BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2558
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Date of Hearing: April 6, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Susan Talamantes Eggman, Chair
AB 2558
(Steinorth) - As Introduced February 19, 2016
SUBJECT: Political Reform Act of 1974: San Bernardino County.
SUMMARY: Deletes the sunset date on the authority of the Fair
Political Practices Commission to administer, implement, and
enforce San Bernardino County's campaign finance reform
ordinance, thereby extending this authority indefinitely.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Creates the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) and
makes it responsible for the impartial, effective
administration and implementation of the Political Reform Act
(PRA).
2)Requires local government agencies that adopt or amend local
campaign finance ordinances 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
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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 being voted on only in that
jurisdiction, and to city or county general purpose committees
active only in that city or county.
4)Provides that nothing in the PRA shall nullify contribution
limitations or prohibitions of any local jurisdiction that
apply to elections for local elective office, except that
these limitations and prohibitions may not conflict with a
specified provision of the PRA dealing with "member
communications."
5)Provides that payments made for communications to members,
employees, shareholders, or families of members, employees, or
shareholders of an organization for the purpose of supporting
or opposing a candidate or a ballot measure, which are
referred to as "member communications," are not contributions
or expenditures, if those payments are not made for general
public advertising such as broadcasting, billboards, and
newspaper advertisements.
6)Makes violations of the PRA subject to administrative, civil,
and criminal penalties.
7)Allows the FPPC, upon mutual agreement between the FPPC and
the San Bernardino County (County) Board of Supervisors
(Board), to have primary responsibility for the impartial,
effective administration, implementation, and enforcement of a
local San Bernardino County campaign finance reform ordinance.
The County Board must consult with the FPPC prior to adopting
or amending any local campaign finance reform ordinance that
is subsequently enforced by the FPPC.
8)Allows the FPPC, pursuant to 7), above, to investigate
possible violations of the County campaign finance reform
ordinance and bring administrative actions against persons who
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violate the ordinance, as specified.
9)Allows the County Board and the FPPC to enter into any
agreements necessary and appropriate for the operation of 7),
above, including agreements for reimbursement of state costs
with County funds, as specified. The County Board or the FPPC
may, at any time, by ordinance or resolution, terminate any
agreement for the FPPC to administer, implement, or enforce
the local campaign finance reform ordinance or any provision
thereof.
10)Requires, if the FPPC enters into such an agreement with the
County Board, the FPPC to report to the Legislature by January
1, 2017, the following information:
a) The status of the agreement;
b) The estimated annual cost savings, if any, for San
Bernardino County;
c) A summary of relevant annual performance metrics,
including measures of utilization, enforcement, and
customer satisfaction;
d) Any public comments submitted to the FPPC or San
Bernardino County relative to the operation of the
agreement; and,
e) Any legislative recommendations.
11)Sunsets the provisions of 7) through 10), above, on January
1, 2018.
12)Authorizes a similar arrangement between the FPPC and the
City of Stockton, until
January 1, 2020.
FISCAL EFFECT: This bill is keyed fiscal.
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COMMENTS:
1)Bill Summary. This bill eliminates the sunset date on the
authority of the FPPC to administer, implement, and enforce
the County's campaign finance reform ordinance, thereby
extending this authority indefinitely. This bill is sponsored
by the County.
2)Author's Statement. 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.
"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."
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3)Background. Current law, pursuant to AB 2146 (Cook), Chapter
169, Statutes of 2012, allows the County and the FPPC to enter
into a mutual agreement that permits the FPPC to enforce the
County's local campaign finance reform ordinance. AB 2146 was
prompted by several high-profile campaign finance corruption
cases in the County, which subsequently developed and enacted
a campaign finance reform ordinance.
The County asked for legislative authority to contract with
the FPPC to administer and enforce its campaign finance
ordinance instead of creating an ethics commission as a means
to avoid financial and conflict-of-interest challenges. The
County also wished to retain the services of the FPPC to
provide for the enforcement and interpretation of the County's
local campaign finance ordinance because 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.
The FPPC and the County entered into a mutual agreement on
January 1, 2013. Prior to
AB 2146, the FPPC did not enforce any local campaign finance
ordinances.
4)FPPC Report. Current law requires the FPPC to report to the
Legislature by January 1, 2017, the following information:
a) The status of the agreement;
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b) The estimated annual cost savings, if any, for the
County;
c) A summary of relevant annual performance metrics,
including measures of utilization, enforcement, and
customer satisfaction;
d) Any public comments submitted to the FPPC or the County
relative to the operation of the agreement; and,
e) Any legislative recommendations.
