BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Session AB 1083 (Eggman) - Political Reform Act of 1974: local enforcement ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Version: March 26, 2015 |Policy Vote: E. & C.A. 5 - 0 | | | | |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Urgency: No |Mandate: No | | | | |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Hearing Date: June 29, 2015 |Consultant: Maureen Ortiz | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the Suspense File. Bill Summary: AB 1083 will authorize the City Council of the City of Stockton to contract with the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) to enforce its campaign finance laws, until January 1, 2020. The agreement must require reimbursement by the county to the FPPC for all costs. Fiscal Impact: All administration and enforcement costs to the FPPC will be reimbursed by the City of Stockton (Local Fund) Background: Under existing law, the Fair Political Practices Commission is charged with enforcing the Political Reform Act of 1974 (PRA) and has the primary responsibility for the impartial, effective AB 1083 (Eggman) Page 1 of ? administration and implementation of the PRA. Local governments are prohibited from enacting a campaign finance ordinance that imposes reporting requirements that are different from those set forth in the PRA, unless the different requirements apply only to the candidates seeking election in that jurisdiction, their controlled committees or committees formed primarily to support or oppose their candidacies, and to committees formed to support or oppose the qualification or passage of a local ballot measure which is being voted on only in that jurisdiction. Any jurisdiction that adopts or amends a local campaign finance ordinance is required to file a copy of that ordinance with the FPPC. Proposed Law: AB 1083 does the following: 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. The bill provides that the FPPC is authorized to be the civil prosecutor responsible for the civil enforcement of such an ordinance, and, 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 AB 1083 (Eggman) Page 2 of ? 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 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 AB 1083 (Eggman) Page 3 of ? 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 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. Staff Comments: Existing law (AB 2146, Cook, Chapter 169, Statutes of 2012) authorizes the FPPC, upon a mutual agreement with the County of San Bernardino, to enforce the local campaign finance ordinance for San Bernardino County until January 1, 2018. 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. AB 1083 furthers the purpose of the Political Reform Act and AB 1083 (Eggman) Page 4 of ? will require a 2/3rd vote on the Senate Floor. -- END --