BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
SB 844 (Pavley) - Ballot Measure Contributions
Amended: May 5, 2014 Policy Vote: E&CA 5-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: May 12, 2014 Consultant: Maureen Ortiz
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 844 requires the Secretary of State (SOS) to
provide on its Internet Web site, a list of the 10 highest
contributors of $50,000 or more who have made contributions to
campaign committees formed to support or oppose ballot measures.
Additionally, the bill requires the statewide ballot pamphlet
to contain a statement that refers voters to the Secretary of
State website for information about these contributors; and
authorizes the SOS to adopt regulations and guidelines necessary
for the implementation of these requirements.
Fiscal Impact:
First year costs of $265,000 and annual ongoing expenses of
$205,000 to the SOS (General Fund)
The Secretary of State has indicated costs of $50,000 to
promulgate regulations including the development of uniform
reporting standards. Additionally, 2 PYs at a cost of $215,000
first year and $205,000 ongoing will be needed for the
monitoring and analysis of the Top10 list.
Background: Existing law, pursuant to the Political Reform Act
(PRA), provides 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.
Each campaign committee formed or existing primarily to support
or oppose a statewide ballot measure must file with the
Secretary of State periodic reports identifying the sources and
amounts of contributions received during specified periods.
Proposed Law: SB 844 will require the SOS to post on his or her
Internet Web site a page entitled "Top 10 List" which provides a
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list of the 10 highest contributors of $50,000 or more who have
made the largest cumulative contributions to all campaign
committees collectively that were formed or exist primarily to
support or oppose each statewide ballot measure. This bill
would also require the statewide ballot pamphlet to include a
printed statement that refers voters to the SOS's Internet Web
site for these contributor lists.
Specifically, SB 844 requires the Top 10 List to include the
following information:
a.Each list must identify the names of the 10 contributors who
have made the largest cumulative contributions to the
committee, the total amount of each contributor's
contributions, the employer and occupation of the contributor,
if any, the city and state of the contributor, and the
contributor's committee identification number, if any.
b.Each list of contributors must be in order from the
contributor who made the largest cumulative amount of
contributions to the contributor who made the smallest
cumulative amount of contributions. If two or more
contributors made an equal amount of contributions, those
contributors will be listed in alphabetical order.
c.Each list of contributors must reflect the cumulative amount
of contributions received by primarily formed committees
beginning 12 months before the date each committee made its
first expenditure to qualify, support, or oppose the measure.
d.If a contributor is a committee controlled by a candidate, the
name of the candidate must be listed.
e.If a contributor is a sponsored committee, the name of the
sponsor must be listed.
f.The SOS must update each list of contributors within five
business days after specified campaign statement deadlines if
the information in the report affects the lists. During the
16 days before the election for each statewide ballot measure,
each list must be updated every 48 hours to include new
contributions, with a final update two business days before
the election.
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g.The SOS must, within 10 business days after January 31st, post
a final version of each list for any statewide ballot measure
voted on in the previous calendar year.
h.The SOS must post in a prominent place on the homepage of his
or her Internet Web site and in the online version of the
statewide ballot pamphlet a hyperlink to the lists of
contributors.
Additionally, the Secretary of State must do the following:
1. Make a reasonable effort to ensure that each list
excludes any transfer of funds between two or more
committees.
2. Treat a contribution that is made to a primarily formed
committee that supports or opposes more than one measure as
if the contribution was made in connection with each one,
mark this contribution with an asterisk and provide a
disclosure as specified.
3. Include beyond the 10 highest contributions of $50,000
or more, an additional contributor of $50,000 or more.
SB 844 specifically authorizes the Secretary of State to adopt
guidelines, regulations, or policies necessary to implement the
Top 10 List requirements, and to post them online.
Related Legislation: SB 844 is similar to one of the provisions
contained in SB 1253 (Steinberg), pending on this committee's
Suspense File.
Staff Comments: The Secretary of State has indicated that
creating lists of top 10 contributors who support or oppose a
measure is not a simple undertaking. It is complicated by not
only the large number of committees that may be formed to
support or oppose a ballot measure, but also by the existence of
multi-measure committees (such as a committee formed to
oppose/support Measure 1 & Measure 2); affiliates (Union Local
1234 vs Local 5678); subsidiaries (Citibank vs CitiGroup); lack
of data standardization in reporting (PG&E, Pacific Gas and
Electric Co, PGE Inc); and variations in names (John Smith, J.
Smith, Johnny Smith, J.E. Smith, Jr.). Creating a top 10 list
requires monitoring and analysis of contributions across
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numerous committees. The 11 measures on the November 2012 ballot
spawned a total of 75 committees supporting or opposing those
measures.
The Political Reform Act authorizes the Legislature to add to
the ballot pamphlet information regarding candidates and other
relevant information without placing the measure on the ballot,
and without a 2/3 floor vote.