BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2558
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 30, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Shirley Weber, Chair
AB 2558
(Steinorth) - As Introduced February 19, 2016
SUBJECT: Political Reform Act of 1974: San Bernardino County.
SUMMARY: Removes the January 1, 2018, sunset date from a
provision of law that authorizes the Fair Political Practices
Commission (FPPC) to enforce San Bernardino County's local
campaign finance reform ordinance, as specified. Specifically,
this bill:
1)Deletes January 1, 2018, sunset date from a provision of law
that authorizes the FPPC, upon a mutual agreement between the
FPPC and the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, to
have primary responsibility for the impartial, effective
administration, implementation, and enforcement of San
Bernardino County's local campaign finance reform ordinance.
2)Makes legislative findings and declarations as to the
necessity of a special statute for San Bernardino County due
to the need to avoid an appearance of corruption in the County
of San Bernardino's electoral process.
EXISTING LAW:
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1)Creates the FPPC, and makes it responsible for the impartial,
effective administration and implementation of the Political
Reform Act (PRA).
2)Requires a local government agency that adopts or amends a
local campaign finance ordinance to file a copy of the
ordinance with the FPPC.
3)Prohibits a local government agency from enacting a campaign
finance ordinance that imposes campaign reporting requirements
that are additional to or different from those set forth in
the PRA for elections held in its jurisdiction unless the
additional or different requirements apply only to the
candidates seeking election in that jurisdiction, their
controlled committees or committees formed or existing
primarily to support or oppose their candidacies, and to
committees formed or existing primarily to support or oppose a
candidate or to support or oppose the qualification or passage
of a local ballot measure which is being voted on only in that
jurisdiction, and to city or county general purpose committees
active only in that city or county, respectively.
4)Authorizes the FPPC, until January 1, 2018 and upon mutual
agreement between the FPPC and the San Bernardino County Board
of Supervisors, to have primary responsibility for the
impartial, effective administration, implementation, and
enforcement of a local San Bernardino County campaign finance
reform ordinance. Requires the San Bernardino County Board of
Supervisors to consult with the FPPC prior to adopting and
amending any local campaign finance reform ordinance that is
subsequently enforced by the FPPC.
5)Authorizes the FPPC, pursuant to the aforementioned agreement,
to investigate possible violations of the San Bernardino
County campaign finance reform ordinance and bring
administrative actions against persons who violate the
ordinance, as specified.
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6)Permits the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors and the
FPPC to enter into any agreements necessary and appropriate
for the operation of these provisions, including agreements
for reimbursement of state costs with county funds, as
specified. Permits the San Bernardino County Board of
Supervisors or the FPPC, at any time, by ordinance or
resolution, to terminate any agreement for the FPPC to
administer, implement, or enforce the local campaign finance
reform ordinance or any provision thereof.
7)Requires the FPPC to report to the Legislature with specified
information on or before January 1, 2017, if the FPPC enters
into such an agreement with the San Bernardino County Board of
Supervisors, as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose of the Bill: According to the author:
By removing the 2018 sunset date from statute, AB 2558
will continue the existing, effective partnership
between San Bernardino County and the FPPC for
enforcement of local campaign finance ordinances. In
2012, the County established a campaign finance
ordinance with contribution limits mirroring those
applied to State Senate and Assembly candidates.
However, appointing an ethics commission to enforce
the ordinance could have created financial and
conflict-of-interest challenges to the County, which
had suffered various levels of corruption in its local
governments over recent years.
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Instead, AB 2146 (Cook, 2012) allowed the County to
contract with the FPPC for enforcement of their local
ordinance. The FPPC willingly took on responsibility
for this enforcement in 2012. This partnership has
been successful, cost-effective, and mutually
beneficial to the two entities. AB 2558 seeks to
continue this arrangement by removing the 2018 sunset
date from statute.
