BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON
ELECTIONS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Ben Allen, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 1083 Hearing Date: 6/16/15
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|Author: |Eggman |
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|Version: |3/26/15 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Darren Chesin |
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Subject: Political Reform Act of 1974: local enforcement
DIGEST
This bill permits the City Council of the City of Stockton and
the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) to enter into an
agreement that provides for the FPPC to enforce a local campaign
finance ordinance passed by the City Council of the City of
Stockton.
ANALYSIS
Existing Law:
1)Creates the FPPC, and makes it responsible for the impartial,
effective administration and implementation of the Political
Reform Act (PRA).
2)Requires a local government agency that adopts or amends a
local campaign finance ordinance to file a copy of the
ordinance with the FPPC.
3)Prohibits a local government agency from enacting a campaign
finance ordinance that imposes campaign reporting requirements
that are additional to or different from those set forth in
the PRA for elections held in its jurisdiction unless the
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additional or different requirements apply only to the
candidates seeking election in that jurisdiction, their
controlled committees or committees formed or existing
primarily to support or oppose their candidacies, and to
committees formed or existing primarily to support or oppose a
candidate or to support or oppose the qualification or passage
of a local ballot measure which is being voted on only in that
jurisdiction, and to city or county general purpose committees
active only in that city or county, respectively.
4)Authorizes the FPPC, until January 1, 2018, upon mutual
agreement between the FPPC and the San Bernardino County Board
of Supervisors, to have primary responsibility for the
impartial, effective administration, implementation, and
enforcement of a local San Bernardino County campaign finance
reform ordinance. Requires the San Bernardino County Board of
Supervisors to consult with the FPPC prior to adopting and
amending any local campaign finance reform ordinance that is
subsequently enforced by the FPPC.
5)Authorizes the FPPC, pursuant to the aforementioned agreement,
to investigate possible violations of the San Bernardino
County campaign finance reform ordinance and bring
administrative actions against persons who violate the
ordinance, as specified.
6)Permits the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors and the
FPPC to enter into any agreements necessary and appropriate
for the operation of these provisions, including agreements
for reimbursement of state costs with county funds, as
specified. Permits the San Bernardino County Board of
Supervisors or the FPPC, at any time, by ordinance or
resolution, to terminate any agreement for the FPPC to
administer, implement, or enforce the local campaign finance
reform ordinance or any provision thereof.
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7)Requires the FPPC to report to the Legislature with specified
information on or before January 1, 2017, if the FPPC enters
into such an agreement with the San Bernardino County Board of
Supervisors.
This bill:
1)Provides that, upon mutual agreement between the FPPC and the
City Council of the City of Stockton, the FPPC is authorized
to assume primary responsibility for the impartial, effective
administration, implementation, and enforcement of a local
campaign finance ordinance passed by the City Council of the
City of Stockton. Provides that the FPPC is authorized to be
the civil prosecutor responsible for the civil enforcement of
such an ordinance. Provides that as the civil prosecutor, the
FPPC may do both of the following:
a) Investigate possible violations of the local campaign
finance reform ordinance; and,
b) Bring administrative actions in accordance with the PRA
and the administrative adjudication provisions of the
Administrative Procedure Act.
2)Requires any local campaign finance reform ordinance of the
City of Stockton that is enforced by the FPPC to comply with
the PRA.
3)Requires the City Council of the City of Stockton to consult
with the FPPC prior to adopting and amending any local
campaign finance reform ordinance that will be enforced by the
FPPC.
4)Permits the City Council of the City of Stockton and the FPPC
to enter into any agreements necessary and appropriate to
carry out the provisions of this bill, including agreements
pertaining to any necessary reimbursement of state costs with
city funds for costs incurred by the FPPC in administering,
implementing, or enforcing a local campaign finance reform
ordinance pursuant to the provisions of this bill.
5)Prohibits an agreement entered into pursuant to the provisions
of this bill from containing any form of a cancellation fee,
liquidated damages provision, or other financial disincentive
to the exercise of the right to terminate the agreement,
except that the FPPC may require the City Council of the City
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of Stockton to pay the FPPC for services rendered and any
other expenditures reasonably made by the FPPC in anticipation
of services to be rendered pursuant to the agreement if the
City Council of the City of Stockton terminates the agreement.
