BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 594
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
594 (Gordon)
As Amended April 7, 2015
2/3 vote
--------------------------------------------------------------------
|Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes |
|----------------+------+-----------------------+--------------------|
|Elections |5-0 |Ridley-Thomas, Gatto, | |
| | |Gordon, Mullin, Perea | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+-----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |17-0 |Gomez, Bigelow, Bloom, | |
| | |Bonta, Calderon, | |
| | |Chang, Daly, Eggman, | |
| | |Gallagher, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Holden, Jones, | |
| | |Quirk, Rendon, Wagner, | |
| | |Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
--------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Eliminates certain campaign reporting requirements.
Standardizes the dates by which preelection reports must be filed.
Requires contributions and independent expenditures of $1,000 or
more that are received or made on Election Day to be reported
within 24 hours. Specifically, this bill:
AB 594
Page 2
1)Provides that a contribution or an independent expenditure of
$1,000 or more that is received or made on Election Day is a
"late contribution" or a "late independent expenditure" that is
required to be reported within 24 hours of having been received
or made.
2)Eliminates supplemental preelection and supplemental independent
expenditure reporting requirements.
3)Requires all preelection reports to be filed pursuant to the
same schedule, instead of having a slightly different schedule
for preelection reports that are filed in connection with
statewide elections held in June and November of even-numbered
years.
4)Eliminates the requirement for city general purpose committees
to file preelection reports if they do not receive contributions
of $1,000 or more.
5)Makes corresponding and technical changes.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, any costs to the Fair Political Practices Commission
(FPPC), which administers and enforces the Political Reform Act
(PRA), will be minor and absorbable.
COMMENTS: According to the author, "AB 594 would streamline some
of the campaign finance rules in the [PRA] to reduce redundancy
and improve accountability. Overall, the bill would make small,
but meaningful reforms to the [PRA], while maintaining the highest
ethical standards."
AB 594
Page 3
Under the PRA, there are two general types of reporting
requirements: periodic reports that are filed according to
specified time schedules, and activity-based reports, which are
triggered when a candidate or committee has campaign activity that
meets or exceeds a specific dollar threshold.
This bill seeks to eliminate two types of special activity-based
reports in an effort to streamline the campaign reporting process.
The reports that would be eliminated are supplemental preelection
statements and supplemental independent expenditure reports. Due
to modifications made to campaign limits and disclosure
requirements after these reporting requirements were established,
these special activity-based reporting requirements no longer
serve their original purposes.
This bill also standardizes the schedule for filing preelection
reports so that the first preelection report is always due by the
40th day before the election, covering all activity through the
45th day before the election, regardless of when the election is
held. Finally, this bill eliminates the requirement for city
general purpose committees to file preelection reports in
connection with an election if the committees are not recipient
committees (that is, if they do not receive contributions of
$1,000 or more). Unlike city general purpose committees, state
and county general purpose committees are required to file
preelection reports only if they are recipient committees. State
and county general purpose committees that are not recipient
committees-that is, committees that make independent expenditures
or contributions, but that do not receive contributions-are not
required to file preelection reports. Those committees'
preelection activities typically will be disclosed on other
reports (including through late independent expenditure reports
and late contribution reports).
California voters passed an initiative, Proposition 9, in 1974
that created the FPPC and codified significant restrictions and
AB 594
Page 4
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 FN:
0000233