Amended in Assembly April 6, 2016

Amended in Assembly March 28, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 2284


Introduced by Assembly Member Patterson

February 18, 2016


An act to add Section 10708 to the Elections Code, and to amend Sections 89510 and 89519 of the Government Code, relating to elections.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2284, as amended, Patterson. Special elections to fill vacancies.

The California Constitution requires the Governor to immediately call an election to fill a vacancy in the Legislature. Existing law provides specific procedures for the nomination and election of candidates at any special election to fill a vacancy in the office of State Senator or Member of the Assembly.

Exiting law, the Political Reform Act of 1974, provides that contributions deposited into a campaign account are deemed to be held in trust for expenses associated with the election of a candidate or for expenses associated with holding office. The act provides that campaign funds under the control of a former candidate or elected officer are considered surplus campaign funds at a prescribed time, and it prohibits the use of surplus campaign funds except for specified purposes.

This bill would prohibit a State Senator or Member of the Assembly who decides to resign from office before the expiration of his or her term from subsequently using campaign funds held in trust for any purpose other than paying outstanding campaign debts or reasonable expenses. The bill would amend the list of specified purposes allowable for the use of surplus campaign funds to include the payment of expenses to hold a special election to fill the vacancy created by the Member’s resignation and would require the former Member to pay from his or her surplus campaign funds such election-related expenses, to the extent he or she has funds available to do so. Once election-related expenses are paid, this bill would limit the use of excess surplus funds tobegin delete charitableend deletebegin insert certainend insert purposes.

This bill would further make a Member who, after deciding to resign, uses campaign funds for purposes other than those authorized in that circumstance personally liable for expenses to hold a special election.

A violation of the provisions of the Political Reform Act of 1974 is punishable as a misdemeanor. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act’s purposes upon a 23 vote of each house and compliance with specified procedural requirements.

This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.

Vote: 23. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P2    1

SECTION 1.  

Section 10708 is added to the Elections Code, to
2read:

3

10708.  

(a) A State Senator or Member of the Assembly who
4resigns from office before the expiration of his or her term shall
5reimburse from his or her surplus campaign funds the county or
6counties that hold a special election pursuant to this chapter to fill
7the vacancy for any expenses authorized and necessarily incurred
8in the preparation for, and conduct of, the special election.

9(b) Expenses for which reimbursement is required pursuant to
10subdivision (a) shall be paid from the former officeholder’s surplus
11campaign funds, as defined by Section 89519 of the Government
12Code, to the extent he or she has funds available to do so; however,
P3    1if a former officeholder violates subdivision (c) of Section 89510
2of the Government Code, he or she shall be personally liable for
3those expenses to the extent he or she lacks sufficient surplus
4campaign funds to pay them.

5(c) If the legislative district encompasses more than one county,
6the surplus campaign funds shall be prorated among the counties
7conducting the special election in proportion to the percentage of
8the district each county composes.

9

SEC. 2.  

Section 89510 of the Government Code is amended
10to read:

11

89510.  

(a) A candidate for elective state office may only accept
12contributions within the limits provided in Chapter 5 (commencing
13with Section 85100).

14(b) All contributions deposited into the campaign account shall
15be deemed to be held in trust for expenses associated with the
16election of the candidate or for expenses associated with holding
17office.

18(c) If a State Senator or Member of the Assembly decides to
19resign from office before the expiration of his or her term, he or
20she subsequently shall only use funds held pursuant to this section
21to pay outstanding campaign debts or reasonable expenses. Funds
22held pursuant to this section are subject to Section 89519 to the
23extent they become surplus funds.

24(d) There is a rebuttable presumption that a State Senator or
25Member of the Assembly whobegin delete resignsend deletebegin insert resignedend insert decided to do so
26six months before he or she vacated office. The presumption may
27be rebutted by objective evidence, such as evidence indicating that
28the former officeholder initiated or responded to an offer of
29 employment on a particular date, that the State Senator or Member
30of the Assembly decided to resign greater than or less than six
31months before he or she vacated office.

32

SEC. 3.  

Section 89519 of the Government Code is amended
33to read:

34

89519.  

