SB 439 Senate Bill - INTRODUCED

BILL NUMBER: SB 439	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Negrete McLeod

                        FEBRUARY 16, 2011

   An act to add Section 22365 to the Education Code, and to amend
Section 89503 of, and to add Section 20154 to, the Government Code,
relating to the Political Reform Act of 1974.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 439, as introduced, Negrete McLeod. Political Reform Act of
1974: PERS: STRS: gift limits.
   The Political Reform Act of 1974 prohibits a member of a state
board or commission or a designated employee of a state or local
government agency from accepting gifts from any single source in any
calendar year with a total value of more than $250 if the gift is
subject to disclosure on a statement of economic interests. Existing
law requires the commission to adjust the gift limitation in this
section on January 1 of each odd-numbered year to reflect changes in
the Consumer Price Index, rounded to the nearest $10. Existing law
makes a knowing or willful violation of the Political Reform Act of
1974 a misdemeanor.
   This bill would prohibit any member of the board and any employee
of the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) or State Teachers'
Retirement System (STRS) from accepting gifts from any single source
in any calendar year with a total value of more than $50. Because a
knowing or willful violation of this provision would be a crime, the
bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
   This bill would disqualify any vendor or contractor that makes
gifts in violation of the above-described gift limit twice in a
consecutive 5-year period from bidding on, and being awarded, any
contract for a period of 2 years from the date of the conviction of
the recipient of the 2nd gift.
   The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
   The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides
that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes
upon a 2/3 vote of each house and compliance with specified
procedural requirements.
   This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.

   Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 22365 is added to the Education Code, to read:
   22365.  Any vendor or contractor that makes gifts in violation of
the gift limit in paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 89503
of the Government Code two times in a consecutive five-year period
shall be disqualified from bidding on, and being awarded, any
contract for a period of two years from the date of the conviction of
the recipient of the second gift pursuant to Section 91000 of the
Government Code.
  SEC. 2.  Section 20154 is added to the Government Code, to read:
   20154.  Any vendor or contractor that makes gifts in violation of
the gift limit in paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 89503
two times in a consecutive five-year period shall be disqualified
from bidding on, and being awarded, any contract for a period of two
years from the date of the conviction of the recipient of the second
gift pursuant to Section 91000.
  SEC. 3.  Section 89503 of the Government Code is amended to read:
   89503.  (a) No elected state officer, elected officer of a local
government agency, or other individual specified in Section 87200
shall accept gifts from any single source in any calendar year with a
total value of more than two hundred fifty dollars ($250).
   (b) (1) No candidate for elective state office, for judicial
office, or for elective office in a local government agency shall
accept gifts from any single source in any calendar year with a total
value of more than two hundred fifty dollars ($250). A person shall
be deemed a candidate for purposes of this subdivision when the
person has filed a statement of organization as a committee for
election to a state or local office, a declaration of intent, or a
declaration of candidacy, whichever occurs first. A person shall not
be deemed a candidate for purposes of this subdivision after he or
she is sworn into the elective office, or, if the person lost the
election, after the person has terminated his or her campaign
statement filing obligations for that office pursuant to Section
84214 or after certification of the election results, whichever is
earlier.
   (2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any person who is a candidate
as described in paragraph (1) for judicial office on or before
December 31, 1996.
   (c)  (1)    No member of a state board or
commission or designated employee of a state or local government
agency shall accept gifts from any single source in any calendar year
with a total value of more than two hundred fifty dollars ($250) if
the member or employee would be required to report the receipt of
income or gifts from that source on his or her statement of economic
interests. 
   (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) and subdivision (f), no member
of the board and no employee of the Public Employees' Retirement
System or State Teachers' Retirement System shall accept gifts from
any single source in any calendar year with a total value of more
than fifty dollars ($50). 
   (d) This section shall not apply to a person in his or her
capacity as judge. This section shall not apply to a person in his or
her capacity as a part-time member of the governing board of any
public institution of higher education unless that position is an
elective office.
   (e) This section shall not prohibit or limit the following:
   (1) Payments, advances, or reimbursements for travel and related
lodging and subsistence permitted by Section 89506.
   (2) Wedding gifts and gifts exchanged between individuals on
birthdays, holidays, and other similar occasions, provided that the
gifts exchanged are not substantially disproportionate in value.
   (f) Beginning on January 1, 1993, the commission shall adjust the
gift limitation in this section on January 1 of each odd-numbered
year to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index, rounded to the
nearest ten dollars ($10).
   (g) The limitations in this section are in addition to the
limitations on gifts in Section 86203.
  SEC. 4.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.
  SEC. 5.  The Legislature finds and declares that this bill furthers
the purposes of the Political Reform Act of 1974 within the meaning
of subdivision (a) of Section 81012 of the Government Code.