BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2250
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Date of Hearing: April 13, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
2250 (Ridley-Thomas) - As Introduced February 18, 2016
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Urgency: Yes State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
No
SUMMARY:
This bill:
AB 2250
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1)Prohibits, under state law, contributions, expenditures, and
independent expenditures from foreign governments and foreign
principals in connection with candidate elections, and
prohibits a person or a committee from soliciting or accepting
such contributions.
2)Makes a violation of (1) a misdemeanor subject to fine equal
to the amount of the contribution or expenditure.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Potential minor absorbable costs to the Fair Political Practices
Commission (FPPC) and to local prosecutors for enforcement,
offset to some extent by fine revenues.
COMMENTS:
Purpose. Since 1966, Federal law has prohibited foreign
nationals from making contributions in connection with political
campaigns in the U.S. Since federal election law does not
explicitly provide for ballot measure elections, SB 109 (Kopp),
Chapter 67, Statutes of 1997, prohibited foreign governments and
foreign principals from making contributions, expenditures, and
independent expenditures in connection with a state or local
initiative, recall, or referendum measure.
According to the author, though federal law clearly prohibits
foreign nationals from making contributions regarding candidate
elections in California, the Federal Elections Commission, which
is responsible for enforcing that law, has a significant backlog
and frequently deadlocks on enforcement matters. The author
asserts it is important for the FPPC to have concurrent
jurisdiction over the issue of foreign contributions in
AB 2250
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candidate elections in order to best protect the integrity of
California's elections.
Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916)
319-2081