6)Permits the City Council of the City of Stockton or the FPPC
to terminate, at any time, by ordinance or resolution, any
agreement made pursuant to this bill for the FPPC to
administer, implement, or enforce a local campaign finance
reform ordinance or any other provisions thereof.
7)Requires the FPPC, if an agreement is entered into pursuant to
the provisions of this bill, to report to the Legislature on
or before January 1, 2019, and submit that report in
compliance with current law. Requires the FPPC to develop the
report in consultation with the City Council of the City of
Stockton.
8)Requires the report to include, but not be limited to, all of
the following:
a) The status of the agreement;
b) The estimated annual cost savings, if any, for the City
of Stockton;
c) A summary of relevant annual performance metrics,
including measures of utilization, enforcement, and
customer satisfaction;
d) Public comments submitted to the FPPC or the City of
Stockton relative to the operation of the agreement; and,
e) Legislative recommendations.
9)Contains a January 1, 2020 sunset date.
10) Makes legislative findings and declarations as to the
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necessity of a special statute for City of Stockton due to
the need to avoid an appearance of corruption in the city's
electoral process.
BACKGROUND
San Bernardino County Contract with the FPPC . In 2012, the
Legislature enacted AB 2146 (Cook, Chapter 169, Statutes of
2012), which permitted San Bernardino County and the FPPC to
enter into an agreement that provides for the FPPC to enforce
the County's local campaign finance reform ordinance. Prior to
this, the FPPC did not enforce any local campaign finance
ordinances. According to previous analyses, the County of San
Bernardino, which had been the subject of several high-profile
corruption cases, was in the process of developing a campaign
finance ordinance. Rather than appoint an ethics commission,
which could present financial as well as conflict of interest
challenges, the County proposed to contract with the FPPC to
enforce their local campaign finance ordinance. Moreover, the
County determined that it was in the best interest of the County
to retain the services of the FPPC to provide for the
enforcement and interpretation of San Bernardino County's local
campaign finance ordinance as the FPPC has special skills,
knowledge, experience, and expertise in the area of enforcement
and interpretation of campaign laws necessary to effectively
advise, assist, litigate, and otherwise represent the County on
such matters.
As a result, the FPPC and San Bernardino County entered into a
mutual agreement, from January 1, 2013 through December 31,
2014, for the FPPC to provide the County campaign enforcement
and interpretation services for the impartial, effective
administration, implementation, and enforcement of San
Bernardino's campaign finance reform ordinance. According to
the FPPC, San Bernardino County and the FPPC have entered into a
new two-year mutual agreement.
Local Campaign Ordinances and the PRA . Under existing law,
local government agencies have the ability to adopt campaign
ordinances that apply to elections within their jurisdictions,
though the PRA imposes certain limited restrictions on those
local ordinances. For instance, SB 726 (McCorquodale, Chapter
1456, Statutes of 1985) limited the ability of local
jurisdictions to impose campaign filing requirements that
differed from those in the PRA, permitting such requirements
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only when they applied solely to candidates and committees whose
activity is restricted primarily to the jurisdiction in
question. This provision sought to avoid the necessity of a
candidate or committee active over a wider area being required
to adhere to several different campaign filing schedules.
Similarly, AB 1430 (Garrick, Chapter 708, Statutes of 2007),
prohibited local governments from adopting rules governing
member communications that are different than the rules that
govern member communications at the state level.
Aside from these restrictions, however, local government
agencies generally have a significant amount of latitude when
developing local campaign finance ordinances that apply to
elections in those agencies' jurisdictions. Any jurisdiction
that adopts or amends a local campaign finance ordinance is
required to file a copy of that ordinance with the FPPC, and the
FPPC posts those ordinances on its website. Several cities and
counties have adopted campaign finance ordinances, some of which
are very extensive.
