BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS, REAPPORTIONMENT AND
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Debra Bowen, Chair
BILL NO: AB 1391 HEARING
DATE:6/28/06
AUTHOR: LENO ANALYSIS BY:Darren
Chesin
AMENDED: 6/26/06
FISCAL: YES
DESCRIPTION
Existing law requires public officials, candidates, and
designated employees of public agencies to file statements
of the economic interests (SEIs) on an annual basis and at
other specified times (e.g., when assuming or leaving
office, etc.).
When the filer's income is required to be reported, the SEI
must include whether the aggregate value of income from
each source was:
Between $500 and $1,000;
$1,000 to $10,000,
$10,000 to $100,000, or
Greater than $100,000.
This bill instead requires SEI filers to specify income in
the following increments:
Between $500 and $1,000;
$1,000 to $10,000,
$10,000 to $100,000, or
$100,000 to $250,000
$250,000 to $500,000
$500,000 to $1million
$1 million to $2 million
Greater than $2 million.
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Existing law prohibits the use of campaign funds to pay or
reimburse for the lease or purchase of real property, or
the purchase, lease, or refurbishment of any appliance or
equipment leased or owned by a candidate, officer, or other
specified person with authority to approve the expenditure
of campaign funds, or members of his or her immediate
family.
This bill expands that prohibition to include property
where the legal title resides in whole or in part in any
person in which an interest of 10% or more is held by a
candidate, elected officer or other specified person with
authority to approve the expenditure of campaign funds, or
members of his or her immediate family.
BACKGROUND
How Much Money Do You Make ? Statements of economic
interest contain reporting thresholds that are detailed for
lesser amounts of income but give little specificity for
large amounts of income - the top current threshold is
"over $100,000." It is becoming more and more common for
wealthy individuals to seek state elected office, thereby
rendering the current income reporting thresholds somewhat
dated.
While those categorizations may have made sense in the
1970s when they were originally implemented, million-dollar
salaries for corporate executives and others have become
almost commonplace, especially in California. Not knowing
whether an individual is receiving $100,001 or $1 million
from a particular source may not be adequate.
Do You Own or Rent ? Current law prohibits the use of
campaign funds to pay or reimburse for the lease or
purchase of real property, or the purchase, lease, or
refurbishment of any appliance or equipment leased or owned
by a candidate or officer. However, this does not apply
when the candidate has a vested interest in the property in
any other function. This loophole allows a candidate or
officer to receive campaign funds through the rental of
property if they are in a sole proprietorship of the
business that holds title to the property.
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COMMENTS
1.Do You Really Make that Much Money ? At what point does
income disclosure constitute an invasion of privacy? If
a candidate or officeholder reports that he or she
receives more than $100,000 in income from a particular
source, isn't that enough to assume there could be a
possible conflict of interest regarding related public
policy issues? On the other hand, if a candidate or
officeholder's net worth exceeds tens or hundreds of
millions of dollars, disclosure of that information may
seem reasonable. Determining appropriate income
disclosure thresholds is a subjective task that should
take current trends into consideration.
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2.You Look Different, No, Don't Tell Me . . It's Your
Words, Righ t? The version of this bill that was
previously heard in this committee dealt primarily with
the definition of "general purpose committees." Those
provisions have been amended out of the bill.
PRIOR ACTION
Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee 6-0*
Assembly Appropriations Committee 18-0*
Assembly Floor 71-0*
Senate ER&CA Committee 6-0*
*Votes on a prior, unrelated version of the bill.
POSITIONS
Sponsor: Author
Support: None received
Oppose: None received
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