BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 3|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 3
Author: Yee (D) and Lieu (D), et al.
Amended: 8/28/13
Vote: 27
SENATE ELECTIONS & CONST. AMEND. COMM. : 4-1, 4/30/13
AYES: Correa, Hancock, Padilla, Yee
NOES: Anderson
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 4-1, 5/23/13
AYES: De Le�n, Hill, Lara, Padilla
NOES: Gaines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters, Steinberg
SENATE FLOOR : 30-6, 5/29/13
AYES: Beall, Block, Calderon, Cannella, Corbett, Correa, De
Le�n, DeSaulnier, Emmerson, Evans, Galgiani, Hancock,
Hernandez, Hill, Hueso, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Lieu, Liu,
Monning, Padilla, Pavley, Price, Roth, Steinberg, Torres,
Wolk, Wright, Yee
NOES: Anderson, Fuller, Gaines, Knight, Nielsen, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Berryhill, Huff, Walters, Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Not available
SUBJECT : Political Reform Act of 1974
SOURCE : California Common Cause
League of Women Voters of California
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DIGEST : This bill makes numerous significant changes to the
Political Reform Act of 1974 (PRA).
Assembly Amendments (1) delete requirement if the cumulative
contributions or expenditures for a treasurer's committees are
$250,000 or less at the time the treasurer is designated as
treasurer for a committee, that treasurer must complete the
online certification course within 20 business days after the
date upon which the contributions or expenditures of the
committee or committees exceed $250,000; (2) provide that if the
Secretary of State (SOS) is the filing office, he/she must
deposit two-thirds, instead of one-third, of any funds received
pursuant to this provision into the Political Disclosure,
Accountability, Transparency, and Access Fund (PDATA Fund), and
the remainder into the General Fund (GF); (3) extend the
completion development date for the online training course; (4)
decrease the fine from $1,000 to $500, for a treasurer if he/she
fails to complete the required online training course; and (5)
make other technical and clarifying changes.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Provides, under the PRA, for the comprehensive regulation of
campaign financing, including requiring the reporting of
campaign contributions and expenditures, as defined, and
imposing other reporting and recordkeeping requirements on
campaign committees, as defined.
2. Requires, under the PRA, SOS, in consultation with the Fair
Political Practices Commission (FPPC), to develop online and
electronic filing processes for specified entities. A
violation of the PRA's provisions is punishable as a
misdemeanor.
This bill:
1. Requires a person who serves as a treasurer for one or more
committees to complete an online training course designed and
administered by the FPPC not later than 20 business days
after being designated as a treasurer. Requires the course
to address campaign finance laws and the duties of a
treasurer, and requires a treasurer to complete the course
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every two years. Requires each person completing the
training course to certify his/her identity under penalty of
perjury. Permits the FPPC to charge a fee of up to $50 for
each applicant for training. Requires the FPPC to maintain a
list of treasurers who have completed training on its Web
site.
2. Requires the FPPC, prior to developing the online training
course, to coordinate with one or more other state agencies
or departments, including the Department of Technology, to
identify existing online training courses that may be
converted for the purposes of this bill.
3. Requires the FPPC to complete the development of the online
training course no later than June 30, 2015, and provides
that treasurers shall be subject to the training requirement
beginning 30 days after the FPPC certifies a training course,
but no sooner than July 1, 2015.
4. Provides for fines of up to $500 for a treasurer who fails
to complete the training course.
5. Provides that the FPPC has no liability with respect to a
violation of the PRA by a treasurer that completed the
training or by a committee that has designated that person as
its treasurer.
6. Declares the intent of the Legislature that the SOS develop
a statewide electronic filing system that provides for the
following:
A. Electronic filing of committee organization
statements; lobbyist, lobbying firm, and lobbyist employer
registrations; campaign statements by all state
committees, without regard to the amounts of contributions
and expenditures; periodic reports filed by lobbyists,
lobbying firms, and lobbyist employers; and reports by all
major donors at the state level when specified thresholds
are met;
B. A statewide, Internet-accessible system that provides
for search capabilities that are data driven and
user-friendly for all members of the public; and,
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C. A system that provides for lobbying and committee data
to be made regularly available to the public in raw,
machine-readable data format.