2)San Bernardino County: In 2012, the Legislature passed and
the Governor signed AB 2146 (Cook), Chapter 169, Statutes of
2012, which permitted San Bernardino County and the FPPC to
enter into an agreement that provides for the FPPC to enforce
the County's local campaign finance reform ordinance. Prior
to this, the FPPC did not enforce any local campaign finance
ordinances. According to previous analyses, the County of San
Bernardino, which had been the subject of several high-profile
corruption cases, was in the process of developing a campaign
finance ordinance. Rather than appoint an ethics commission,
which could present financial as well as conflict of interest
challenges, the County proposed to contract with the FPPC to
enforce their local campaign finance ordinance. Moreover, the
County determined that it was in the best interest of the
County to retain the services of the FPPC to provide for the
enforcement and interpretation of San Bernardino County's
local campaign finance ordinance as the FPPC has special
skills, knowledge, experience, and expertise in the area of
enforcement and interpretation of campaign laws necessary to
effectively advise, assist, litigate, and otherwise represent
the County on such matters. As a result, the FPPC and San
Bernardino County entered into a mutual agreement, from
January 1, 2013 through December 31, 2014, for the FPPC to
provide the County campaign enforcement and interpretation
services for the impartial, effective administration,
implementation, and enforcement of the San Bernardino's
campaign finance reform ordinance. According to the FPPC, San
Bernardino County and the FPPC have entered into a new
two-year mutual agreement from January 1, 2015 through
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December 31, 2016.
3)FPPC's San Bernardino County Report: As mentioned above, in
2012, AB 2146 (Cook) became law to permit San Bernardino
County and the FPPC to enter into an agreement for the FPPC to
enforce the County's local campaign finance reform ordinance.
Among other provisions, AB 2146 also required the FPPC, if it
entered into an agreement with the San Bernardino County Board
of Supervisors, to report to the Legislature with specified
information on or before January 1, 2017. Current law
requires the report to include, but not be limited to, the
status of the agreement, the estimated annual cost savings, if
any, for the County of San Bernardino, a summary of relevant
annual performance metrics, as specified, any public comments
submitted relative to the operation of the agreement, and any
legislative recommendations.
The FPPC submitted the report to the committee on March 24,
2016. According to the report, the FPPC served to
administer, interpret and enforce the County's ordinance,
focusing on four key areas - advising, informing, auditing and
enforcing. Key points detailing the FPPC's responsibilities
include, but is not limited to, the following:
Advising candidates for elected county offices and
potential contributors in county elections regarding the
county's local campaign finance reform ordinance;
Proposing revisions to the original ordinance to
help the ordinance more closely align with the PRA;
Providing training and developing educational
materials to assist candidates and campaign treasurers in
the county;
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Conducting audits of 22 candidates and campaign
committees;
Resolving 23 cases involving committees, candidates,
and donors involved in San Bernardino County elections
(of those 23 cases, the FPPC prosecuted 9 cases resulting
in fines, issued warning letters in 4 cases, and closed
10 cases with no violation found).
Additionally, County staff stated that the agreement between
the FPPC and the San Bernardino County resulted in substantial
savings when compared to the cost of other public ethics
commissions and aided in enforcement proceedings by removing
any semblance of conflict of interest. The report concluded
by stating that the partnership between the FPPC and the San
Bernardino County has been successful and both the FPPC and
San Bernardino County support removing the sunset date from
the statute.
1)Local Campaign Ordinances and the PRA: Under existing law,
local government agencies have the ability to adopt campaign
ordinances that apply to elections within their jurisdictions,
though the PRA imposes certain limited restrictions on those
local ordinances. For instance, SB 726 (McCorquodale),
Chapter 1456, Statutes of 1985, limited the ability of local
jurisdictions to impose campaign filing requirements that
differed from those in the PRA, permitting such requirements
only when they applied solely to candidates and committees
whose activity is restricted primarily to the jurisdiction in
question. This provision sought to avoid the necessity of a
candidate or committee active over a wider area being required
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to adhere to several different campaign filing schedules.
Similarly, AB 1430 (Garrick), Chapter 708, Statutes of 2007,
prohibited local governments from adopting rules governing
member communications that are different than the rules that
govern member communications at the state level.
Aside from these restrictions, however, 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.