(a) Upon the 90th day after leaving an elective office,
35or the 90th day following the end of the postelection reporting
36period following the defeat of a candidate for elective office,
37whichever occurs last, campaign funds under the control of the
38former candidate or elected officer shall be considered surplus
39campaign funds and shall be disclosed pursuant to Chapter 4
40(commencing with Section 84100).

P4    1(b) Surplus campaign funds shall be used only for the following
2purposes:

3(1) The payment of outstanding campaign debts or elected
4officer’s expenses.

5(2) The repayment of contributions.

6(3) Donations to a bona fide charitable, educational, civic,
7religious, or similar tax-exempt, nonprofit organization, where no
8substantial part of the proceeds will have a material financial effect
9on the former candidate or elected officer, any member of his or
10her immediate family, or his or her campaign treasurer.

11(4) Contributions to a political party committee, provided the
12campaign funds are not used to support or oppose candidates for
13elective office. However, the campaign funds may be used by a
14political party committee to conduct partisan voter registration,
15partisan get-out-the-vote activities, and slate mailers as that term
16is defined in Section 82048.3.

17(5) Contributions to support or oppose a candidate for federal
18office, a candidate for elective office in a state other than
19California, or a ballot measure.

20(6) The payment for professional services reasonably required
21by the committee to assist in the performance of its administrative
22functions, including payment for attorney’s fees and other costs
23for litigation that arises directly out of a candidate’s or elected
24officer’s activities, duties, or status as a candidate or elected officer,
25including an action to enjoin defamation, defense of an action
26brought for a violation of state or local campaign, disclosure, or
27election laws, and an action from an election contest or recount.

28(7) The payment of expenses authorized and necessarily incurred
29in the preparation for, and conduct of, a special election, as required
30by Section 10708 of the Elections Code.begin delete Surplus campaign funds
31shall be applied to these costs before being used for any other
32purpose, and any funds remaining after payment of these costs
33shall be used only for the purposes described in paragraph (3) of
34this subdivision.end delete

35(c) begin insertA former officeholder subject to Section 10708 of the
36Elections Code may only use surplus funds for the purposes
37described in paragraphs (1) and (7) of subdivision (b) of this
38section. Once the costs identified in paragraph (7) of subdivision
39(b) are paid in full, a former officeholder may also use surplus
P5    1funds for the purposes described in paragraph (3) of subdivision
2(b).end insert

3begin insert(d)end insertbegin insertend insert For purposes of this section, the payment for, or the
4reimbursement to the state of, the costs of installing and monitoring
5an electronic security system in the home or office, or both, of a
6candidate or elected officer who has received threats to his or her
7physical safety shall be deemed an outstanding campaign debt or
8elected officer’s expense, provided that the threats arise from his
9or her activities, duties, or status as a candidate or elected officer
10and that the threats have been reported to and verified by an
11appropriate law enforcement agency. Verification shall be
12determined solely by the law enforcement agency to which the
13threat was reported. The candidate or elected officer shall report
14an expenditure of campaign funds made pursuant to this section
15to the Commission. The report to the Commission shall include
16the date that the candidate or elected officer informed the law
17enforcement agency of the threat, the name and the telephone
18number of the law enforcement agency, and a brief description of
19the threat. No more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) in surplus
20campaign funds may be used, cumulatively, by a candidate or
21elected officer pursuant to this subdivision. Payments made
22pursuant to this subdivision shall be made during the two years
23immediately following the date upon which the campaign funds
24become surplus campaign funds. The candidate or elected officer
25shall reimburse the surplus fund account for the fair market value
26of the security system no later than two years immediately
27following the date upon which the campaign funds became surplus
28campaign funds. The campaign funds become surplus campaign
29funds upon sale of the property on which the system is installed,
30or prior to the closing of the surplus campaign fund account,
31whichever comes first. The electronic security system shall be the
32property of the campaign committee of the candidate or elected
33officer.

34

SEC. 4.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
35Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
36the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
37district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
38infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
39for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
40the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
P6    1the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
2Constitution.

3

SEC. 5.  

The Legislature finds and declares that this bill furthers
4the purposes of the Political Reform Act of 1974 within the
5meaning of subdivision (a) of Section 81012 of the Government
6Code.



O

    97