BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2823
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
2823 (Gatto)
As Amended May 16, 2016
2/3 vote
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Elections |7-0 |Weber, Harper, Travis | |
| | |Allen, Gordon, Low, | |
| | |Mullin, Nazarian | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |20-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonilla, | |
| | |Bonta, Calderon, | |
| | |Chang, Daly, Eggman, | |
| | |Gallagher, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Roger | |
| | |Hernández, Holden, | |
| | |Jones, Obernolte, | |
| | |Quirk, Santiago, | |
| | |Wagner, Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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AB 2823
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SUMMARY: Increases various conflict of interest thresholds in
the Political Reform Act (PRA), and generally requires greater
detail on public officials' Statements of Economic Interests
(SEIs) about the values of those officials' investments, real
property interests, and income, effective January 1, 2018.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Increases the threshold at which a public official's financial
interest can potentially create a conflict of interest under
the PRA, effective January 1, 2018, as follows:
a) Raises the conflict of interest threshold for interests
in real property from $2,000 to $10,000;
b) Raises the conflict of interest threshold for
investments in a business entity from $2,000 to $5,000;
and,
c) Raises the conflict of interest threshold for sources of
income, other than gifts or specified loans, from $500 to
$1,000.
2)Revises the monetary ranges that specified public officials or
candidates, when filing an SEI, used to describe the value of
their investments, interests in real property, and income,
effective January 1, 2018.
3)Makes technical and corresponding changes
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) will
incur General Fund costs of about $200,000 annually for two
AB 2823
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positions: an attorney for regulation and compliance materials
drafting and responding to advice requests, and a program
specialist to redesign the SEI and accompanying informational
material, work with the software vendor for e-filing issues, and
respond to increased requests for phone advice, education, and
outreach.
COMMENTS: According to the author, "Transparency and disclosure
are essential to protecting public resources, preventing
corruption, and restoring public trust. This legislation will
finally bring disclosure requirements into the 21st century. AB
2823 will ensure that California's public officials are more
transparent in their business, investment, and income
disclosures, which will further confirm that our trusted elected
officials are using their positions to serve all citizens
equally."
AB 10 (Gatto) of 2015, was similar to this bill, but it
contained additional provisions that would have required the
disclosure of additional information on public officials' SEIs.
AB 10 was vetoed by Governor Brown. In his veto message, the
Governor wrote "The Political Reform Act already requires public
officials to disclose their income, investments and business
activities with enough particularity so that conflicts of
interest can be identified. This bill adds yet more complexity
to existing reporting requirements without commensurate benefit,
and I am not convinced that this bill will provide more useful
information to the public." AB 2162 (Portantino) of 2012, would
have revised the dollar thresholds that are used to report the
value of investments, real property interests, and income, when
a public official files a SEI, thereby providing greater
specificity about the value of those investments, property
interests, and income. AB 2162 was also vetoed by Governor
Brown.
Given the fact that the Governor has vetoed legislation that is
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similar to this bill twice in the last four years, it is unclear
whether there is reason to believe that this bill will receive
more favorable consideration from the Governor.
Under existing law, when a public official or a candidate for
public office is required to disclose a financial interest on
his or her SEI, the filer is not required to disclose the exact
value of the interest, but instead must select a monetary range
that describes the value of the interest. This bill revises the
monetary ranges that public officials use to describe the values
of their financial interests on SEIs. In general, the revised
disclosure categories in this bill would provide greater
specificity about the values of financial interests held by
public officials.
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 initiative and
require a two-thirds vote of both houses of the Legislature.
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion
of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by:
Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094 FN:
0003127
AB 2823
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