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
AB 1083 (Eggman) Page 2 of
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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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