BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                     AB 779


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          CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
          AB  
          779 (Cristina Garcia)


          As Amended  August 3, 2016


          Majority vote


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          |ASSEMBLY:  |      |(June 3, 2015) |SENATE: |30-8  |(August 15,      |
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          |COMMITTEE VOTE: | 8-0 |(August 25,     |RECOMMENDATION:   |concur     |
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          (L. Gov.)




          Original Committee Reference:  TRANS.


          SUMMARY:  Requires cities, counties and special districts to  
          compile compensation information about their elected officials  








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          and post it on their Web sites.


          The Senate amendments strike the Assembly version of this bill  
          and instead:


          1)Require a city, county, city and county, or special district,  
            on or before April 30 of each year, to post compensation  
            information in a conspicuous location on its Internet Web site  
            (website) that contains the names, positions, and total  
            compensation, including a breakdown of the types of  
            compensation provided, of each elected official within that  
            entity for the previous calendar year. 


          2)Require a city or special district that does not have a  
            website to compile this information and make it readily  
            available upon request.


          3)Define "total compensation" to mean payments for salaries,  
            overtime, unused vacation time, stipends, pension  
            contributions, retirement contributions, health premium  
            contributions, automobile allowances, phone allowances, and  
            technology allowances.  Any other type of compensation that  
            the city, county, city and county, or special district  
            provides shall also be included and specified.  "Total  
            compensation" does not include reimbursements or payments for  
            work-related travel expenses.


          4)Specify that this bill does not apply to school districts.


          5)Provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines  
            that this bill contains costs mandated by the state,  
            reimbursement to local agencies for those costs shall be made  
            pursuant to current law governing state mandated local costs.


          EXISTING LAW:  








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          1)Requires the State Controller (Controller) to compile and  
            publish reports of the financial transactions of each county,  
            city, and special district within this state, together with  
            any other matter he or she deems of public interest.


          2)Requires the officer of each local agency who has charge of  
            the financial records to furnish to the Controller a report of  
            all the financial transactions of the local agency during the  
            next preceding fiscal year.


          3)Requires local agency financial transaction reports to include  
            information about the annual compensation of the local  
            agency's elected officials, officers, and employees, and  
            requires the Controller to compile, publish, and make this  
            information publicly available on the Controller's website.


          4)Requires local agencies to post information about the annual  
            compensation of the local agency's elected officials,  
            officers, and employees on their websites.  A local agency may  
            meet this requirement by posting, in a conspicuous location on  
            its website, a link to the Controller's website.


          FISCAL EFFECT:  According to the Senate Appropriations  
          Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.


          COMMENTS:  


          1)Bill Summary.  This bill requires cities, counties and special  
            districts, on or before April 30 of each year, to post  
            compensation information about their elected officials in a  
            conspicuous location on their websites.  The compensation  
            information must contain the names, positions, and total  
            compensation, including a breakdown of the types of  
            compensation provided, of each elected official within that  








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            entity for the previous calendar year.  If a city or special  
            district does not have a website, it shall compile this  
            information and make it readily available upon request.


            This bill defines "total compensation" to include payments for  
            salaries, overtime, unused vacation time, stipends, pension  
            contributions, retirement contributions, health premium  
            contributions, automobile allowances, phone allowances, and  
            technology allowances.  Any other type of compensation that a  
            city, county, or special district provides shall also be  
            included and specified.  "Total compensation" does not include  
            reimbursements or payments for work-related travel expenses.   
            The bill does not apply to school districts.


            This bill is sponsored by the author.


          2)Author's Statement.  According to the author, "People have a  
            right to know how much their elected officials are paid.  By  
            featuring the compensation information on local websites,  
            residents will have better access to this information.  AB 779  
            requires the breakdown of all types of compensation to be  
            posted.  This full reporting will add needed transparency.   
            For example, a recent newspaper investigation reported the  
            city of Maywood was paying officials and some employees $250  
            monthly mileage stipends.  It's unclear how such a payment  
            could be justified, as the city is just larger than one square  
            mile.  