In some cases, those ordinances include campaign contribution
limits, reporting and disclosure requirements that supplement
the requirements of the PRA, temporal restrictions on when
campaign funds may be raised, and voluntary public financing of
local campaigns, among other provisions. In many cases, local
campaign finance ordinances are enforced by the district
attorney of the county or by the city attorney. In at least a
few cases, however, local jurisdictions have set up independent
boards or commissions to enforce the local campaign finance
laws.
The FPPC does not currently enforce any local campaign finance
ordinances other than San Bernardino County's. The FPPC can and
does, however, bring enforcement actions in response to
violations of the PRA that occur in campaigns for local office,
even in cases where the local jurisdiction brings separate
enforcement actions for violations of a local campaign finance
ordinance.
Criminal, Civil, and Administrative Enforcement of the PRA and
Local Campaign Ordinances . Violations of the PRA are subject to
administrative, civil, and criminal penalties. Generally, the
Attorney General (AG) and district attorneys have responsibility
for enforcing the criminal provisions of the PRA, though any
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elected city attorney of a charter city also has the authority
to act as the criminal prosecutor for violations of the PRA that
occur within the city. The FPPC, the AG, district attorneys,
and elected city attorneys of charter cities all have
responsibility for enforcement of the civil penalties and
remedies provided under the PRA, depending on the nature and
location of the violation, while any member of the public also
has the ability to file a civil action to enforce the civil
provisions of the PRA, subject to certain restrictions.
The FPPC has the sole authority to bring administrative
proceedings for enforcement of the PRA. When the FPPC
determines on the basis of such a proceeding that a violation of
the PRA has occurred, it can impose monetary penalties of up to
$5,000 per violation, in addition to ordering the violator to
cease and desist violation of the PRA and to file any reports,
statements, or other documents or information required by the
PRA. In the case of local campaign ordinances, there is no
single approach as to the types of penalties that are available
for the violations of those ordinances. Many local ordinances
provide for misdemeanor or civil penalties for violations, while
some ordinances do not establish any penalties for violations.
In some local jurisdictions that have independent boards or
commissions to enforce the local campaign finance ordinances,
those boards or commissions have the authority to bring
administrative enforcement proceedings, similar to the authority
the FPPC has under the PRA.
COMMENTS
1)According to the Author : This bill seeks to amend the
Political Reform Act of 1974 in order to authorize the FPPC to
enter into an agreement with the City of Stockton to enforce
campaign contribution limits.
There is an ongoing, national debate about the role money plays
in campaigns, and particularly the effect that large
contributions have on candidates once they are elected.
Candidates for elected office typically rely on money to fund
effective campaigns; the amount and source of those donations
can vary greatly. The City of Stockton currently imposes no
limits on donations by individuals to campaigns for city
offices, so the City Council is considering the adoption of a
municipal ordinance setting individual campaign donation
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limits.
The city does not have the resources to oversee and enforce such
an ordinance, but the FPPC has, through past legislation,
arranged with the County of San Bernardino to do just that.
This bill would simply allow the City of Stockton to make the
same mutual arrangement with the FPPC.
RELATED/PRIOR LEGISLATION
AB 910 (Harper), which is still pending in the Assembly as a
two-year bill, authorizes the FPPC to administer and enforce a
local campaign finance ordinance for any city or county, upon
mutual agreement between the FPPC and the local agency, as
specified.
AB 2146 (Cook, Chapter 169, Statutes of 2012), permitted San
Bernardino County and the FPPC to enter into an agreement that
provides for the FPPC to enforce the County's local campaign
finance ordinance.
SB 1226 (Correa of 2014), would have authorized any city or
county to enter into an agreement with the FPPC to administer
and enforce a local campaign finance ordinance. The bill was
gutted and amended in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
PRIOR ACTION
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|Assembly Floor: |74 - 1 |
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|Assembly Appropriations Committee: |17 - 0 |
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|Assembly Local Government Committee | 9 - 0 |
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|Assembly Elections and Redistricting | 5 - 1 |
|Committee: | |
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POSITIONS
Sponsor: Author
Support: None received
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Oppose: None received
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