic interests (SEI)
to continue to receive electronic filings of SEIs during the
2012 calendar year while the Legislature reviews the results of
the pilot project. Specifically, this bill :
1)Extends the end date of a pilot project that allows Los
Angeles, Merced, Orange, Santa Clara, Stanislaus, and Ventura
counties and the City of Long Beach to permit SEIs to be filed
electronically from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2012.
2)Contains various findings and declarations.
3)Makes technical 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 that candidates for, and current holders of,
specified elected or appointed state and local offices and
designated employees of state and local agencies file SEIs
disclosing their financial interests, including investments,
real property interests, and income.
3)Establishes a pilot project which permits Los Angeles, Merced,
Orange, Santa Clara, Stanislaus, and Ventura counties and the
AB 182
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City of Long Beach to permit the electronic filing of an SEI
in accordance with regulations adopted by the FPPC.
4)Provides that the pilot project will begin on January 1, 2009,
and end on January 1, 2012.
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the Legislative
Counsel.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "California voters passed an
initiative, Proposition 9, in 1974 that created the ÝFPPC] which
requires candidates, current office holders and designated
employees of state and local agencies to file statements of
economic interest disclosing their financial interests.
Assembly Bill 2607 (Davis) provided Los Angeles, Orange, Merced
and Stanislaus Counties with the ability to participate in a
pilot program to provide constituents with the option of filing
their Form 700 Statement of Economic Interests using a secure
electronic template. The program provides a safe,
cost-effective and workload-reducing option for the filer to
utilize to fulfill their annual filing obligation. Assembly
Bill 1921 (2010) added Santa Clara and Ventura Counties, as well
as the City of Long Beach, to the existing pilot project. AB
182 would extend the sunset date for the pilot program from
January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012."
As part of the PRA's comprehensive scheme to prevent conflicts
of interest by state and local public officials, existing law
identifies certain elected and other high-level state and local
officials who must file SEIs. Similarly, candidates for those
positions must file SEIs. Other state and local public
officials and employees are required to file SEIs if the
position they hold is designated in an agency's conflict of
interest code. While the exact number of people that are
required to file SEIs is unknown, the FPPC has estimated that
the number exceeds 200,000 officials and employees statewide.
The information that must be disclosed on an SEI, and the
location at which an SEI is filed, varies depending on the
position held by the individual who is required to file an SEI.
Although there are some exceptions, individuals who are required
to file an SEI typically must file that document with the agency
of which they are an elected official or by which they are
employed.
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Existing law creates a pilot project, currently scheduled to end
on January 1, 2012, to evaluate the efficacy and desirability of
allowing for SEIs to be filed electronically. Participants in
the pilot project are required to submit a report to the FPPC no
later than July 1, 2011, which in turn is required to forward
the reports to the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) along with
any comments that the FPPC has on those reports or the pilot
project. Based on that information, the LAO is required to
provide a report to the Legislature evaluating the pilot project
not later than February 1, 2012. This bill will allow
jurisdictions that are participating in the pilot project to
continue to accept electronically filed SEIs for the 2012
calendar year while the Legislature reviews the LAO's report.
If the Legislature subsequently decides, upon reviewing that
report, to permanently allow SEIs to be filed electronically,
this policy change would allow the participants in the pilot
project to continue accepting SEIs electronically without
interruption.
AB 2607 (Davis), Chapter 498, Statutes of 2008, established a
pilot project which permits Los Angeles, Merced, Orange, and
Stanislaus Counties to permit the electronic filing of an SEI in
accordance with regulations adopted by the FPPC. AB 1149
(Davis), Chapter 139, Statutes of 2009, made two minor changes
to that pilot project. AB 1921 (Davis), Chapter 58, Statutes of
2010, allowed Santa Clara and Ventura counties and the City of
Long Beach to participate in the pilot project that was created
by AB 2607 (Davis).
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.
Analysis Prepared by : Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094
FN: 0000284
AB 182
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