BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 45
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 45 (Dickinson)
As Amended April 30, 2013
2/3 vote
ELECTIONS 5-2 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Ayes:|Fong, Bocanegra, Bonta, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bocanegra, |
| |Hall, Perea | |Bradford, |
| | | |Ian Calderon, Campos, |
| | | |Eggman, Gomez, Hall, |
| | | |Ammiano, Pan, Quirk, |
| | | |Weber |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Donnelly, Logue |Nays:|Harkey, Bigelow, |
| | | |Donnelly, Linder, Wagner |
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY : Makes numerous significant changes to the Political
Reform Act of 1974 (PRA). Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides that a payment made to a multipurpose organization,
as defined, is a contribution to that organization if the
donor knows or has reason to know, under circumstances as
specified, that the payment, or part of the payment, will be
used to make a contribution or an independent expenditure.
Requires a donor under these circumstances to be identified
and reported by the multipurpose organization according to
regulations of the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC).
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)Provides that a person retains his or her status as a
"candidate," for the purposes of the PRA, for the duration of
time that he or she holds office.
4)Requires a filing officer to immediately affix a date stamp to
each statement of economic interests filed pursuant to the PRA
to reflect the date of receipt by the filing officer.
AB 45
Page 2
5)Increases the threshold of contributions received or
independent expenditures made by an entity, from $1,000 to
$2,000 in a calendar year, before that entity is considered a
"committee," for the purposes of the PRA.
6)Increases, from $100 to $200, the threshold at which
contributions must be itemized, and information must be
provided about the names, addresses, occupations, and
employers of contributors, on campaign reports. Provides that
for committees primarily formed to support or oppose a
statewide ballot measure, the threshold at which contributions
and expenditures must be itemized shall be set pursuant to
regulations adopted by the FPPC, provided that the threshold
shall be no lower than $500 and no higher than $2,500.
7)Provides that candidates and committees that file campaign
disclosure reports online or electronically with the Secretary
of State (SOS) are not required to file those reports in a
paper format unless the online or electronic system operated
by the SOS is malfunctioning, unavailable, or otherwise not
capable of receiving online or electronically filed disclosure
statements and reports.
8)Permits the FPPC to seek injunctive relief in superior court
to compel disclosure consistent with the PRA. Permits a
superior or appellate court to grant a stay of an order
granting relief pursuant to these provisions. Requires the
court to grant expedited review to an action filed pursuant to
this procedure, as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, costs to the FPPC will be minor and absorbable.
COMMENTS : 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. Most 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
AB 45
Page 3
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 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 three weeks prior to the November 2012 statewide
general election.
This bill additionally makes a number of adjustments to
reporting thresholds and committee qualification thresholds
under the PRA. These adjustments generally account for
inflation since the current thresholds were either first enacted
or subsequently revised in statute, and are intended to protect
against legal challenges to the existing thresholds.
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. Most amendments to the
PRA that are not submitted to the voters, including those
contained in this bill, must further the purposes of the
initiative and require a two-thirds vote of both houses of the
Legislature.
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion
of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094
FN: 0000435
AB 45
Page 4