Amended in Senate April 26, 2016

Senate BillNo. 816


Introduced by Senator Hill

January 4, 2016


An act to amend Section 15626 of the Government Code, relating to the State Board of Equalization.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 816, as amended, Hill. State Board of Equalization: members: contributions.

The Quentin L. Kopp Conflict of Interest Act of 1990 requires a member of the State Board of Equalization who has received a contribution or contributions within the preceding 12 months in an aggregate amount of $250 or more from a party or his or her agent, or from any participant or his or her agent, to, prior to rendering any decision in any adjudicatory proceeding pending beforebegin insert theend insert board, disclose that fact on the record of the proceeding. A member is prohibited from making, participating in making, or in any way attempting to use his or her official position to influence, the decision in an adjudicatory proceeding pending before the board if the member knows or has reason to know that he or she received a contribution or contributions in an aggregate amount of $250 or more from a party to the proceeding, or from a participant in the proceeding the member knows or has reason to know has a financial interest in the decision. The act also requires a party to, or a participant in, an adjudicatory proceeding pending before the board to disclose on the record of the proceeding any contribution or contributions in an aggregate amount of $250 or more made within the preceding 12 months by the party or participant, or his or her agent, to any member of the board. A person who knowingly or willfully violates any provision of the act is guilty of a misdemeanor.

This bill wouldbegin delete deleteend deletebegin insert reduceend insert the $250begin insert contributionend insert limitationbegin delete and instead applyend deletebegin insert to $100, applyingend insert the above-described disclosure and disqualification provisions if a board member receivesbegin delete anyend deletebegin insert aend insert contributionbegin insert in the amount of $100, or moreend insert from a party, agent, or participant, as provided.

By extending the application of the criminal sanctions of the Quentin L. Kopp Conflict of Interest Act of 1990, 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.

Vote: majority. 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 15626 of the Government Code is
2amended to read:

3

15626.  

(a) This section shall be known, and may be cited, as
4the Quentin L. Kopp Conflict of Interest Act of 1990.

5(b) Prior to rendering any decision in any adjudicatory
6proceeding pending before the State Board of Equalization, each
7member who knows or has reason to know that he or she received
8a contribution or contributions within the preceding 12 monthsbegin insert in
9an aggregate amount of one hundred dollars ($100) or moreend insert
from
10a party or his or her agent, or from any participant or his or her
11agent, shall disclose that fact on the record of the proceeding.

12(c) A member shall not make, participate in making, or in any
13way attempt to use his or her official position to influence, the
14decision in any adjudicatory proceeding pending before the board
15if the member knows or has reason to know that he or she received
16a contribution or contributionsbegin insert in an aggregate amount of one
17hundred dollars ($100) or moreend insert
within the preceding 12 months
18from a party or his or her agent, or from any participant or his or
19her agent, and if the member knows or has reason to know that the
20participant has a financial interest in the decision, as that term is
P3    1used in Article 1 (commencing with Section 87100) of Chapter 7
2of Title 9.

3(d) Notwithstanding subdivision (c), if a member receives a
4contribution which would otherwise require disqualification under
5subdivision (c), and he or she returns the contribution within 30
6days from the time he or she knows, or has reason to know, about
7the contribution and the adjudicatory proceeding pending before
8the board, his or her participation in the proceeding shall be deemed
9lawful.

10(e) A party to, or a participant in, an adjudicatory proceeding
11pending before the board shall disclose on the record of the
12proceeding any contribution or contributionsbegin insert in an aggregate
13amount of one hundred dollars ($100) or moreend insert
made within the
14preceding 12 months by the party or participant, or his or her agent,
15to any member of the board.

16(f) When a close corporation is a party to, or a participant in,
17an adjudicatory proceeding pending before the board, the majority
18shareholder is subject to the disclosure requirement specified in
19this section.

20(g) For purposes of this section, if a deputy to the Controller
21sits at a meeting of the board and votes on behalf of the Controller,
22the deputy shall disclose contributions made to the Controller and
23shall disqualify himself or herself from voting pursuant to the
24requirements of this section.