1. Requires the SOS to develop a feasibility study report (FSR)
not later than December 31, 2014, that outlines the
technology requirements and the costs of the statewide
electronic filing system described above. Requires the SOS
to consult and coordinate with other state agencies including
the FPPC with respect to data transitioning. Requires the
FSR to include an examination of the feasibility of
establishing a statewide electronic filing system that
permits state-required committee disclosure forms and reports
to be imported into the statewide database from local
jurisdictions that have their own electronic filing systems.
2. Increases the penalty imposed when a report required by the
PRA is filed after the deadline from $10 per day after the
deadline to $30 per day. Increases the maximum amount of
such penalties from the cumulative amount stated on the late
statement or report or $100, whichever is greater, to 150% of
the cumulative amount stated in the late statement or report
or $1,000, whichever is greater. Provides that if the SOS is
the filing officer, he/she shall deposit two-thirds of any
funds received pursuant to this provision into the PDATA
Fund, and the remainder into the GF.
3. Changes the terms "late contribution" and "late independent
expenditure" to "election-cycle contribution" and
"election-cycle independent expenditure," respectively.
Background
Cal-Access status . Created in 1999, Cal-Access is a database
and filing system the SOS has used to make much of the lobbying
and campaign finance information available online at no cost to
users. In late November 2011, the Cal-Access system went down,
and the system was unavailable for most of the month of
December. (Note: See the Senate Elections and Constitutional
Amendments Committee for information, provided by SOS, about the
status of the Cal-Access system and the challenges to replacing
that system.)
PDATA Fund . SB 1001 (Yee, Chapter 506, Statutes of 2012)
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imposed a new $50 fee on specified committees that are required
to file disclosure reports pursuant to the PRA and increased
fees by $25 per year on lobbying firms and lobbyist employers.
The bill created the PDATA Fund in the State Treasury and
required the new fee revenue to be used for the online and
electronic disclosure of reports filed pursuant to the PRA.
Moneys deposited in the PDATA Fund are subject to appropriation
by the Legislature for the maintenance, repair, and improvement
of the online or electronic disclosure program implemented by
the SOS pursuant to existing law (Cal-Access). It is estimated
that these fees will result in approximately $490,000 of new
revenue yearly for the PDATA Fund.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
1. One-time GF costs of $200,000 for the equivalent of two
positions to develop the treasurer training program and
update regulations, and ongoing GF costs of about $140,000 to
administer the training program. The number of treasurers is
unknown, but revenue from course fees would offset a
significant portion of the ongoing costs.
Annual increased penalty revenue of around $30,000.
2. Absorbable costs to complete the FSR and minor one-time
costs ($20,000) for programming changes.
Increased penalty revenue in the low hundreds of thousands of
dollars annually, to be deposited into the PDATA Fund.
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/11/13)
California Common Cause (co-source)
League of Women Voters of California (co-source)
California Clean Money Campaign
California Public Interest Research Group
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
Common Cause sponsored legislation that created a dedicated
funding source for a new online disclosure system through
registration fees gathered from lobbyists and political
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committees. SB 1001 created the PDATA Fund for the purpose of
paying for maintenance and an eventual upgrade to the Cal-Access
system.
This bill is the second half of the Sunshine in Campaigns Act
(including SB 2 (Lieu and Yee, 2013)). This bill is also a
continuation of the work done in SB 1001 with its major
provisions that set out statutory deadlines for when the SOS
will need to complete the design and development of a new online
disclosure system that will meet today's information technology
standards. A new disclosure system will make searching for data
more accessible and make campaign and lobbying spending easier
for the regulated community, all while improving the public's
experience with this important resource.
In addition to providing for a new state online disclosure
system, this bill also allows local jurisdictions to allow for
electronic filing in lieu of paper disclosures if the
jurisdiction allows it. This reform will save local governments
money and make filing campaign statements easier for local
candidates and committees.
This bill also makes important changes to what the state
designates as "late" contributions or independent expenditures.
This change will amend the term "late" with the term
"election-cycle" which is less confusing to voters and regulated
individuals and closer to how the FPPC designates these
transactions in regulations.
RM:k 9/11/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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