BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2771|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2771
Author: Leno (D)
Amended: 6/26/06 in Senate
Vote: 27
SENATE ELEC., REAPP. & CONST. AMEND. COMM. : 4-0, 6/28/06
AYES: Bowen, Battin, Murray, Romero
NO VOTE RECORDED: Poochigian
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 5/11/06 (Consent) - See last page
for vote
SUBJECT : Political Reform Act
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill suspends the requirement that certain
specified entities must file campaign reports online or
electronically until January 1, 2010, or until the first
filing due six months after the Secretary of State has
developed a free online filing process, whichever is
earlier.
ANALYSIS : Existing law requires, by December 31, 2002,
the Secretary of State (SOS), in consultation with the Fair
Political Practices Commission (FPPC), to develop a means
or method whereby filers who are required to submit
campaign filings online or electronically may do so free of
CONTINUED
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charge.
Existing law requires the following persons to file all
campaign reports online or electronically with the SOS:
1. Candidates who have received contributions or loans, or
made expenditures or loans, cumulatively totaling
$50,000 or more.
2. General purpose committees that have received
contributions or made expenditures cumulatively totaling
$50,000 or more to support or oppose candidates for
elective state office or state measures.
3. Slate mailer organizations with cumulative reportable
payments received or made of $50,000 or more.
4. Lobbyists, lobbying firms, or lobbyist employers with
reportable payments, expenses, contributions, gifts, or
other items of $5,000 or more in any calendar quarter.
Existing law sets the beginning date for calculating
cumulative totals to determine whether a candidate, general
purpose committee, or slate mailer organization is required
to file online or electronically as January 1, 2000, for a
committee or slate mailer organization that existed prior
to January 1, 2000. For a committee or slate mailer
organization that did not exist prior to January 1, 2000,
the beginning date is the date the committee first became a
committee or slate mailer organization.
This bill suspends the requirement that certain specified
entities file campaign reports online or electronically
until January 1, 2010, or until the first filing due six
months after the SOS has developed a free online filing
process, whichever is earlier. Specifically, this bill:
1. Makes various findings and declarations about the cost
to committees for complying with the requirement to file
online or electronically and about the failure of the
SOS to provide a means of free online or electronic
filing.
2. Provides that any general purpose committee, small
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contributor committee, or slate mailer organization that
is otherwise required by existing law to file online or
electronically that has not cumulatively received
contributions or made expenditures totaling $50,000
within three years of the applicable beginning date for
calculating cumulative totals, and does not exceed
$20,000 each year since the formation of the committee,
need not file online or electronically until January 1,
2010, or until the first filing date more than six
months after the FPPC has certified that the free online
filing processes developed by the SOS are sufficiently
simple to access and use that a person without technical
training or support can reasonably be expected to file
without that training or support, whichever is earlier.
3. Permits the SOS, when developing a means or method
whereby filers required to file campaign reports online
or electronically can do so free of charge, to include
some enhanced functions as long as the method does not
include any additional services beyond those needed to
file the campaign reports.
Comment
According to the author's office, local slate mailer
organizations that are required to file campaign reports
online have been put in an unfair position because the SOS
has not yet completed a free online filing method, as
required by law, and the two private vendors who provide
online filing services for slate mailer organizations are
unwilling to take the local slate mailer organizations as
clients because those organizations do not provide a
sufficient amount of business. As a result, these local
slate mailer organizations are facing fines of $100 per day
for failure to file online, as required by law. The FPPC
is aware of the situation and is declining to take
enforcement actions against these local slate mailer
organizations. However, a local slate mailer organization
could be subject to fines and civil penalties if a citizen
took advantage of the provisions of the Political Reform
Act that allow any citizen to file a civil suit to enforce
the Act.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
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Local: No
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Aghazarian, Arambula, Baca, Bass, Berg, Bermudez,
Blakeslee, Bogh, Calderon, Canciamilla, Chan, Chavez,
Chu, Cogdill, Cohn, Coto, Daucher, De La Torre, DeVore,
Dymally, Emmerson, Evans, Frommer, Garcia, Goldberg,
Hancock, Harman, Haynes, Jerome Horton, Shirley Horton,
Houston, Huff, Jones, Karnette, Keene, Klehs, La Malfa,
La Suer, Laird, Leno, Levine, Lieber, Lieu, Liu,
Matthews, Maze, McCarthy, Montanez, Mountjoy, Mullin,
Nakanishi, Nation, Nava, Negrete McLeod, Niello, Oropeza,
Parra, Pavley, Plescia, Richman, Ridley-Thomas, Sharon
Runner, Ruskin, Salinas, Spitzer, Strickland, Torrico,
Tran, Umberg, Vargas, Villines, Walters, Wolk, Wyland,
Yee, Nunez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Benoit, Koretz, Leslie, Saldana
DLW:mel 8/9/06 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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