BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 1107 Page 1 Date of Hearing: August 3, 2016 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Lorena Gonzalez, Chair SB 1107 (Allen) - As Amended June 30, 2016 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Elections and Redistricting |Vote:|5 - 2 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable: No SUMMARY: This bill amends the Political Reform Act (PRA) to authorize adoption of public campaign finance programs and limit the uses of campaign funds held by public officials convicted of various public trust crimes. Specifically, this bill: 1)Permits the state and local governmental entities to establish programs providing for public campaign financing for candidates for elective office upon meeting all of the following: SB 1107 Page 2 a) A dedicated fund for the purpose of providing public campaign financing is established; b) Public moneys held in the fund are available to all qualified, voluntarily participating candidates of the same office without regard to incumbency or political party preference; and, c) Criteria are established, by statute, ordinance, resolution, or charter, for determining a candidate's qualification. 2)Provides that an officeholder convicted of a felony involving accepting or giving, or offering to give, any bribe, the embezzlement of public money, extortion or theft of public money, perjury, or conspiracy to commit any of those crimes, and whose conviction has become final, may use funds held by the officeholder's candidate controlled committee only for the payment of outstanding campaign debts or expenses and the repayment of contributions. 3)Requires the officeholder, six months after conviction for one of the aforementioned felonies becomes final, to forfeit any remaining funds and requires the funds to be deposited in the General Fund. 4)Provides that (2) and (3) do not apply to funds held by a ballot measure committee or in a legal defense fund. FISCAL EFFECT: SB 1107 Page 3 Any administrative costs to the FPPC, such as for providing advice or modifying regulations, should be absorbable. The burden of developing and adopting a public campaign financing program would fall on any entity that chooses do so, and would thus not be state reimbursable. There is a good probability that this bill could result in litigation challenging whether the bill meets the statutory requirement to further the purpose of the PRA, which does not provide for public financing. The state could therefore incur significant legal costs in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. COMMENTS: 1)Public Financing and Proposition 73. Approved in 1988, Proposition 73 prohibited public funding of campaigns and set contribution limits for state and local elections. The only provisions of Proposition 73 to survive legal challenge were contribution limits for special elections, restrictions on certain mass mailings by officeholders, and the prohibition on the use of public money for campaign purposes. (The contribution limits for special elections that were included in Proposition 73 subsequently were repealed and replaced in another ballot measure.) Because of the public funding ban contained in Proposition 73, the state and most local governments in California do not have the option to offer public financing programs for electoral campaigns. While the California Supreme Court ruled that the public financing ban does not apply to charter cities, a state appellate court has held that the public financing ban does apply to charter counties. SB 1107 Page 4 As a result, while charter cities in California can enact public campaign financing programs, general law cities, all counties, all districts, and the state government are covered by the current ban. Reportedly, six charter cities (Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, Richmond, Sacramento, and San Francisco) currently provide limited public funding to match small campaign contributions. 2)Purpose. SB 1107 removes the ban on voluntary public campaign financing programs and provides the state and all local governments with the authority to enact such programs, within parameters specified in the bill. The bill also requires elected officials, who under current law are banned from running for office due to conviction of specified felonies, such as bribery, to forfeit their campaign funds within six months, after paying debts or returning contributions, other than legal defense funds. Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081 SB 1107 Page 5