BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 27
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Date of Hearing: August 30, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
SB 27 (Correa) - As Amended: August 21, 2013
Policy Committee: ElectionsVote:5-1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill establishes various conditions under which a
multipurpose organization (MPO) is required to disclose the
names of its donors when making campaign contributions or
expenditures in the state and requires online posting of top
contributors to political campaigns. Specifically, this bill:
1) Requires a committee that is primarily formed to support
or oppose a state ballot measure or a state candidate, and
that raises $1 million or more for an election, to maintain
an accurate list of the committee's top 10 contributors of
$10,000 or more, as specified by regulations adopted by the
Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC).
2) Requires a current list of the top 10 contributors to be
provided to the FPPC for disclosure on the FPPC's website
in a manner determined by the commission through
regulation. The FPPC is also to provide this list to the
Secretary of State (SOS), upon request, for posting on the
SOS website.
3) Requires the committee to update the top 10 list
whenever a new person qualifies as a top 10 contributor, a
person who is an existing top 10 contributor makes
additional contributions to the committee, or a change
occurs that alters the relative ranking order of the top 10
contributors, and requires the FPPC to post the updated the
list within five business days, except during the last 16
days before the election, when it must post within 48
hours.
4) Requires the FPPC to compile, maintain, and display on
SB 27
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its website a current list of the top 10 contributors
supporting and opposing each state ballot measures, as
specified by FPPC regulations.
5) Requires the state ballot pamphlet to include (a) a
written explanation of the top 10 contributor lists
described above, including a description of the Internet
Web sites where the lists are available to the public and
(b) an explanation of the appropriate election procedures
for party-nominated, voter nominated, and non-partisan
offices.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Any costs to the FPPC will be minor and absorbable. No
additional penalty revenues, as the penalty provisions are
consistent with existing commission regulations.
2)Annual printing costs of $55,000 (GF) to the SOS for one
additional page in the state ballot pamphlet to include the
information required in (5) above.
COMMENTS
1) Purpose . According to the author, "Everyone is aware of
the now-infamous $11 million contribution from an Arizona
non-profit organization to a committee that was opposing
Proposition 30 and supporting Proposition 32 last November.
After a court battle with the FPPC, this nonprofit group
revealed that it was not the true source of the $11 million
contribution but merely an intermediary. They disclosed
that the actual source of the $11 million was another
nonprofit organization who had received it from yet another
nonprofit organization. The true, original source of this
campaign money is still unknown to the public and the
matter is still the subject of an ongoing FPPC
investigation."
The author indicates that SB 27, sponsored by the FPPC, is
intended to accomplish two goals. "First, it will enact a
series of tests and presumptions in the law [pertaining to
MPOs] so that campaign funds can no longer be laundered
through nonprofit corporations without them disclosing the
true source of the money.
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"Second, it will require ballot measure committees that raise
one million dollars or more to give the FPPC a current list
of the committee's top ten contributors of ten thousand
dollars or more. The FPPC and the committee will be
required to post the list on their Internet web sites."
2) Related Legislation . AB 45 (Dickinson), pending in the
Senate Elections & Constitutional Amendments, revises the
disclosure rules applying to MPOs that make contributions
and expenditures in California elections, among other
provisions
AB 914 (Gordon), pending in the Senate Appropriations,
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.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081