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
          
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          |Version: March 26, 2015         |Policy Vote: E. & C.A. 5 - 0    |
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          |Urgency: No                     |Mandate: No                     |
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          |Hearing Date: June 29, 2015     |Consultant: Maureen Ortiz       |
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          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  







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          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  








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            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  








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               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  








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          will require a 2/3rd vote on the Senate Floor.





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