BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON
ELECTIONS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Ben Allen, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 2002 Hearing Date: 6/21/16
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|Author: |Mark Stone |
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|Version: |4/12/16 |
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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: California Coastal
Commission: communications
DIGEST
This bill provides that communicating with the Coastal
Commission (Commission) in order to influence specified actions
can result in a person being considered a "lobbyist" under the
Political Reform Act (PRA) and prohibits an ex parte
communication with a member of the Commission regarding a matter
during the 24 hours before that matter will be discussed at a
Commission hearing.
ANALYSIS
Existing law:
1)Creates the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) and
makes it responsible for the impartial, effective
administration and implementation of the PRA.
2)Defines a "lobbyist," for the purposes of the PRA, as an
individual who receives $2,000 or more in a calendar month, or
whose principal duties as an employee are, to communicate with
an agency official, elected state official, or legislative
official for the purpose of influencing legislative or
administrative action. This definition does not apply to any
elected public official acting in her official capacity, or
any state employee acting within the scope of his or her
employment.
AB 2002 (Mark Stone) Page 2
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3)Defines "administrative action," for the purposes of the PRA,
as either of the following:
a) The proposal, drafting, development, consideration,
amendment, enactment, or defeat by any state agency of any
rule, regulation, or other action in any ratemaking
proceeding or a quasi-legislative proceeding, as specified;
or,
b) With regard only to placement agents, as defined, the
decision by any state agency to enter into a contract to
invest state public retirement system assets on behalf of a
state public retirement system.
1)Defines "agency official," for the purposes of the PRA, as any
member, officer, employee, or consultant of any state agency
who as part of her official responsibilities participates in
any administrative action in other than a purely clerical,
secretarial, or ministerial capacity.
2)Requires a lobbyist to register as a lobbyist and to comply
with various ethics and reporting rules.
3)Requires lobbying firms and lobbyist employers to register
with the Secretary of State (SOS) and to file periodic
disclosure reports that contain information about the firms'
and employers' lobbying interests and agencies lobbied.
4)Permits any person to testify at a Commission hearing,
workshop, or other official proceeding, or submit written
comments for the record on a matter before the Commission.
5)Requires any person who applies to the Commission for approval
of a development permit to provide the Commission with the
names and addresses of all persons who, for compensation, will
be communicating with the Commission or its staff on the
applicant's behalf or on behalf of the applicant's business
partners. Requires that disclosure to be provided to the
Commission prior to any such communication.
AB 2002 (Mark Stone) Page 3
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6)Requires Commissioners to disclose and make public any ex
parte communication by providing a full report of the
communication to the executive director within seven days of
the communication or, if the communication occurs within seven
days of the next Commission hearing, to the Commission on the
record of the proceeding at that hearing.
7)Defines an "ex parte communication," for the purposes of
communications related to actions of the Commission, as any
oral or written communication between a member of the
Commission and an interested person about a matter within the
Commission's jurisdiction, which does not occur in a public
hearing, workshop, or other official proceeding, or that is
not on the record at such a proceeding.
8)Defines an "interested person" as (a) any applicant,
applicant's agent or representative, or participant in a
Commission proceeding, (b) any person with a financial
interest in a matter before the Commission, or her agent or
employee, or (c) a representative acting on behalf of any
civic, environmental, neighborhood, business, labor, trade, or
similar organization who intends to influence the decision of
a Commissioner.
9)Defines a "matter within the commission's jurisdiction" as any
permit action, federal consistency review, appeal, local
coastal program, port master plan, public works plan, or any
other quasi-judicial matter requiring Commission action, for
which an application has been submitted to the Commission.
10)Prohibits a Commissioner who has knowingly had an ex parte
communication that has not been reported as required from
voting on the matter or influencing the Commission in any way.
Provides that knowing violations of the disclosure or recusal
requirements can result in fines of up to $7,500, and a court
order for the Commission to revoke its action and rehear the
matter.
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This bill:
1)Provides that communications with Commissioners regarding
specified business before the Commission can result in a
person being considered a lobbyist under the PRA, pursuant to
the following:
a) Expands the definition of "administrative action" to
also mean the proposal, drafting, development,
consideration, amendment, enactment, or defeat of any rule,
regulation, permit action, federal consistency review,
appeal, local coastal program, port master plan, public
works plan, long-range development plan, or categorical or
other exclusion from coastal development permit
requirements.
b) Provides, for the purposes of a quasi-judicial matter
before the Commission, that the term "agency official" only
means Commissioners, thereby generally excluding
communications with staff or consultants of the Commission
regarding matter before the Commission from the types of
communications that may result in a person being classified
as a lobbyist under this bill.
c) Exempts from the definition of "lobbyist," for the
purposes of this bill, an employee of a local government
agency seeking, within the scope of his or her employment,
to influence quasi-judicial decisions of the Commission.
1)Requires Commissioners to disclose any ex parte communication
in writing as follows:
a) If the communication occurs more than seven days before
the next commission hearing, to the executive director
within seven days after the communication.
b) If the communication occurs within seven days of the
next commission hearing, to the commission on the record of
the proceeding at that hearing.
c) If the communication occurs within seven days of the
next commission hearing and relates to a matter that the
AB 2002 (Mark Stone) Page 5
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commission will discuss at the hearing, to the commission
in writing at least 24 hours before that hearing.
d) No commission member, nor any interested person, shall
conduct an ex parte communication within 24 hours before a
commission hearing regarding a matter that the commission
will discuss at the hearing.