25(h) For purposes of this section:

26(1) “Contribution” has the same meaning prescribed in Section
2782015 and the regulations adopted pursuant to that section.

28(2) “Party” means any person who is the subject of an
29adjudicatory proceeding pending before the board.

30(3) “Participant” means any person who is not a party but who
31actively supports or opposes a particular decision in an adjudicatory
32proceeding pending before the board and who has a financial
33interest in the decision, as described in Article 1 (commencing
34with Section 87100) of Chapter 7 of Title 9. A person actively
35supports or opposes a particular decision if he or she lobbies in
36person the members or employees of the board, testifies in person
37before the board, or otherwise acts to influence the members of
38the board.

39(4) “Agent” means any person who represents a party to or
40participant in an adjudicatory proceeding pending before the board.
P4    1If a person acting as an agent is also acting as an employee or
2member of a law, accounting, consulting, or other firm, or a similar
3entity or corporation, both the entity or corporation and the person
4are agents.

5(5) “Adjudicatory proceeding pending before the board” means
6a matter for adjudication that has been scheduled and appears as
7an item on a meeting notice of the board as required by Section
811125 as a contested matter for administrative hearing before the
9board members. A consent calendar matter is not included unless
10the matter has previously appeared on the calendar as a nonconsent
11item, or has been removed from the consent calendar for separate
12discussion and vote, or the item is one about which the member
13has previously contacted the staff or a party.

14(6) A member knows or has reason to know about a contribution
15if, after the adjudicatory proceeding first appears on a meeting
16notice of the board, facts have been brought to the member’s
17personal attention that he or she has received a contribution which
18would require disqualification under subdivision (c), or that the
19member received written notice from the board staff, before
20commencement of the hearing and before any subsequent decision
21on the matter, that a specific party, close corporation, or majority
22shareholder, or agent thereof, or any participant having a financial
23interest in the matter, or agent thereof, in a specific, named
24adjudicatory proceeding before the board, made a contribution or
25contributions within the preceding 12 begin delete months.end delete begin insert months in an
26aggregate amount of one hundred dollars ($100) or more.end insert
Each
27member shall provide board staff with a copy of each of his or her
28campaign statements at the time each of those statements is filed.

29The notice of contribution shall be on a form prescribed under
30rules adopted by the board to provide for staff inquiry of each
31party, participant, close corporation, and its majority shareholder,
32and any agent thereof, to determine whether any contribution has
33been made to a member, and if so, in what aggregate amount and
34on what date or dates within the 12 months preceding an
35adjudicatory proceeding or decision.

36In addition, the staff shall inquire and report on the record as
37follows:

38(A) Whether any party or participant is a close corporation, and
39if so, the name of its majority shareholder.

P5    1(B) Whether any agent is an employee or member of any law,
2accounting,begin delete consultingend deletebegin insert consulting,end insert or other firm, or similar entity
3or corporation, and if so, its name and address and whether a
4contribution has been made by any such person, firm, corporation,
5or entity.

6(i) (1) Any person who knowingly or willfully violates any
7provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor.

8(2) No person convicted of a misdemeanor under this section
9shall be a candidate for any elective office or act as a lobbyist for
10a period for four years following the time for filing a notice of
11appeal has expired, or all possibility of direct attack in the courts
12of this state has been finally exhausted, unless the court at the time
13of sentencing specifically determines that this provision shall not
14be applicable. A plea of nolo contendere shall be deemed a
15conviction for the purposes of this section.

16(3) In addition to other penalties provided by law, a fine of up
17to the greater of ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or three times the
18amount the person failed to disclose or report properly, may be
19imposed upon conviction for each violation.

20(4) Prosecution for violation of this section shall be commenced
21within four years after the date on which the violation occurred.

22(5) This section shall not prevent any member of the board from
23making, or participating in making, a governmental decision to
24the extent that the member’s participation is legally required for
25the action or decision to be made. However, the fact that a
26member’s vote is needed to break a tie does not make the member’s
27participation legally required.

28

SEC. 2.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
29Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
30the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
31district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
32infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
33for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
34the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
35the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
36Constitution.



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