BILL NUMBER: SB 1001 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 17, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 8, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 16, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Senator Yee
(Coauthor: Senator Blakeslee)
FEBRUARY 6, 2012
An act to amend Section 86102 of, and to add Sections 84101.5 and
84613 to, the Government Code, relating to the Political Reform Act
of 1974.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1001, as amended, Yee. Political Reform Act of 1974: lobbyists
and committees: fees.
(1) Existing provisions of the Political Reform Act of 1974
require a committee, as defined, to file a statement of organization
with the Secretary of State and, as applicable, to file semiannual
campaign statements.
This bill would require the Secretary of State to charge each
committee that is required to file a statement of organization, and
would require each committee to pay, except as specified and subject
to specified deadlines, a fee not to exceed
of $50 per year until the committee is terminated. The bill
would require the Fair Political Practices Commission to adjust this
fee limit on December 1 of each even-numbered year
to reflect any increase in the Consumer Price Index and to round the
adjustment to the nearest $5.
(2) Existing provisions of the Political Reform Act of 1974
regulate the activities of lobbyists, lobbying firms, and lobbyist
employers, as defined, in connection with attempts to influence
legislative and administrative action by legislative and other state
officials. The act requires that lobbying firms and lobbyist
employers register with the Secretary of State, and authorizes the
Secretary of State to charge each lobbying firm and lobbyist employer
a fee of up to $25 per year for each lobbyist required to be listed
on its registration statement.
This bill instead would increase the maximum
amount of this fee to require the Secretary of State
to charge each lobbying firm and lobbyist employer a fee
of $50 per year for each lobbyist required to be listed on
its registration statement . The bill would require the Fair
Political Practices Commission to adjust this fee limit
on December 1 of each even-numbered year to reflect any
increase in the Consumer Price Index and to round the adjustment to
the nearest $5.
(3) This bill would establish the Political Disclosure,
Access, and Transparency Account Accountability,
Transparency, and Access Fund in the State Treasury and require
that moneys collected as fees from committees, as
described in (1) above , and one-half of fees
collected from lobbying firms and lobbyist employers, as described in
(2) above, be deposited in the account
this fund . The bill would require that the other
1/2 of the fees collected for lobbyist
registration prior to January 1, 2013, from lobbying
firms and lobbyist employers be deposited in the General Fund.
The bill would require that moneys deposited in the account
the Political Disclosure, Accountability,
Transparency, and Access Fund be expended for the maintenance,
repair, and improvement of the online or electronic disclosure
program implemented by the Secretary of State, except that the bill
would also allow the Secretary of State to use these moneys for
purposes of implementing the bill. The bill would prohibit
the use of these moneys to improve or replace the online or
electronic disclosure program until the Secretary of State has
completed and submitted to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee and
the Department of Finance a feasibility study report regarding a new
online or electronic disclosure program. The bill
would provide that expenditures from this fund for purposes of the
maintenance, repair, and improvement of the online or electronic
disclosure program are subjec t to the project approval
and oversight process established by the California Technology
Agency, as specified.
(4) 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: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 84101.5 is added to the Government Code, to
read:
84101.5. (a) Notwithstanding Section 81006, the Secretary of
State shall charge each committee that is required to file a
statement of organization pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section
84101, and each committee that is required to file a statement of
organization pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 84101 shall pay,
a fee of not more than fifty dollars ($50) per
year until the committee is terminated pursuant to Section 84214.
(b) A committee shall pay the fee prescribed in subdivision (a) no
later than 15 days after filing its statement of organization.
(c) (1) A committee annually shall pay the fee prescribed in
subdivision (a) no later than January 15 of each year.
(2) A committee that is created and pays the initial fee pursuant
to subdivision (b) in the final three months of a calendar year is
not subject to the annual fee pursuant to paragraph (1) for the
following calendar year.
(3) A committee that existed prior to January 1, 2013, shall pay
the fee prescribed in subdivision (a) no later than February 15,
2013, and in accordance with paragraph (1) in each year thereafter. A
committee that terminates pursuant to Section 84214 prior to January
31, 2013, is not required to pay a fee pursuant to this paragraph.
(d) (1) A committee that fails to timely pay a fee required by
this section is subject to a penalty equal to three times the amount
of the fee.
(2) The Commission shall enforce the requirements of this section.
(e) The Commission shall adjust the fee limit
in subdivision (a) on December 1 of each even-numbered year to
reflect any increase in the Consumer Price Index. The Commission
shall round each adjustment pursuant to this subdivision to the
nearest five dollars ($5).
SEC. 2. Section 84613 is added to the Government Code, to read:
84613. (a) (1) The Political
Disclosure, Access, and Transparency Account
Accountability, Transparency, and Access Fund is hereby
established in the State Treasury. Moneys collected pursuant to
Sections Section 84101.5 and
one-half of the moneys collected pursuant to Section 86102
shall be deposited in the Political Disclosure, Access, and
Transparency Account Accountability, Transparency, and
Access Fund .
(2) Fees collected pursuant to Section 86102 prior to January 1,
2013, shall be deposited in the General Fund.
(b) (1) Moneys deposited in the Political
Disclosure, Access, and Transparency Account
Accountability, Transparency, and Access Fund are subject to
appropriation by the Legislature and shall be expended for the
maintenance, repair, and improvement of the online or electronic
disclosure program implemented by the Secretary of State pursuant to
this chapter. In
(2) In addition to paragraph
(1) , the Secretary of State may also use moneys
deposited in the Political Disclosure, Access, and
Transparency Account Accountability, Transparency, and
Access Fund for purposes of implementing the act that added
this section.
(c) Moneys deposited in the Political Disclosure, Access, and
Transparency Account shall not be used to improve or replace the
online or electronic disclosure program until the Secretary of State
has completed and submitted to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee
and the Department of Finance a feasibility study report regarding a
new online or electronic disclosure program.
(c) Any expenditure of moneys from the Political Disclosure,
Accountability, Transparency, and Access Fund for the purposes
described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) is subject to the
project approval and oversight process established by the California
Technology Agency pursuant to Section 11546.
SEC. 3. Section 86102 of the Government Code is amended to read:
86102. (a) Each The Secretary of State
shall charge each lobbying firm and lobbyist employer required
to file a registration statement under this chapter may be
charged not more than a fee of fifty dollars
($50) per year for each lobbyist required to be listed on its
registration statement.
(b) The Commission shall adjust the registration fee
limit in subdivision (a) on December 1 of each
even-numbered year to reflect any increase in the Consumer Price
Index. The Commission shall round each adjustment pursuant to this
subdivision to the nearest five dollars ($5).
(c) One-half of the moneys collected pursuant to this section
shall be deposited in the Political Disclosure, Accountability,
Transparency, and Access Fund, and the other one-half of the moneys
shall be deposited in the General Fund.
SEC. 4. 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.