            "Unfortunately, abuses like those that occurred in the city of  
            Bell and other local governments are still occurring.   
            Currently, the SCO (State Controller's Office) posts local  
            entity's salary information by position, but does not include  
            names.  While the SCO posts break down some compensation, they  
            also include an 'other' category.  Something like a mileage  
            stipend, mentioned above, would fall in this 'other'  
            category."   










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          3)Background.  The Controller must compile and publish reports  
            of the financial transactions of local governments.  These  
            reports must include the annual compensation of a local  
            agency's elected officials, officers, and employees in  
            accordance with reporting instructions developed by the  
            Controller.  The Controller must make these reports, including  
            compensation data, available on its website in a form that can  
            be printed and downloaded.  Local agencies that maintain a  
            website must post this compensation information in a  
            conspicuous location on their websites.  Local agencies are  
            allowed to meet this requirement by posting a link to the  
            Controller's website instead.


            The Controller's instructions define compensation to include  
            salaries, overtime pay, lump sum pay, pension contributions,  
            health/vision/dental benefits, deferred compensation  
            contributions, and any other compensation (such as automobile  
            allowances).  Local agencies must compile this information for  
            each employee, who is identified by their classification,  
            including whether the employee held multiple positions.  Local  
            agencies must submit this information for the previous  
            calendar year no later than April 30th.


            In recent years, several small cities in Los Angeles County  
            have come under scrutiny for their compensation practices.  In  
            particular, beginning in July 2010, a series of news reports  
            revealed that City of Bell officials received some of the  
            highest salaries in the nation, topping $700,000 annually.   
            These revelations led to further inquiries into financial  
            irregularities that culminated with convictions for the former  
            mayor, four former city councilmembers, the city  
            administrator, and the assistant city administrator.  More  
            recently, City of Maywood officials drew criticism in May 2016  
            for receiving automobile stipends of $250/month, even though  
            the city is the second smallest in the county and covers  
            approximately one square mile.


          4)Previous Legislation.  AB 2040 (Garcia), Chapter 894, Statutes  
            of 2014, required local agency financial transaction reports  








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            to include information about the annual compensation of the  
            local agency's elected officials, officers, and employees,  
            required local agencies to post this information on their  
            websites, and required the Controller to compile, publish, and  
            make this information publicly available on the Controller's  
            website.  


          5)State Mandate.  This bill is keyed a state mandate, which  
            means the state could be required to reimburse local agencies  
            for implementing the bill's provisions if the Commission on  
            State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs  
            mandated by the state.  


          6)Support Arguments.  The California League of Conservation  
            Voters and Sierra Club California, in support, state, "We are  
            pleased to support AB 779, which increases local government  
            transparency and helps residents easily find information about  
            their local officials' compensation.  Scandals in Bell and  
            Vernon concerning pay for elected officials highlight the need  
            for more transparency about who is paid what, in order to  
            prevent the misuse of taxpayer dollars?


            "This information will allow residents to better understand  
            the amounts and types of compensation that these officials  
            receive.  Some local government entities already post this  
            information prominently on their websites.  Also, some  
            California news organizations and interest groups currently  
            request, compile, and post local government compensation on  
            their websites.  However, the amount of information varies by  
            entity and region, and what is available can be difficult to  
            find."


          7)Opposition Arguments.  The League of California Cities, in  
            opposition, writes, "Current law already requires local  
            agencies to report the compensation of their government boards  
            as well as all employees to the California State Controller.   
            These reports include the following items requested in AB 779  
            in the compilation of total compensation:  stipends,  








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            automobile allowance, technology allowance, phone allowance,  
            pension contributions, retirement contributions, health  
            premiums, and any other type of compensation.  AB 779 differs  
            only in specifically requesting that unused vacation time be  
            reported and that the different compensation categories be  
            broken out.


            "This measure requires a new duplicative report to be posted  
            on agencies' websites although current law (Government Code  
            Section 53901) already requires compensation reports to be  
            posted in a conspicuous location on agencies' websites.  We  
            believe that existing forms and instructions are sufficient to  
            accommodate the intent of this measure without requiring  
            duplicative reporting and posting."


          Analysis Prepared by:                                             
                          Angela Mapp / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958  FN:  
          0004933