BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 45
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Date of Hearing: May 8, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 45 (Dickinson) - As Amended: April 30, 2013
Policy Committee: ElectionsVote:5-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill makes numerous changes to the Political Reform Act
(PRA). Specifically, this bill:
1)Provides that a payment to a multipurpose organization is a
contribution if the donor knows or has reason to know, under
circumstances as specified, that the payment will be used to
make a contribution or an independent expenditure.
2)Defines multipurpose organization, for the purposes of this
bill, as a nonprofit organization, a federal or out-of-state
political action committee, or a local club focusing on
educational or social activities.
3)Requires a donor per (1) to be identified and reported by the
multipurpose organization according to regulations of the Fair
Political Practices Commission (FPPC).
4)Increases, from $1,000 to $2,000, the threshold of
contributions received or independent expenditures made by an
entity before the entity is considered a committee for PRA
purposes.
5)Increases, from $100 to $200, the threshold at which
contributions must be itemized and specified information about
the contributor must be included on campaign reports.
6)Specifies, for committees formed to support or oppose state
ballot measures, the minimum threshold by which reported
contributions must be itemized must be between $500 and
$2,500, as established by the FPPC. The minimum amount must be
adjusted biennially by the FPPC in odd-numbered years.
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7)Provides that campaign disclosure reports need only be filed
by candidates and committees in paper format with the
Secretary of State (SOS) (a) if the filer is not required to
file by electronic means and (b) if the SOS's electronic
filing system is malfunctioning and otherwise unable to
receive electronically filed reports.
8)Authorizes the FPPC to seek injunctive relief in superior
court to compel disclosure pursuant to the PRA, and requires
the court to grant expedited review of such an action.
FISCAL EFFECT
Costs to the FPPC will be minor and absorbable.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . This bill is intended to address some of the
challenges to the FPPC in ensuring thorough and appropriate
disclosure of campaign contributions and expenditures made by
multipurpose organizations, by specifying circumstances in
which a donor to a multipurpose organization is deemed or
presumed to know that his or her donations will be used for
political purposes. Some of these provisions are similar to
regulations adopted by the FPPC. This bill also establishes a
new situation, however, whereby an individual makes donations
of $50,000 or more to a multipurpose organization in the last
six months before an election, and that multipurpose
organization makes contributions or independent expenditures
of $50,000 or more in the six months before the election, then
the donor is presumed to have reason to know his or her
donations would be used for a political purpose. The
implication of this provision is that if a person makes a
large contribution shortly before an election to an
organization that, in turn, makes a significant amount of
contributions or independent expenditures in connection with
that election, it is likely that the donor knew about the
organization's plans to make contributions or expenditures.
This bill also gives the FPPC greater authority to seek to
compel disclosure in court on an expedited basis when
necessary to ensure contributions and expenditures are
appropriately disclosed prior to an election. These
provisions, along with the multipurpose organization
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provisions discussed above, appear to be in response, in part,
to an $11 million out-of-state campaign contribution made to
the Small Business Action Committee PAC (SBAC PAC) three weeks
prior to the November 2012 statewide general election.
In addition, the adjustments in reporting thresholds are
generally to account for inflation since the current
thresholds were either first enacted or subsequently revised
in statute.
2)Related Legislation . AB 800 (Gordon), also on today's
committee agenda, permits the FPPC to seek injunctive relief
to compel disclosure, among other provisions.
AB 914 (Gordon), pending in this committee, requires specified
nonprofit organizations that make campaign contributions,
expenditures, or independent expenditures in California
elections to file reports disclosing the donors to the
nonprofit organization, as specified.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081