BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                       AB 594


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          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


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          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


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          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


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          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