BACKGROUND
Coastal Commission . The Commission was established by voter
initiative in 1972 (Proposition 20) and later made permanent by
the Legislature through adoption of the California Coastal Act
of 1976 (Coastal Act). In partnership with coastal cities and
counties, the Commission plans and regulates the use of land and
water in the coastal zone. Development activities, which are
broadly defined by the Coastal Act to include construction of
buildings, divisions of land, and activities that change the
intensity of use of land or public access to coastal waters,
generally require a Coastal Development Permit (CDP) from either
the Commission or the local government with a certified Local
Coastal Program (LCP).
The Commission is an independent, quasi-judicial state agency,
and is composed of 12 voting members, appointed equally (4 each)
by the Governor, the Senate Rules Committee, and the Speaker of
the Assembly. Six of the voting commissioners are locally
elected officials and six are appointed from the public at
large. Three ex officio (non-voting) members represent the
Natural Resources Agency, the Transportation Agency, and the
State Lands Commission.
According to the Commission's mission statement, the Commission
is committed to protecting and enhancing California's coast and
ocean for present and future generations through careful
planning and regulation of environmentally-sustainable
development, rigorous use of science, strong public
participation, education, and effective intergovernmental
coordination.
Ex parte communications . Ex parte communications refer to any
communication made in private (i.e., off the record and without
notice and opportunity for all parties to participate) between
an interested party in a decision-making process and any state
official in a decision-making position. Ex parte communication
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disclosure requirements for state policy makers are intended to
provide the public with information regarding a decision and to
prevent bias in decision makers.
Prior to 1992, there was no mention of ex parte communications
in the Coastal Act. In 1992, basic ex parte communications
reporting was added to the Coastal Act. In 2014, AB 474 (Stone,
Chapter 125, Statutes of 2014), improved ex parte communications
reporting requirements. The additions to the reporting
requirements included the identity of the person on whose behalf
the communication was made, the identity of all persons present
during the communication, and a complete, comprehensive
description of the content of the ex parte communication,
including a complete set of all text and graphic material that
was part of the communication. This bill requires written
reports for all ex parte communications. This bill also
prohibits ex parte communications within 24 hours of a
Commission hearing.
COMMENTS
According to the author : Currently members of the California
Coastal Commission are lobbied without the same level of
transparency that is met when other state officials are lobbied.
AB 2002 will amend the California Coastal Act and the
California Political Reform Act to require that those lobbying
the Commission must register with the Fair Political Practices
Commission as a lobbyist; they must disclose activities they are
pursuing on behalf of a client.
The decisions made by the Commission can have broad and lasting
impacts on coastal conservation and coastal access. The
Commission works with cities and counties in the coastal zone to
approve land use policy that reflects the values put forth by
the voters in 1972. Due to the gravity of these decisions,
transparency of the process is critical.
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RELATED/PRIOR LEGISLATION
SB 1190 (Jackson), which is pending in the Assembly Natural
Resources Committee, prohibits all ex parte communications at
the Commission.
AB 2658 (Maienschein), which was never voted on in the Assembly
Natural Resources Committee, would have required Commission
staff to disclose certain communications as specified and
imposed time limits for posting specified recordings and
materials on the Commission website.
PRIOR ACTION
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|Assembly Floor: |54 - 23 |
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|Assembly Appropriations Committee: |14 - 6 |
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|Assembly Natural Resouces Committee: | 7 - 2 |
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|Assembly Elections and Redistricting | 6 - 1 |
|Committee: | |
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POSITIONS
Sponsor: Author
Support: Betty Yee, California State Controller
Asian Pacific Policy & Planning Council
Audubon California
Azul\Hispanic Access Foundation
Black Surfers Collective
Blue Frontier
CA Native Plant Society
California Coastal Protection Network
California Coastkeeper Alliance
California League of Conservation Voters
California Public Interest Research Group
California Watershed Network
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City of West Hollywood
Climate Parents
Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation
Courage Campaign
Environment California
Environmental Defense Center
Environmental Justice Coalition for Water
Friends of Harbors, Beaches and Parks
Hispanic Access Foundation
Humboldt Baykeeper
IDARE Sustainable Leadership
Inland Empire Waterkeeper
Klamath Riverkeeper
Los Angeles Waterkeeper
Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust
Monterey Coastkeeper & Otter Projects
National Parks Conservation Association
Orange County Coastkeeper
Petaluma River Council
Preserve Rural Sonoma County
Russian Riverkeeper
San Francisco Baykeeper
San Diego Coastkeeper
San Luis Obispo Channelkeeper
Santa Barbara Channelkeeper
Sierra Club California
Smith River Alliance
Sonoma County Conservation Action
Surfrider Foundation
The City Project
The Nature Conservancy
Turtle Island Restoration Network
Ventura Coastkeeper
Wallace J. Nicholas, Ph.D., Author, Blue Mind
WildCoast
Wishotyo Chumash Foundation
Oppose: California Apartment Association
California Building Industry Association
California Business Properties Association
California Cattlemen's Association
California Chamber of Commerce
California Construction and Industrial Materials
Association
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California Farm Bureau Federation
California Independent Petroleum Association
Loftin Firm, P.C.
National Federation of Independent Business
Western States Petroleum Association
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