BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON
ELECTIONS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Ben Allen, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 976 Hearing Date: 4/19/16
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|Author: |Vidak |
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|Version: |3/28/16 |
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|Urgency: |Yes |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Darren Chesin |
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Subject: Political Reform Act of 1974: postgovernment
employment
DIGEST
This bill extends "revolving door" prohibitions for former
legislators and other elected state officeholders.
ANALYSIS
Existing law:
1)Prohibits a member of the Legislature, for a period of one
year after leaving office, from acting as a compensated agent
or attorney for, or otherwise representing, any other person
by making appearances before or communications with the
Legislature if the appearance or communication is made for the
purpose of influencing legislative action.
2)Prohibits an elected state officer, other than a Member of the
Legislature, for a period of one year after leaving office,
from acting as a compensated agent or attorney for, or
otherwise representing any other person by making any formal
or informal appearance, or by making any oral or written
communication before any state administrative agency if the
appearance or communication is for the purpose of influencing
specified administrative actions.
3)Provides that the above prohibitions do not apply to any
individual who is or becomes any of the following:
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a) An officer or employee of another state agency, board,
or commission if the appearance or communication is for the
purpose of influencing legislative or administrative action
on behalf of the state agency, board, or commission.
b) An official holding an elective office of a local
government agency if the appearance or communication is for
the purpose of influencing legislative or administrative
action on behalf of the local government agency.
This bill:
1)Extends the time period for these prohibitions on former
legislators to the conclusion of the next regular legislative
session that begins after the legislator leaves office.
2)Extends these prohibitions on former legislators to also
include engaging in the above-described activities before the
Governor, or any officer or employee of the Governor.
3)Extends the time period for these prohibitions on elected
state officers, other than a Member of the Legislature (a
statewide elected officer or a member of the Board of
Equalization), from a period of one year after leaving office
to two years after the final date of the term to which the
officer was elected.
4)Contains an urgency clause.
BACKGROUND
"Revolving door " prohibitions are intended to address situations
whereby former elected officers and other officials return to
represent clients who have business before, or are seeking to
influence policy decisions made by, their former agencies. In
many of these instances, the former official may be lobbying his
or her former subordinates or peers who may feel inordinate
pressure to be accommodating.
Do you have to be an actual lobbyist ? Existing law generally
defines "lobbyist" as any individual who receives $2,000 or more
in economic consideration in a calendar month, other than
reimbursement for reasonable travel expenses, or whose principal
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duties as an employee are, to communicate directly or through
his or her agents with any elective state official, agency
official, or legislative official for the purpose of influencing
legislative or administrative action. Regulations promulgated
by the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) further define
non-contract lobbyists as individuals who spend one-third or
more of their time, in any calendar month, for which they
receive compensation from his or her employer, engaging in
direct communication, other than administrative testimony, with
one or more qualifying officials for the purpose of influencing
legislative or administrative action. The existing revolving
door prohibitions apply whether or not the former elected state
officeholder qualifies as a "lobbyist" under this current
definition.
Resignations from the California Legislature . Since the
2001-2002 legislative session, there have been 32 instances in
which a member of the Legislature resigned from office before
the completion of his or her term. Of those 32 resignations, 28
resulted in a special election being held to fill the resulting
vacancy (in the other four cases, the resignation happened close
enough to the end of the member's term that a special election
was not held, and the seat was left vacant for the remainder of
the term instead). More than 84% of the resignations were the
result of members being elected to other public offices by the
voters (25 cases) or being appointed by the Governor to fill
vacancies in other elective offices (two cases). In the five
cases where a member of the Legislature resigned for a reason
other than assuming another public office, one resigned after a
criminal conviction, one resigned amid press reports about
comments he made regarding an alleged relationship with a
lobbyist, and three resigned from office and subsequently
accepted governmental relations jobs with private organizations.
COMMENTS
1)According to the author : The public has always been weary of
officials who seem to be using their elected position as a
launching pad for their next job.
Since the passage of proposition 140 in 1990, which imposed term
limits on legislators and state elected officials, 58 special
elections have been held for members of the Legislature who
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have resigned their office in the middle of the term. While a
vast majority of these former members left to assume higher
office, a number have resigned their office to take lobbying
positions with big business.
According to the National Conference of State Legislators
(NCSL), 33 states currently have some type of lobbying ban on
former legislators. Eleven states currently ban former
members from lobbying for two years after leaving the
Legislature, and two states (Maryland and Oregon) require that
former members wait until the conclusion of the next
legislative session before they can engage in lobbying
activities.
While California currently has a one year ban on former members
becoming lobbyist, this is simply not long enough to distance
former members from their former colleagues. A longer
lobbying ban will discourage members from leaving their office
in the middle of the term just to start winding down the one
year lobbying ban clock.
Senate Bill 976 would amend the Government Code to bar former
legislators from being able to lobby their former colleagues
or the Governor until the conclusion of the next legislative
session that begins after the former legislator leaves office.
Additionally, the bill will extend the time period for which
former elected state officers (Governor, Lieutenant Governor,
Secretary of State, Attorney General, Treasurer, Controller,
Insurance Commissioner, Superintendent of Public Instruction
and Board of Equalization members) are barred from lobbying a
state administrative agency or any state officer from one year
to two years after the final date of the term to which the
officer was elected.
A One-Year Ban Can Become Three or Five . Under this bill, any
legislator who resigns during the first year of his/her term
would be required to wait the rest of that current session (one
year or more) and through the following two-year session before
he/she would be eligible to appear before or communicate with
the Legislature or Governor to influence legislative actions.
Under this scenario, the existing one-year post-resignation ban
could become more than a three-year ban.
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A statewide elected officer or a member of the Board of
Equalization who resigns during the first year of his/her term
would be required to wait the rest of that term (three years or
more) plus an additional two years before he/she would be
eligible to appear before or communicate with a state
administrative agency to influence administrative actions.
Under this scenario, the existing one-year post-resignation ban
could become more than a five-year ban.
RELATED/PRIOR LEGISLATION
ACA 9 (Gomez), which is pending in Assembly Elections and
Redistricting Committee, would, among other things, prohibit a
member of the Legislature who vacates his or her seat prior to
the expiration of the term of office for other than personal
medical reasons from being permitted to lobby, for compensation
before the Legislature until 12 months have passed from the date
his or her term of office would have expired.
AB 2284 (Patterson), which recently failed passage in the
Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee, would have
required a legislator who resigns before the completion of his
or her term to use surplus campaign funds to pay for the
resulting special election.
POSITIONS
Sponsor: Author
Support: California Clean Money Campaign
Sierra Club California
Oppose: None received
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