The FPPC submitted its report to the Legislature on March 24,
2016, ahead of its January 1, 2017, deadline due to the
Legislature's pending consideration of this bill. The report
includes:
a) The status of the agreement. The agreement began with
an original contract for calendar years 2013 and 2014 and
continued with a subsequent, current contract for calendar
years 2015 and 2016.
b) The estimated annual cost savings, if any, for the
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County. The estimated annual cost savings could not be
directly calculated, because the FPPC is the only entity
that has administered the County's ordinance. However, the
report compared the County's annual payments to the FPPC
(the highest of which has been $55,000) to the biennial
budgets of three ethics commissions (which ranged from $1
million to $2.6 million). Based on these figures, the
report concluded that the agreement "has resulted in
substantial savings to the County."
c) A summary of relevant annual performance metrics,
including measures of utilization, enforcement, and
customer satisfaction. While the report does not include
traditional "performance metrics," it does summarize a
number of activities undertaken by the FPPC in executing
its contract with the County, including, but not limited
to:
i) Advising candidates for elected County offices and
potential contributors in County elections regarding the
County's campaign finance reform ordinance and the PRA;
ii) Proposing revisions to the County's original
ordinance to align the ordinance more closely with the
PRA;
iii) Providing training and developing educational
materials to assist candidates and campaign treasurers in
County elections;
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iv) Conducting audits of 22 candidates and campaign
committees; and,
v) Resolving 23 cases involving committees, candidates,
and donors involved in County elections (of those 23
cases, the FPPC prosecuted nine cases resulting in fines,
issued warning letters in four cases, and closed 10 cases
with no violation found).
d) Any public comments submitted to the FPPC or San
Bernardino County relative to the operation of the
agreement. The report states that the FPPC and the County
are unware of any formal public comments regarding the
operation of the agreement, but did refer to positive
public comments made by County supervisors and those
regulated by the County's ordinance.
e) Any legislative recommendations. The report states that
the FPPC and the County believe no changes need to be made
to current law other than eliminating the sunset date.
"The statute is sufficient to allow the County to adopt
and, if necessary, amend its Campaign Finance Reform
Ordinance, in consultation with the FPPC, and for the
County and the FPPC to enter into an agreement for the
enforcement and interpretation of the ordinance."
5)Related Legislation. AB 2070 (Harper) 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
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Board of Supervisors, as specified.
6)Previous Legislation. AB 1083 (Eggman), Chapter 186, Statutes
of 2015, allowed the City of Stockton to enter into an
agreement with the FPPC for the FPPC to administer and enforce
the City's local campaign finance ordinance.
AB 910 (Harper) of 2015 would have allowed any city or county
to enter into an agreement with the FPPC for the FPPC to
administer and enforce a local campaign finance ordinance. AB
910 was held in the Assembly Elections and Redistricting
Committee.
SB 1226 (Correa) of 2014 would have allowed any city or county
to enter into an agreement with the FPPC for the FPPC to
administer and enforce a local campaign finance ordinance. SB
1226 was amended to address an unrelated issue.
AB 2146 (Cook), Chapter 169, Statutes of 2012, allowed the
County and the FPPC to enter into an agreement for the FPPC to
enforce the County's local campaign finance ordinance.
7)Arguments in Support. The County of San Bernardino, sponsor
of this measure, writes, "Through the mutual agreement with
the FPPC, the County has benefitted in the following areas:
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Conflict of Interest Elimination - The FPPC is an
impartial and independent third party which eliminates
potential conflict of interest that could arise from the
creation of internal ethics commission by the Board of
Supervisors.
Cost Savings - Counties that have ethics commissions or
other formal entities spend upward of $3.5 million or more
annually to police ethical behavior. Contracting with the
FPPC has proven to be a cost effective alternative to an
ethics commission and a prudent use of taxpayers'
resources.
"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.
1)Arguments in Opposition. None on file.
2)Two-thirds Vote. California voters in 1974 passed Proposition
9, commonly known as the PRA, which created the FPPC and
codified significant restrictions and prohibitions on
candidates, officeholders, and lobbyists. Amendments to the
PRA that are not submitted to the voters, such as those
contained in this bill, must further the purposes of the PRA
and require a two-thirds vote of each house of the
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Legislature.
3)Double-Referral. This bill was heard in the Elections and
Redistricting Committee on March 30, 2016, where it passed
with a 7-0 vote.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
County of San Bernardino [SPONSOR]
California State Association of Counties
Fair Political Practices Commission
Urban Counties of California
Opposition
None on file
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Analysis Prepared by:Angela Mapp / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958