BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 914
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 914 (Gordon)
As Amended May 14, 2013
2/3 vote
ELECTIONS 5-2 JUDICIARY 8-2
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|Ayes:|Fong, Bocanegra, Bonta, |Ayes:|Wieckowski, Alejo, Chau, |
| |Hall, Perea | |Dickinson, Garcia, |
| | | |Maienschein, Muratsuchi, |
| | | |Stone |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Donnelly, Logue |Nays:|Wagner, Gorell |
| | | | |
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APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Gatto, Bocanegra, | | |
| |Bradford, | | |
| |Ian Calderon, Campos, | | |
| |Eggman, Gomez, Hall, | | |
| |Ammiano, Pan, Quirk, | | |
| |Weber | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Harkey, Bigelow, | | |
| |Donnelly, Linder, Wagner | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires specified nonprofit corporations that make
campaign contributions, expenditures, or independent
expenditures in California elections to file reports disclosing
the donors to the nonprofit corporation, as specified.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires a nonprofit corporation, as specified, that makes
contributions, expenditures, and independent expenditures in
California aggregating $50,000 or more during the
corporation's fiscal year, to file a Nonprofit and
Multipurpose Organization Disclosure Statement (NMODS) with
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the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), pursuant to a
schedule determined by the FPPC. Requires the NMODS to
disclose the following information:
a) The amount of contributions, expenditures, and
independent expenditures, and the percentage of the
entity's expenses that those amounts represent; and,
b) If the amount of contributions, expenditures, and
independent expenditures exceeds 10% of the entity's total
expenses during the reporting period, each of the
following:
i) The amount of any funds, or the fair market value of
any services or assets, that are provided in relation to
a contribution, expenditure, or independent expenditure;
ii) The amount or fair market value of liabilities
incurred in relation to a contribution, expenditure, or
independent expenditure;
iii) The date that the funds, services, or assets were
provided or the liabilities were incurred;
iv) The name and address of the recipient of the
contribution, expenditure, or independent expenditure;
v) A description of the contribution, expenditure, or
independent expenditure and its purpose, including
whether it was made in support of or opposition to a
candidate, political party, ballot measure, or other
question put before voters in an election; and,
vi) Information related to each donor who made donations
in an aggregate amount of $10,000 or more to the entity
during the reporting period, including the name and
address of the donor; the name of the employer of the
donor, if available; and the date and amount of each
donation from that donor during the reporting period.
2)Provides that an entity is not required to disclose any
information on a NMODS form that was previously disclosed on a
statement filed pursuant to the Political Reform Act (PRA).
Provides that an entity that maintains segregated accounts
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that are the exclusive source of election-related
contributions, expenditures, or independent expenditures is
only required to report information with respect to donations
deposited into the segregated accounts.
3)Requires the FPPC to treat information about a donor on a
NMODS form as confidential if the entity that is reporting, or
a donor to the entity, demonstrates by clear and convincing
evidence that either of the following is true:
a) The public disclosure of donor information will cause
undue harm, threats, harassment, or reprisals to the donor;
or
b) The donor did not know or have reason to know that his
or her donation would be used to make a contribution,
expenditure, or independent expenditure in this state.
4)Requires the FPPC, when it grants a petition to maintain the
confidentiality of donor information, to redact the donor and
donation information from documents that are made available to
the public. Requires the FPPC to inform a petitioner, in
writing, whether a petition to maintain the confidentiality of
donor and donation information has been granted or denied, and
the reasons or basis for the determination.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, costs to the FPPC would be minor and absorbable.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "AB 914 would provide for
additional disclosure by a nonprofit organization that makes
campaign contributions, expenditures, or independent
expenditures in California. This would better enable voters to
know who, if not the candidate or ballot measure committee, is
paying for campaigns. By requiring this disclosure, the bill
enhances transparency in the electoral process as well as
detection and deterrence of Political Reform Act violations.
The bill also includes important protections so as to maintain
anonymity of donors if their donations are restricted to
purposes unrelated to elections, as well as to shield donors to
qualifying nonprofits from public disclosure if it would cause
undue harm, threats, harassment, or reprisal."
Under existing law, when a multipurpose organization makes
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contributions or independent expenditures of specified amounts
in connection with an election in California, that organization
must file a report disclosing that it made the contributions or
independent expenditures. In some cases, the organization is
required to report only the fact that it made a contribution or
independent expenditure, while in other cases, the report must
also disclose certain donors to the organization. California
law is intended to ensure that a multipurpose organization is
required to reveal the name of a donor to that organization only
if the donor knew, or had reason to know, that his or her
donation could be used for political purposes in California.
However, it can be difficult to enforce these requirements,
since an enforcement agency needs to have access to an
organization's communications with donors to determine whether
they had reason to know that their donations would be used for
political purposes.
This bill is intended to address some of the challenges with
ensuring disclosure of campaign contributions and expenditures
made by multipurpose organizations by requiring such
organizations that have significant involvement in California
campaigns to file reports disclosing the contributions and
expenditures they make. To help ensure that multipurpose
organizations are not being used to conceal the source of
contributions or expenditures, this bill requires organizations
that spend more than a nominal amount of their budgets on making
contributions and expenditures to include detailed information
about the larger donors to the organization.
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.
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion
of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094
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