The FPPC does not currently enforce any local campaign finance
ordinances other than San Bernardino County's. The FPPC can
and does, however, bring enforcement actions in response to
violations of the PRA that occur in campaigns for local
office, even in cases where the local jurisdiction brings
separate enforcement actions for violations of a local
campaign finance ordinance.
2)Criminal, Civil, and Administrative Enforcement of the PRA and
Local Campaign Ordinances: Violations of the PRA are subject
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to administrative, civil, and criminal penalties. Generally,
the Attorney General (AG) and district attorneys have
responsibility for enforcing the criminal provisions of the
PRA, though any elected city attorney of a charter city also
has the authority to act as the criminal prosecutor for
violations of the PRA that occur within the city. The FPPC,
the AG, district attorneys, and elected city attorneys of
charter cities all have responsibility for enforcement of the
civil penalties and remedies provided under the PRA, depending
on the nature and location of the violation, while any member
of the public also has the ability to file a civil action to
enforce the civil provisions of the PRA, subject to certain
restrictions. The FPPC has the sole authority to bring
administrative proceedings for enforcement of the PRA. When
the FPPC determines on the basis of such a proceeding that a
violation of the PRA has occurred, it can impose monetary
penalties of up to $5,000 per violation, in addition to
ordering the violator to cease and desist violation of the PRA
and to file any reports, statements, or other documents or
information required by the PRA.
In the case of local campaign ordinances, there is no single
approach as to the types of penalties that are available for
the violations of those ordinances. Many local ordinances
provide for misdemeanor or civil penalties for violations,
while some ordinances do not establish any penalties for
violations. In some local jurisdictions that have independent
boards or commissions to enforce the local campaign finance
ordinances, those boards or commissions have the authority to
bring administrative enforcement proceedings, similar to the
authority the FPPC has under the PRA.
3)Arguments in Support: In support, the Fair Political
Practices Commission writes:
Commission staff has been working in partnership with
the County to develop a report to submit to the
Legislature this month, which will explain the status
of the agreement, cost savings to the County, and
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other information required by the original statute.
The Commission believes the partnership has been
constructive and that the sunset date should be
repealed so it can continue.
Since this bill will help protect the integrity of
campaigns in San Bernardino County, and the
relationship has been beneficial for both parties, the
Commission supports AB 2558.
4)Political Reform Act of 1974: California voters passed an
initiative, Proposition 9, in 1974
that created the FPPC and codified significant restrictions and
prohibitions on candidates, officeholders, and lobbyists. That
initiative is commonly known as the PRA. Amendments to the
PRA that are not submitted to the voters, such as those
contained in this bill, must further the purposes of the
proposition and require a two-thirds vote of each house of the
Legislature.
5)Related Legislation: AB 2070 (Harper), which is also being
heard in this committee today, authorizes the FPPC, upon
mutual agreement between the FPPC and the Board of Supervisors
of the County of Orange, to administer and enforce a local
campaign finance ordinance passed by the Orange County Board
of Supervisors, as specified.
6)Previous Legislation: AB 2146 (Cook), Chapter 169, Statutes
of 2012, permitted San Bernardino County and the FPPC to enter
into an agreement that provides for the FPPC to enforce the
County's local campaign finance ordinance.
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SB 1226 (Correa) of 2014, would have authorized any city or
county to enter into an agreement with the FPPC to administer
and enforce a local campaign finance ordinance. The bill was
gutted and amended in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 910 (Harper) of 2015, would have authorized the FPPC to
administer and enforce a local campaign finance ordinance for
any city or county, upon mutual agreement between the FPPC and
the local agency, as specified. AB 910 was never heard in
this committee.
AB 1083 (Eggman), Chapter 186, Statutes of 2015, permits the
City Council of the City of Stockton and the FPPC to enter
into an agreement that provides for the FPPC to enforce a
local campaign finance ordinance passed by the City Council of
the City of Stockton.
7)Double Referral: This bill is double-referred to the Assembly
Local Government Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
San Bernardino County (sponsor)
California State Association of Counties
Fair Political Practices Commission
AB 2558
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Urban Counties of California
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Nichole Becker / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094